Obituaries In The Performing Arts, 2007: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture 0786434813, 9780786434817, 9780786451913

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Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2007

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Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2007 Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture by

HARRIS M. LENTZ III

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London

On the front cover, clockwise from top left: Ann Hovey, Merv Griffin, Anna Nicole Smith, Ike Turner.

ISSN 1087-9617

/

ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-3481-7

softcover : 50# alkaline paper

©2008 Harris M. Lentz, III. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Manufactured in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 www.mcfarlandpub.com

To the memory of those friends and family lost during 2007 — Gene Bursi, Eleanore Kyle, Fred Wiseman, Dr. Leona Demere “Sissy” Dwyer, Ernest Biscio, Louis Berretta, Norman Ricci, Betty Jane Thurman, Ronnie Clark and Teddy Infuhr, Eleanore Stewart, Nicholas Worth, Robert Jordan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I greatly appreciate the assistance of my mother, Helene Lentz, and my good friend, Carla Clark. Special thanks also go to my sister, Nikki Walker, and to Bob King at Classic Images for granting permission to use information from my columns. Also, thanks to Rosa Burnett and the staff at State Technical Institute library, Tom Weaver, Fred Davis, Forrest J Ackerman, John Beifuss, Ray Neilson, John Whyborn, Boyd Magers, Larry Tauber, Andrew “Captain Comics” Smith, Jimmy Walker, Tony Pruitt, Greg Bridges, Bobby Mathews, Kent Nelson, George and Leona Alsup, Betty Alsup, Toni Cerritto, Dale Warren, Andrew Clark, Aarin Prichard, Dr. Mark Heffington, Anne Taylor, Andy Branham, John Nelson, Richard Allynwood, Frank de Azpillaga, Irv Jacobs, Bill Warren, Bob Cuneo, Alun Jones, Marty Baumann, Joe Caviolo, Rusty White of Entertainment Insiders, Russ Blatt of Life in Legacy, the folks at VoyForums: Celebrity Obits (especially Barbara, Peggy, Rocket, Loren, Greg, Chronicler, Danny), Joy Martin, Denise Tansil, Blaine Lester, Louis and Carol Baird, Carlin and Renee Stuart, Melanie Pinson, Marlene Taylor, Greg Bridges, Maggie Hernandez, Dia Barbee, “Doc,” Dave Ramsey, Ray and Judy Herring,

Don and Elaine Kerley, Mark Webb, Wally Traylor, Letsie Axmaker, Jerry Van Hausen, Michael Roberts, Jennifer Eggleston, Lance Freemon, Darryl and Amy Wheeler, Grace Garcia, Daniel Dixon, Kevin Britt, Jordan Lacina, Steve Tines, Ronnie McAfee, Mark Ledbetter, Dennis Traylor, Gwen Beatley, John Anglin, Brian Theros, Jimmy Sowell, Reggie Johnson, Tony Mace, Marvin Massey, Bob Baldwin, Kira Christensen, Shannon Carrico, Heather Rich, Katie Brittney Peyton, Steve Montgomery, Keith Prince, Laura Crofcheck, Travis Williams, Derek Williams, Richard Dillingham, Bridgette Newman, Jessica Housley, Timothy Cleary, Josh Cleary, Tracy Long, Keith Lindley, Rebecca Hanson, Tina Bryant, Chad Wray, Holli and Nick Ayleward, Lane and Drew Lester, Kurt Carlsen, Suzanne and Flannigan Clifford, Mandy Lancaster, Jeff Eddy, Candace Bell, Jerry Warloh, Hayden, the fine folks at J. Alexanders, Willy Moffitt’s, Bob’s Sports Bar, the Memphis Film Festival, Glinda Kelley and Ray Grier of the Ellendale Post Office, the gang at AOL’s Classic Horror Film Board, Tommy Gattas, James Gattas, Emma Brown, the University of Memphis Library and the Memphis, Shelby County, and Bartlett public libraries.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments vi Introduction ix Reference Bibliography xiii The 2007 Obituaries

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INTRODUCTION The year 2007 saw the passing of a host of celebrities, both great and small, whose talents in film, television, song, dance, literature, and other endeavors entertained, enlightened, and sometimes provoked us. From Oscar-, Grammy-, Tony- and Emmy-winning performers, to cult actors, one-hit wonders, and denizens of the animal kingdom, this volume reports on 1272 individuals who contributed to the performing arts and popular culture in the United States and throughout the world. Notable losses include Oscar-winner and former Mrs. Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman; singer turned actor turned talk show host turned game show impresario Merv Griffin, and Broadway star turned game show panelist Kitty Carlisle. Internationally renowned opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and the leading lady of American opera, Beverly Sills, joined daredevil stuntman Evel Knievel and Playboy centerfold Anna Nicole Smith in the year’s passings. Two titans of international cinema, Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni, perished on the same day. Legendary Broadway actor and singer Robert Goulet and celebrated mime Marcel Marceau were also forever silenced. Deborah Kerr, who steamed the screen in From Here to Eternity, and Dick Wilson, who as Mr. Whipple steamed when customers squeezed his Charmin, also passed on. Two of America’s greatest literary figures, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Norman Mailer, are found within these pages, as is popular novelist and I Dream of Jeannie creator Sidney Sheldon. The literary father of Rosemary’s Baby, Ira Levin, and The Mephisto Waltz’s author, Fred Mustard Stewart, departed the mortal plane along

with televangelists Tammy Faye Bakker, Jerry Falwell, and Rex Humbard. The year also saw the passing of the last of the Rat Pack, comic Joey Bishop, late night talk show host Tom Snyder, pioneering rock singer and musician Ike Turner, baseball announcer Phil Rizzuto, Enola Gay bomber pilot Paul Tibbets, and astronaut Wally Schirra. Match Game icons Charles Nelson Reilly and Brett Somers were also reunited in death’s domain. Exotic film leading lady Yvonne DeCarlo, who gained even greater fame as television’s Lily Munster, and singer and actress Betty Hutton, who starred as Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun, both passed on in 2007. Two screen Tarzans, Bruce Bennett and Gordon Scott, took a final bow, along with Hercules actor and bodybuilder Reg Park, and Kerwin Mathews, who starred on screen as Sinbad, Gulliver, and Jack the Giant Killer. Barry Nelson, who starred as the first James Bond in a 1954 television production, John Gardner, who took up Ian Fleming’s torch as writer of the James Bond book series, and Lois Maxwell, who carried a torch for Agent 007 as the everhopeful Miss Moneypenny in 14 of the Bond films, all died during the past year. Frankie Laine, who sang the memorable television theme Rawhide, and Bobby “Boris” Pickett, who created “The Monster Mash,” join “Yakety Sax” musician Boots Randolph and leading country singers Porter Wagoner and Hank Thompson in this volume. Other notable passings include Scooby-Doo creator Iwao Takamoto, Jack Valenti, who headed the Motion Picture Association of America and

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Obituaries • 2007 created the film ratings system; Oscar-winning choreographer Michael Kidd; jazz legend Oscar Peterson; Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, whose opera Amahl and the Night Visitors became a modern classic; Tommy Newsom, the occasional leader of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show band; Russian ballet choreographer Igor Moiseyev; adult film pioneer Jim Mitchell; veteran character actor Charles Lane; film and television comedian Tom Poston; and Italian film producer and husband of Sophia Loren, Carlo Ponti. Don Herbert, who made science fun for several generations of children as television’s Mr. Wizard, film critic Joel Siegel, Flying Burrito Brothers steel guitarist turned film special effects designer Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and Oscar-winning make-up artist William Tuttle, also perished in 2007. Other losses include film noir scriptwriter A.I. Bezzerides; humorist Art Buchwald; Howdy Doody puppeteer Velma Dawson; Pulitzer Prize– winning journalist David Halberstam; Bob Clark, the director of the modern holiday classic The Christmas Story; veteran horror film director and Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Francis; and the Oscar-winning helmer of Marty, Delbert Mann. Other passings include leading voice performer Walker Edmiston, Oscar-winning special effects designer Peter Ellenshaw, and advertising executive Philip Dusenberry, whose commercial set Michael Jackson’s hair on fire. The intelligent parrot Alex, the one-eyed albino rat Jiminy, and Meerkat matriarch Flower were among the year’s nonhuman losses. The Hollywood firmament was further dimmed by the loss of such stars as Oscar-winner Miyoshi Umeki, George Grizzard, Janet Blair, Jean-Claude Brialy, Percy Rodrigues, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Laura Devon, Calvin Lockhart, Mala Powers, Ian Richardson, Moira Lister, and Eleonora Rossi Drago. Character actors Nicholas Worth, Roy Jenson, Alice Backes, Jeanne Bates, Robert Symonds, Lee Bergere, Eddie Firestone, Maurice Marsac, Paul Reed, Floyd Red Crow Westerman will also be missed, as will comedians Stanley Myron Handleman, Richard Jeni, and Pudgy. Other film and television icons whose passings are noted within include The Mod Squad ’s Captain Greer — Tige Andrews; Barney Miller’s

x Officer Carl Levitt — Ron Carey; Dr. Kildare’s Nurse Mary Lamont — Laraine Day; David Letterman’s comic foil Larry “Bud” Melman — Calvert DeForest; Bewitched ’s ditzy witch Esmerelda — Alice Ghostley; Little House on the Prairie’s Rev. Alden — Dabbs Greer; The New Avengers Mike Gambit — Gareth Hunt; Are You Being Served?’s Mr. Humphries — John Inman; The Dirty Dozen’s Tassos Bravos — Al Mancini; and Shaka Zulu star Henry Cele. Charles B. Griffith, who scripted such Roger Corman cult film classics as Little Shop of Horrors and Attack of the Crab Monsters, died in 2007. Other cult film figures who passed on include Crazy Fat Ethel star Priscilla Alden, Friday the 13th actress Laurie Bartram, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls star Michael Blodgett, The Thing with Two Heads director Lee Frost, Bride of the Monster leading lady Loretta King, Day of the Triffids scripter Bernard Gordon and co–star Kieron Moore, Raw Force leading lady Jillian Kesner, Attack of the Giant Leeches director Bernard Kowalski, Liane, Jungle Goddess star Marion Michael, Journey to the Center of the Earth’s HansPeter Ronson, It’s Alive father John P. Ryan, Night of the Living Dead antagonist Karl Hardman, T&A director Andy Sidaris, Tigon Films producer Tony Tenser, The Strangler director Burt Topper, and Last House on a Dead End Street filmmaker Roger Watkins. The death toll also claimed child performers Sonny Bupp, Teddy Infuhr, Marcia Mae Jones, Bobby Mauch, and Ashleigh Aston Moore, stuntmen Bill Catching and Bob Miles, glamour girls Jeanne Carmen and Liz Renay, and Playboy centerfold Phyllis Sherwood. Family members of celebrities who were accomplished figures in their own rights are also to be found within these pages. Included within are Osmond family patriarch George, Art Linkletter’s son Jack, Sir Winston Churchill’s daughter Arabella, Lucille Ball’s brother Fred, George Burns and Gracie Allen’s son Ronnie, Frank Capra’s son Frank Jr., Buddy Ebsen’s sister Velma, Buster Keaton’s son Buster Jr., Martin Luther King’s daughter Yolanda, Spencer Tracy’s son John, and Sharon Osbourne’s father Don Arden. The world of music suffered major loses during the year. Popular singers Theresa Brewer, Dan Fogelberg, Luther Ingram, and Barbara McNair;

xi rock musicians Brad Delp of Boston and Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot; rockabilly artist Janis Martin, who was billed as the female Elvis; and “These Boots Are Made for Walking” songwriter Lee Hazlewood all passed on. Along with Pavarotti and Sills, such opera stars as Rose Bampton, Regine Crespin, and Jerry Hadley also were silenced. Other musical losses include the rappers Pimp C, Big Moe, and Stacks Bundles, South African reggae performer Lucky Dube, Aborigine singer George Rrurramba, Hawaiian crooner Don Ho, Irish singer Tommy Makem of the Clancy Brothers, and Werner von Trapp of the Trapp Family Singers. The realm of sports entertainment was stunned with wrestling superstar Chris Benoit’s murder of his wife, fellow wrestling personality Nancy “Woman” Benoit and their young son, and Benoit’s subsequent suicide. The year also saw the passing of such major professional wrestling figures as Bam Bam Bigelow, The Fabulous Moolah, Sensational Sherry Martel, Bryan “Crush” Adams, Mike Awesome, Eliminator John Kronus, Ernie Ladd, and Bad News Brown. Science fiction and fantasy authors Robert Jordan, Madeleine L’Engle, Sterling Lanier, Fred Saberhagen, and Robert Anton Wilson died during the year. Cartoonist Johnny Hart, creator of the B.C. comic, and Brant Parker, who co–created The Wizard of Id comic strip with Hart, both died in 2007. Paul Norris, creator of the superhero Aquaman, and Arnold Drake, who created the superhero team The Doom Patrol, also passed on, as did leading comic artists Marshall Rogers and Mike Wieringo and Archie Comics executive Richard Goldwater. This book provides a single source that notes the deaths of all major and many minor figures in the fields of film, television, cartoons, theatre, music and popular literature. The obituaries con-

2007 • Obituaries tain pertinent details of deaths including date, place and cause, of 1272 celebrities. Biographical information and career highlights and achievements are also provided. I have also included a complete-as-possible filmography for film and television performers. I have discontinued the practice of including citations with individual entries, as more often than not I have utilized online sources for much of the information. Both print and online resources used are listed below and in the bibliography. A photograph has been included for many of the individuals. I have been writing obituaries of film personalities for nearly thirty years, beginning with a column in Forry Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland in the late 1970s. Many of the film obituaries in the work are taken from my monthly column in Classic Images (P.O. Box 809, Muscatine, IA 52761), a newspaper devoted to classic films and their performers. Information on the passing of the individuals found in this volume has been gathered from a myriad of sources. Primary sources, as previously noted are listed in the individual bibliographies, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Times (of London), The Washington Post, Variety, Time, People, TV Guide and Newsweek. Other sources include Boyd Mager’s Western Clippings, The Memphis Commercial Appeal, The Hollywood Reporter, The (Manchester) Guardian, The Comics Buyer’s Guide, Locus, Pro Wrestling Torch, Psychotronic Video, The Comics Journal and Facts on File. Several sources on the internet have also been helpful, including Celebrity Obits (http://www/voy.com/60649/ ), Life in Legacy (formerly Famous Deaths — Week in Review) (http://www.lifeinlegacy.com/ ), Entertainment Insiders (http://www.einsiders.com/ features/columns/2006obituaries), and the Internet Movie Database, Ltd. (http://us.imdb.com/ ).

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REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY Books

Finch, Yolande. Finchy. New York: Wyndham, 1981. Fischer, Dennis. Horror Film Directors, 1931–1990. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. Hunter, Allan, ed. Chambers Concise Encyclopedia of Film and Television. New York: W&R Chambers Ltd., 1991. Katz, Ephraim. The Film Encyclopedia, 2d ed. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Malloy, Alex G., ed. Comic Book Artists. Radnor, PA: Wallace-Homestead, 1993. Maltin, Leonard, ed. Movie and Video Guide 1995. New York: Signet Books, 1994. Marill, Alvin H. Movies Made for Television. Westport, CT: Arlington House, 1980. Mathis, Jack. Republican Confidential, Vol. 2: The Players. Barrington, IL: Jack Mathis Advertising, 1992. McNeil, Alex. Total Television. New York: Penguin, 1996. Monaco, James. Who’s Who in American Film Now. New York: Zoetrobe, 1988. Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide. 10 vols. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985. Nowlan, Robert A., and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan. The Films of the Eighties. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. Oliviero, Jeffrey. Motion Picture Players’ Credits. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. Parrish, James Robert. Actors’ Television Credits 1950–1972. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1973. _____. Film Actors Guide: Western Europe. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1977. Ragan, David. Who’s Who in Hollywood, 1900–1976. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1976. Rovin, Jeff. The Fabulous Fantasy Films. South Bunswick, NJ: A.S. Barnes, 1977. Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, 1937–1973. New York: Zoetrope, 1986. _____. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, 1974–1984. New York: Zoetrope, 1986.

The Academy Players Directory. Beverly Hills, CA : Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1978–2003. The American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1911–20. Patricia King Hansen, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1921–30. Kenneth W. Munden, ed. New York : R.R. Bowker, 1971. The American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1931–40. Patricia King Hansen, ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films, 1961–70. Richard P. Krafsur, ed. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1976. Brooks, Tim. The Complete Directory of Prime Time TV Stars. New York: Ballantine, 1987. Brown, Les. The New York Times Encyclopedia of Television. New York: Times, 1977. Bushnell, Brooks. Directors and Their Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1993. Chilton, John. Who’s Who of Jazz. Philadelphia, PA: Chilton, 1972. Contemporary Authors. Detroit: Gale Research, various editions. DeLong, Thomas A. Radio Stars. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996. Dimmitt, Richard Bertrand. An Actors Guide to the Talkies. Two volumes. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1967. Erickson, Hal. Television Cartoon Shows. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1995. Fetrow, Alan G. Feature Films, 1940–1949. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994. _____. Feature Films, 1950–1959. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. _____. Sound Films, 1927–1939. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992.

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Obituaries • 2007 Walker, John, ed. Halliwell’s Filmgoer’s and Video Viewer’s Companion, 10th ed. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993. Watson, Elena M. Television Horror Movie Hosts. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. Weaver, Tom. Attack of the Monster Movie Makers: Interviews with 20 Genre Giants. Jefferson, NC : McFarland, 1994. _____. Eye on Science Fiction. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003. _____. I Was a Monster Movie Maker. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001. _____. Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1988. _____. It Came from Weaver Five: Interviews with 20 Zany, Glib and Earnest Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Traditions of the Thirties, Forties, Fifties and Sixties. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994. _____. Monsters, Mutants and Heavenly Creatures. Baltimore, MD: Midnight Marquee, 1996. _____. Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Flashbacks. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1998. _____. Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. _____. They Fought in the Creature Features: Interviews with 23 Classic Horror, Science Fiction and Serial Stars. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994. Who’s Who in the World. Chicago: Marquis Who’s Who, various editions. Willis, John, ed. Screen World. New York : Crown, 1958–2001.

Internet References NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS Arizona Central — http://www.azcentral.com/ BBC News — http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) http:// www.commercialappeal.com/ Der Standard — http://derstandard.at/ Guardian Unlimited — http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Hollywood Reporter — http://www.hollywoodreporter. com/hr/index.jsp The Independent — http://news.independent.co.uk/ International Herald Tribune — http://www.iht.com/ La Repubblica — http://www.repubblica.it/ Los Angeles Times — http://www.latimes.com/ The Nation — http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ New York Times — http://www.nytimes.com/ Online Newspapers — http://www.onlinenewspapers. com/ Playbill — http://www.playbill.com/news/ RTE Entertainment — http://www.rte.ie/ Seattle Post-Intelligence — http://seattlepi.nwsource. com/

xiv The Stage — http://www.thestage.co.uk/ Sar Tribune (Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota)— http://www.startribune.com/ Telegraph — http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Time — http://www.time.com/ Times of India — http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ TimesOnline — http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Variety — http://www.variety.com/ Xinhua-Chinan View — http://news.xinhuanet.com/ english/ Yonhap News — http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Eng news/

OTHER SITES 1WrestlingLegends — http://www.1wrestlinglegends. com/ alt.obituaries — http://groups.google.com/group/alt. obituaries/ Bruisermania — http://bruisermania.com/ Caskets on Parade — http://www.msu.edu/~daggy/ cop/bkofdead/ Caratteristi e Protagonisti Della Commedia Italina Anni ’70 e ’80— http://www.caratteristi.it/ Cauliflower Alley Club — http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org/ Celebrity Deathwatch — http://slick.org/deathwatch/ mailarchive/maillist.html Celebrity Obits — http://www.voy.com/60649/ Classic Horror Film Board — http://pub20.ezboard. com/bmonsterkidclassichorrorforum Dead People Server — http://dpsinfo.com/dps/ Dead Porn Stars — http://www.rame.net/faq/dead porn/ Dead Rock Stars Club — http://thedeadrockstarsclub. com/ Entertainment Insiders — http://www.einsiders.com/ Find a Grave — http://www.findagrave.com/ Gary Will: Deceased Pro Wrestlers — http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/decwres Internet Movie Database — http://www.imdb.com/ Last Link on the Left — http://lastlinkontheleft.com/finalcredits.html Legacy.com — http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries Life in Legacy — http://www.lifeinlegacy.com/ Memphis Film Festival — http://www.memphisfilm festival.com/ Outpost Gallifrey — http://gallifreyone.com/ Social Security Death Index — http://ssdi.genealogy. rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi Toonopedia — http://www.toonopedia.com/index.htm Wikipedia — http://en.wikipedia.org/ Young Hollywood Hall of Fame — http://www.young hollywoodhof.com/

OBITUARIES IN THE PERFORMING ARTS, 2007 worked frequently with Andrew Lloyd Webber, training singers for his productions of Cats, Evita, and Starlight Express. Adam hosted his own BBC television show I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in 1989. He also worked on Kenneth Branagh’s 2000 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, and was featured onscreen as a singing coach in the 2006 film Confetti. Adam was coaching Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter for their roles in Tim Burton’s film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd at the time of his death.

ABERNATHY, FRANKIE Frankie Abernathy, who starred in the MTV reality television series Real World: San Diego in 2004, died at her mother’s home in Shorewood, Wisconsin, on June 10, 2007. She was 25. She had suffered from cystic fibrosis since she was a child. Abernathy was born in Blue Springs, Missouri, on December 21, 1981. She appeared as a moody punk rocker on the show, with numerous tattoos and piercings. She left before the series ended because of conflicts with her housemates and her desire to be reunited with her boyfriend.

ADAMS, BRYAN Bryan Adams, a professional wrestler who was known as Crush in the WWE and was half of the tag team KroniK in the WCW, died at his home in Tampa, Florida, of an accidental overdose of pain killers and anti-depressants on August 13, 2007. He was 44. Adams was born in Kona, Hawaii on January 31, 1963. He began wrestling in 1986 with Pacific Northwest Wrestling in Oregon. Known as the American Ninja, he teamed with Len “the Grappler” Denton to capture the tag team title. He also held the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship in 1990. He came to the World Wrestling Federation (now known as the WWE) as Crush, the third member of the tag team Demolition, with Ax and Smash. Demolition held the WWE tag team belts several times before disbanding in 1991. He returned to the Pacific Northwest area where he teamed with Steve Doll to win the tag team championship. He also captured the heavyweight belt in 1991 before returning to the WWE in 1992. Sometimes billed as the Hawaiian surfer Kona Crush, Adams feuded with such wrestlers as Doink the Clown, Barry “Repo Man” Darsow (who was his former Demolition partner Smash), and Randy Savage. Crush was terminated by the WWE following his arrest at his home in Kona, Hawaii, for possession of illegal steroids in early 1995. He returned to the WWE the following year where he briefly joined Faarooq’s Nation of Domination. He then formed the biker team called the Disciples of Apocalypse (DOA) to battle Faarooq’s team and the Hispanic gang Los Boricuas. He left the WWE for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1998, where he became part of the New World Order (nWo), teaming with Scott Norton, Vincent, Horace Hogan and Stevie Ray. He briefly appeared in the WCW as the KISS Demon before being replaced by Dale Torberg. Adams reemerged in the WCW teaming with Bryan Clarke as part of the tag team KroniK. The formidable team held the WCW tag titles several times. They were briefly signed with the WWE when WCW folded in 2001. After a feud with the Undertaker, Adams was sent to the developmental territory Heartland Wrestling Association in Ohio before being released later in the year. He and Clarke reunited as KroniK in the World Wrestling All-Stars in February of 2002. They also wrestled in Japan where they captured the All Japan

Frankie Abernathy

ADAM, IAN British vocal coach Ian Adam died in a London hospital after a brief illness on May 10, 2007. He was 76. Adam was born in Fontrose, on the Black Isle in Scotland, on March 14, 1931. He began his career as a singer with the Scottish Opera before becoming a voice teacher. He worked with actor Michael Crawford for the 1973 musical Billy, and Crawford continued to train with him during his rise to become a leading musical star with 1986’s The Phantom of the Opera. He

Ian Adam

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Obituaries • 2007 Tag Team Title in July of 2002. He planned to abandon wrestling for boxing in 2002, but his first bout was cancelled due to a shoulder injury. An attempted comeback to wrestling the following year was ended by a spinal injury to forced his retirement from the ring.

Bryan Adams (left, with Bryan Clarke)

ADEEB, ABDEL HAY Egyptian screenwriter Abdel Hay Adeeb died in Switzerland after a long illness on June 11, 2007. He was 82. He was one of Egypt’s best known screenwriters who wrote over 120 films during his career. He was best known for scripting Youssef Chahine’s 1958 film Cairo Station. He also wrote A Woman on the Road (1958), Omar Sharif ’s The Revolt of the Mamalukes (1965), Kenouz (1966), A Wife from Paris (1966), Shabab Magnoun Geddan (1967), El Aris el Thani (1961), Akhtar Ragol fil Alam (1967), Hawaa Wal Kerd (1968), Baba Ayez Keda (1968), and Ines Al Deghleidy’s controversial 2001 film Mothakerat Morahkah. His survivors include his sons, filmmakers Emad and Adel Adeeb. AGUILAR, GUSTAVO Mexican actor Gustavo Aguilar Tejada died of renal failure in Mexico City on September 24, 2007. Aguilar, who was also known as Manotas, appeared frequently on screen and television from the 1980s. His film credits include El Escuadron de la Muerte (1985), Caceria Humana (1987), Taquito do Ojo (1988), Breed of Snakes (1988), Sante Sangre (1989), Infierno en la Frontera (1990), Jack el Vigilante (1990), Domingo Tragico (1991), Traicion (1991), Pueblo de Malditos (1993), Adela Despierta (1997), Policia de Narcoticos 2 (1999), Cabezas Rapadas (2000), La Fiera de la Montana (2001), The Mexican (2001), El Marneluco de mi Compadre (2003), and El Cara de Chango 2 (2005). Aguilar also appeared on television in episodes of Al Derecho y al Derbez, Esmeralda, and Aventuras en el Tiempo, and the 2001 mini-series Navidad sin Fin (2001). AGUILAR, TONY Mexican actor and singer Tony Aguilar died of complications from pneumonia and heart disease in a Mexico City hospital on June 19, 2007. He was 88. He was born Pascual Antonio Aguilar Barraza in Villanueva, Zacatecas, Mexico, on May 17, 1919. He became a leading performer of ranchera music with such hits as “Triste Rescuerdo,” “Gabino Barrera,” and “Un Puno de Tierra.” He made his film debut in

2 1952 and starred in numerous movies including Un Rincon Cerca del Cielo (1952), Yo Fui una Callejera (1952), Amor de Locura (1953), La Mujer Desnuda (1953), Reventa de Esclavas (1954), Una Gallega en La Habana (1955), Musica, Espuelas y Amor (1955), El Rayo Justiciero (1955), La Barrance ce la Muerte (1955), El Gavilan Vengador (1955), Tierra de Hombres (1956), La Sierra del Terror (1956), La Huella del Chacal (1956), Cien Muchachas (1957), La Pantera Negra (1957), La Justicia del Gavilan Vengador (1957), Fiesta en el Corazon (1958), La Venganza de Heraclio Bernal (1958), Los Muertos no Hablan (1958), El Fin de un Imperio (1958), Los Santos Reyes (1959), The Soldiers of Pancho Villa (1959), La Sombra del Caudillo (1960), Two Disobedient Sons (1960), Ah, Love Is Beautiful (1960), Stray Bullet (1960), Vacations in Acapulco (1961), La Joven Mancornadora (1961), My Son, the Hero (1961), Rumbo a Brasilia (1961), The Important Man (1962), Flaming Sun (1962), The White Horse (1962), El Justiciero Vengador (1962), Cazadores de Asesinos (1962), If I Were a Millionaire (1962), La Emboscada Mortal (1962), Yo el Mujeriego (1963), Vuelve el Norteno (1964), El Revolver Sangriento (1964), El Padre Diablo (1965), Gabino Barrera (1965), El Hijo de Gabino Barrera (1965), La Vida de Pedro Infante (1966), El Alazan y el Rosillo (1966), Los Cuatro Juanes (1966), Juan Colorado (1966), The Two Rivals (1966), Los Alegres Aguilares (1967), Lucio Vazquez (1968), El Caballo Bayo (1969), and Lauro Punales (1969). Aguilar was featured as Juarista General Rojas in the 1969 Hollywood film The Undefeated starring John Wayne. He also starred in the title role in the 1970 biographical film Emiliano Zapata about the Mexican leader. His film credits also include La Captura de Gabino Barrera (1970), La Venganza de Gabino Barrera (1971), They Call Him Marcado (1971), Valente Quintero (1973), La Muerte de Pancho Villa (1974), Peregrina (1974), Simon Blanco (1975), Don Hercurlano Enamorado (1975), El Rey (1976), Sabor a Sangre (1977), Mi Caballo el Cantador (1977), El Moro de Cumpas (1977), Volver, Volver, Volver (1977), La Muerte de un Gallero (1977), Los Triunfadores (1978), Benjamin Argumedo el Rebelde (1979), Albur de Amor (1980), El Anima de Sayula (1982), Viva el Chubasco (1983), The Madcap Who Performed Miracles (1984), El Rey de Oros (1984), Astucia (1986), Contrabando y Muerte (1986), Zapata en Ehinameca (1987), Lamberto Quintero (1987),

Tony Aguilar

3 Domingo Corrales (1988), El Hijo de Lamberto Quintero (1990), Triste Recuerdo (1991), El Chivo (1992), and La Sangre de un Valiente (1993) as Pancho Villa. Aguilar also remained a popular singer and musician, performing throughout Mexico and the United States. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000.

AHNERT, GERLIND German television personality Gerlind Ahnert died in Rosenheim, Germany, on September 12, 2007. She was 73. Ahnert was born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, on April 26, 1934. She was featured in such films as Ehesache Lorenz (1959), Ware fur Katalonien (1959), Reportage 57 (1959), Seilergasse 8 (1960), Die Liebe und der Co-Pilot (1961), Drei Kapitel Gluck (1961), Das Verhexte Fischerdorf (1962), and Meine Freundin Sybille (1967). She also appeared in television productions of Kater Lampe (1967), Alchimisten (1968), and Tater Unbekannt (1972). She was an announcer on East German television for over two decades through the early 1980s.

2007 • Obituaries Ravina (1958), E Eles Nao Voltaram (1960), Samba (1965), and A Espia Que Entrou em Fria (1967). He was best known in Brazil for his numerous television performances, appearing in such series as O Desconhecido (1964), Coracao (1965), Eu Compro Esta Mulher (1966), A Sombra de Rebeca (1967), Demian, o Justiceiro (1968), A Ponte dos Suspiros (1969), Pai Heroi (1979), Dona Beija (1986), Novo Amor (1986), Tudo ou Nada (1986), Kananga do Japao (1989), Sonho Meu (1993), Tocaia Grande (1995), Xica da Silva (1996), Mandacaru (1997), Os Maias (2001), and Chocolate com Pimenta (2003). Alberto was married to actress Yona Magalhaes.

ALBRECHT, CARTER Dallas musician Jeffrey Carter Albrecht was shot to death in Dallas, Texas, on September 3, 2007. He allegedly attacked his girlfriend and attempted to break in the door of a neighbor. The neighbor, asleep at the time, thought he was a burglar and fired a shot through the door, causing a fatal head wound. Albrecht was 34. He was born in Cartersville, Georgia, on June 23, 1973. Albrecht became the keyboardist for the New Bohemians in 1999 and played guitar, keyboard and sang for the local Dallas band Sorta. He also played with such musicians as Paul Simon and Charlie Sexton. Albrecht was working on a solo album at the time of his death.

Gerlin Ahnert

ALBERTO, CARLOS Brazilian actor Carlos Alberto Soares died of cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 6, 2007. He was 81. Alberto was born in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on June 11, 1925. He began his film career in the early 1950s, appearing in Carnaval Atlantida (1952), O Craque (1953), Rua Sem Sol (1954),

Carlos Alberto

Carter Albrecht

ALDEN, PRISCILLA Over-sized character actress Priscilla Alden died in San Francisco, California, on August 24, 2007. She was 68. Alden was born in San

Priscilla Alden (as Crazy Fat Ethel )

Obituaries • 2007 Francisco on June 27, 1939. She was a frequent performer on the local stage before making her film debut as the larger than life homicidal maniac Ethel Janowski in the 1975 cult classic Criminally Insane (aka Crazy Fat Ethel ). She reprised her role in the 1987 sequel Crazy Fat Ethel 2. She racked up more victims as Nurse Edith Mortley in the films Death Nurse (1987) and Death Nurse 2 (1988). Alden also appeared in small roles in the films Birdy (1984), Quest of the Delta Knights (1993), Nine Months (1995), and The Turn of the Screw (2003). She appeared on television in the tele-film Stolen: One Husband and an episode of Midnight Caller in 1990.

ALEX Alex, a highly intelligent African Grey parrot who was the subject of a 30-year experiment into the understanding of the avian brain, was found dead in his cage of natural causes at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, on September 6, 2007. Alex, whose name was an acronym for Avian Learning Experiment, was purchased from a pet store by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg in 1973. He initially resided at the University of Arizona, later at Harvard and finally at Brandeis University. Alex was able to identify 50 objects, differentiate colors, count to six and could even express frustration during repetitive scientific trails. He provided over 30 years of scientific research towards understanding of the bird brain. Alex also showed off his skills on various BBC and PBS nature programs on television, and appeared with Alan Alda on the PBS series Look Who’s Talking.

Alex

ALEXANDER, LLOYD

Fantasy author Lloyd Alexander died of cancer at his home in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 2007. He was 83. Alexander was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 30, 1924. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and worked in counterintelligence in Paris after the war. He returned to the United States in 1947, where he worked in advertising and as a cartoonist. His first book, And Let The Credit Go, was published in 1955. He wrote several other novels including My Five Tigers (1956), August Bondi: Border Hawk (1958), Aaron Lopez: The Flagship Hope (1960), and Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1963). Alexander wrote the popular 1963 children’s novel Time Cat: The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth. He began his best-selling fantasy series, The Chronicles of Prydain, with 1964’s The Book of Three. The second book in the series, The Black Cauldron (1965), earned Alexander a Newbery Honor, and both were adapted for the

4 1985 animated film The Black Cauldron. Subsequent books in the series included The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), The High King (1968) which won the Newbery Medal, and The Foundling and Other Tales from Prydain (1970). He also penned The Westmark Trilog y, which included Westmark (1981), The Kestrel (1982), and The Beggar Queen (1984), and The Vesper Holly Series, consisting of The Illyrian Adventure (1986), The El Dorado Adventure (1987), The Drackenderg Adventure (1988), The Jedera Adventure (1989), The Philadelphia Adventure (1990), and The Xanadu Adventure (2005). His other novels include The Truthful Harp (1967), The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian (1970), The King’s Fountain (1971), The Four Donkeys (1972), The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man (1973), The Wizard in the Tree (1974), The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha (1978), The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen (1991), The Fortune-Tellers (1992), The Arkadians (1995), The House Gobbaleen (1995), The Iron Ring (1997), Gypsy Rizka (1999), How the Cat Swallowed Thunder (2000), The Gawgon and the Boy (2001), The Rope Trick (2002), and Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor’s Cat (2005). His final book, The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, was published in 2007. Alexander was married to Janine Denni from 1946 until her death a month prior to his own.

Lloyd Alexander

ALGREN, ERIC Special effects artist Eric Algren died in Marina del Rey, California, on May 25,

Eric Algren

5 2007. He was 32. Algren was born in Narragansett, Rhode Island, on August 22, 1974. He began his career in films as a visual effects artist in the 1990s, working on such features as Dante’s Peak (1997), The Fifth Element (1997), Titanic (1997), and Armageddon (1998). He worked with such companies as Hydraulx, Digital Domain, and Creo, specializing as a flame artist. His film credits also include Hostage (2005), The Fog (2005), Aeon Flux (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Little Man (2006), 3000 (2006), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and The Invasion (2007).

ALLEN, MARIT Costume designer Marit Allen died of a brain aneurism in Sydney, Australia, on November 26, 2007. She was 66. Allen was born in Cheshire, England, on September 17, 1941, and was educated at the University of Grenoble in France. She began working in fashion in the early 1960s, writing for Queen Magazine. She moved to British Vogue in 1963 and spent the next decade covering the British fashion scene. Allen served as a fashion consultant for the 1966 film Kaleidoscope and, credited as Marit Lieberson, designed Julie Christie’s wardrobe for Nicholas Roeg’s 1973 film Don’t Look Now. During her subsequent career, Allen worked frequently with director Roeg and later with Ang Lee. Her film credits include Bad Timing (1980), Richard’s Things (1980), An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1982), The Hit (1984), Eureka (1984), Deja Vu (1985), Dream Lover (1986), Little Shop of Horror (1986), White Mischief (1987), Manifesto (1988), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989), The Rachel Papers (1989), Eat a Bowl of Tea (1989), The Witches (1990), Mermaids (1990), A Kiss Before Dying (1991), Shining Through (1992), Wind (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Dead Man (1995), Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997), Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Ride with the Devil (1999), Forever Mine (1999), The Weight of Water (2000), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hulk (2003), Thunderbirds (2004), Nomad (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), All the King’s Men (2006), La Mome (aka Edith Piaf) (2007), and Love in the Time of Cholera (2007). Allen was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for her work in television, which included credits for the tele-

Marit Allen

2007 • Obituaries films Nelly’s Version (1983), Florence Nightingale (1985), Stalin (1992), and Scarlett (1994). She was working with director George Miller on the forthcoming feature film version of the DC Comic Justice League of America at the time of her death.

ALMIRANTE, ENRIQUE Cuban actor Enrique Almirante died in Havana, Cuba, on October 1, 2007. He was 77. Almirante was born in Havana on February 7, 1930. He began his career on radio in the early 1950s. He was soon appearing in films and became a leading television performer in Cuba. Almirante was featured in such films as Our Man in Havana (1959), Santo vs. the Evil Brain (1961), The Baptism (1968), Tupac Amaru (1984), A Time to Die (1985), El Socio de Dios (1987), Mascaro, Hunter of the Americas (1992), Pata Negra (2001), Black (2003), The Galindez File (2003), and Dreaming of Julia (2003). He was seen in numerous Cuban television series, most recently starring as a boxing trainer in a television soap opera.

Enrique Almirante

ALONSO, ALBERTO Cuban ballet dancer and choreographer Alberto Alonso died at his home in Gainesville, Florida, on December 31, 2007. He was 90. Alonso was born in Havana, Cuba, on May 22, 1917. He studied dance in Paris, and joined the Ballets Russes de Colonel de Basil in 1936. He toured with the company for five years, performing in productions of La Boutique

Alberto Alonso

Obituaries • 2007 Fantasque, Les Femmes de Bonne Hurneur, and Aurora’s Wedding. He returned to Cuba for several years in the early 1940s before joining his brother, Fernando, and Fernando’s wife, Alicia, at New York’s Ballet Theatre in 1943. He was featured in numerous character roles over the next two years, and danced in Jerome Robbins’ production of Fancy Free. He and his family returned to Cuba in 1948 and the three founded what became the National Ballet of Cuba. Alonso created such works as Antes del Alba (1948), Rapsodia Negra (1953), Espacio y Moviemiento (1966), Un Retablo Para Romeo y Julieta (1970), and Cumbres Borrascosas (1982), a ballet adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Sister-in-law Alicia Alonso often performed in leading roles. He also choreographed Carmen Suite for the Bolshoi Ballet, which debuted starring Maya Plisetskaya in 1967. Alonso left Cuba for the United States in 1993, and settled in Florida.

ALONSO, ERNESTO Mexican actor Ernesto Alonso, who became a pioneer producer and director of Mexican telenovelas, died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Mexico City on August 8, 2007. He was 90. He was born Ernesto Ramirez Alonso in Aquascalientes, Mexico, on February 28, 1917. He began his career in films as an actor in the late 1930s, and became a popular leading man over the next two decades. Alonso’s many film credits include Sugar Daddy (1939), The Cackling Hen (1941), Historia de un Gran Amor (1942), The Saint That Forged a Country (1942), El Padre Morelos (1943), El Jorobado (1943), The Balloon of Cantoya (1943), La Corte del Faraon (1944), Marina (1945), El Monje Blanco (1945), La Pajarera (1945), Bodas Tragicas (1946), Crimen en la Alcoba (1946), El Gallero (1948), Price of Glory (1949), La Dama del Velo (1949), San Felipe de Jesus (1949), Jewels of Sin (1950), Luis Bunuel’s The Young and the Damned (1950), El Puerto de los Siete Vicios (1951), Trotacalles (1951), Un Principe de la Iglesia (1952), La Cobarde (1953), Reportaje (1953), A Doll’s House (1954), Bunuel’s 1954 adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Un Mujer en la Calle (1955), Maternidad Imposible (1955), Bunuel’s The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955) starring in the title role, Con Quien Andan Nuestras Hijas? (1956), and La Tore de Marfil (1958). He moved to television in 1959, joining Televisa as a producer. He produced, and sometimes directed, hundreds of telenovelas, or soap operas, during his career. His first production was The House of Hate in 1960, and a steady procession followed, with Alonso sometimes appearing onscreen in character roles. His television credits include El Otro (1960), La Mujer Dorada (1960), Divorciadas (1961), Las Gemelas (1961), La Brujula Rota (1961), Estafa de Amor (1961), Niebla (1961), La Leona (1961), La Gloria Quedo Atras (1962), La Actriz (1962), Prisionera (1962), Borrasca (1962), Janina (1962), Las Momias de Guanajuato (1962), La Cobarde (1962), Adios, Amor Mil (1962), Dona Macabra (1963), Las Modelos (1963), Grandes Ilusiones (1963), Mexico 1900 (1964), Historia de un Cobarde (1964), Apasionada (1964), Cumbres Borrascosas (1964), Marina Lavalle (1965), Secreto de Confesion (1965), El Refugio (1965), Una Mujer (1965), La Mentira (1965), Valeria (1965), Maximiliano y Carlota

6 (1965), El Abismo (1965), La Busqueda (1966), La Razon de Vivir (1966), Cristina Guzman (1966), El Patio de Tlaquepague (1966), Mas Fuerte que tu Amor (1966), El Despertar (1966), Lo Prohibido (1967), Deborah (1967), Frontera (1967), Leyendas de Mexico (1968), El Padre Guernica (1968), Los Caudillos (1968), El Retrato de Dorian Gray (1969), El Diario de una Senorita Decente (1969), La Constitucion (1970), El Derecho de los Hijos (1971), Las Mascaras (1971), Las Fieras (1972), La Hiena (1973), El Chofer (1974), El Milagro de Vivir (1975), Paloma (1975), Manana sera Otro Dia (1976), Pacto de Amor (1977), Cartas Para una Victima (1978), Una Mujer Marcada (1979), El Enemigo (1979), Muchacha de Barrio (1979), Yara (1979), Bella y Bestia (1979), Al Final del Arco Iris (1980), Secret de Confesion (1980), Del Derecho de Nacer (1981), Extranos Caminos del Amor (1981), Angelica (1982), Bodas de Odio (1983), La Traicion (1983), El Maleficio (1983), Encadenados (1986), Cursed Inheritance (1986), La Trampa (1988), Atrapada (1988), De Pura Sangre (1988), Yo Compro esa Mujer (1990), Un Rostro en mi Pasado (1990), Lo Blanco y lo Negro (1992), Triangulo (1992), La Sonrisa del Diablo (1996), El Vuelo del Aguila (1996), La Antorcha Encendida (1997), Desencuentro (1997), Laberintos de Pasion (1999), El Precio de tu Amor (2000), La Otra (2002), My Love, My Sin (2004), Barrera de Amor (2005), and Sor Juana ines de la Cruz (2006).

Enrique Alonso

ALPERT, HOLLIS Author and film critic Hollis Alpert died in Naples, Florida, on November 18, 2007. He was 91. Alpert was born in Herkimer, New York, on September 24, 1916. He served as fiction editor for The New Yorker magazine from 1950 to 1956. He also wrote film reviews for Saturday Review and Woman’s Day, and was a book reviewer for The New York Times. Alpert also contributed articles and essays about films and film personalities to Playboy, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire, and was chief editor of American Film Magazine. He and Pauline Kael were co-founders of the National Society of Film Critics in 1966. Alpert was also author of several books including Broadway! 125 Years of Musical Theatre, The Life and Times of Porg y and Bess, Burton about actor Richard Burton, Fellini: A Life, and The Barrymores. He scripted an episode of the television series Johnny Staccato in 1959. (See photograph on page 7.)

7

2007 • Obituaries AMALIO LOPEZ, PEDRO Spanish television director Pedro Amalio Lopez died in Madrid, Spain, on June 25, 2007. He was 82. Amalio Lopez was born in Madrid in 1925. He produced, directed, and scripted the 1969 Spanish television series El Conde de Monte Cristo. He also directed such series as Silencio, Vivimos (1962), Novela (1962), Primera Fila (1962), De 500a 500.000 (1963), Platea (1963), Las Doce Caras de Juan (1967), Al Filo de lo Imposible (1970), Obra Completa (1971), Todo es Posible en Domingo (1974), La Saga de los Rius (1976), and La Comedia (1983).

Hollis Alpert

ALVAREZ, IRMA Argentine-Brazilian actress Irma Alvarez died of lung cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 8, 2007. She was 73. Alvarez was born in Saliguelo, Argentina, on November 21, 1933. She began her career in films in Argentina in 1950, where she appeared in Cinco Locos en la Pista (1950), Del Otro Lado del Puente (1953), and De Noche Tambien se Duerme (1955). Alvarez relocated to Brazil later in the decade and continued her career in such films as Massagista de Madame (1958), Os Dois Ladroes (1960), Nordeste Sangrento (1962), Porto das Caixas (1962), A Morte em Tres Tempos (1964), Encontro com a Morte (1965), 22-2000 Cicade Aberta (1965), Engracadinha Depois dos Trinta (1966), Onde a Terra Comeca (1966), Todas as Mulheres do Mundo (1967), O Sabor do Pecado (1967), Anguished Land (1967), O Homem Nu (1968), A Doce Mulher Amada (1968), A Virgem Prometida (1968), The Night of My Love (1968), How Are You? Well? (1969), Vampire’s Dream (1969), The Girl Watchers (1969), A Cama Ao Alcance de Todos (1969), This Is Simonal (1970), Pra Quem Fica, Tchau (1971), Caingangue (1973), A Estrela Sobe (1974), Blablabla (1975), Ana, a Libertina (1975), O Dia Marcado (1977), Pra Frente, Brasil (1982), Aguenta, Coracao (1984), Rockmania (1986), and O Viajante (1999). Alvarez also appeared on Brazilian television in such series as Carinhoso, O Semideus, Sem Lenco, Sem Documento, Ciranda, Cirandinha, Pai Heroi, and Setimo Sentido.

Irma Alvarez (with shaved head from ¡960’s Cavalo de Oxumare)

Pedro Amalio Lopez

AMARA, BLANQUITA Cuban singer and dancer Blanquita Amara died of a heart attack in a Miami, Florida, hospital on March 15, 2007. She was 83. Amara was born in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, on June 30, 1923. She began performing at an early age and made her film debut in Havana Scenes in 1939. She continued to star in such films as Profugos (1940), Scandal of Stars (1944), Summer Hotel (1944) with Tin Tan, Una Noche en el Ta-Ba-Rin (1949), The Seducer (1950), Buenos Aires a la Vista (1950), A la Habana me Voy (1951), Una Cubana en Espana (1951), Barbara Atomica (1952), Bella, la Salvaje (1953), and Casada y Senorita (1954). Amara left Cuba for Panama during the revolution in 1959, where she hosted a daily television program for a decade. She moved to Miami, Florida, in 1968, where

Blanquita Amaro

Obituaries • 2007 she hosted the television programs The Blanquita Amara Show and Say It in Mime. She also hosted several radio programs and performed often on stage. She made her final film appearance in 1980’s How Hot Miami Is!

AMES, JOE Singer Joe Ames, the eldest member of the singing Ames Brothers, died of a heart attack in a hospital near Mainz, Germany, on December 22, 2007. He was 86. He was born Joseph Urick in Malden, Massachusetts, on May 3, 1921. He and his three younger brothers began singing in the Boston area as the Urick Brothers in the 1940s. As they became more successful, they changed their name to the Ames Brothers. They were one of the leading quartets in the 1950s, recording such hits as “The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane,” “Sentimental Me,” “Rag Mop,” and “My Bonnie Lassie.” They hosted their own series, The Ames Brothers Show, in 1955. The Ames Brothers musical success included eight gold records and frequent performances on television and in Las Vegas. The group disbanded in the early 1960s, though younger brother, Ed, had a successful career as a solo singer and actor. Joe, and brothers, Gene and Vic, reunited for several albums and a local television program in Houston, before Joe moved to Germany in 1965. He continued to work in music as a producer and manager, and developed musical programming for the German public television station ZDF, until his retirement in the early 1990s. His survivors include his brother Ed. Vic was killed in an automobile accident in 1978, and Gene died in 1997.

8 appeared on television in such productions as Bayard (1964), Comment ne Pas Epouser un Milliardaire (1966), Judith (1969), Docteur Caraibes(1973), Histoires Etranges (1980), and Le Sequestre (1980). Aminel also provided the French dubbing voice Darth Vader and such American actors as Yul Brynner and Louis Gossett, Jr. He was also a voice actor for the films Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle (1976), Droles de Zebres (1977), and B.C. Rock (1980).

Georges Aminel

ANDERSON, CLETUS Production designer Cletus Anderson, who was best known for his work with horror filmmaker George Romero, died of cancer at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 16, 2007. He was 69. Anderson was born on February 10, 1938. He and his wife designed sets and costumes for many local productions in the Pittsburgh area. They were also drama teachers at Carnegie Mellon from the late 1960s, and wrote the popular text Costume Design. Anderson began working with George Romero in the early 1980s, serving as production designer on the films Knightriders (1981), Creepshow (1982), Day of the Dead (1985), Monkey Shines (1988), Two Evil Eyes (1990), the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead, and The Dark Half (1993).

Joe Ames

AMINEL, GEORGES French actor Georges Aminel died in Paris on May 20, 2007. He was 84. Aminel was born in Clichy, France, on October 11, 1922. He began his acting career in the 1940s and became the first Black actor to perform with the Comedie-Francaise in 1967. He was a leading performer on stage and screen, appearing in such films as Le Cabaret du Grand Large (1946), Tournant Dangereux (1955), The Little Rebels (1955), Love in Jamaica (1957), The Gates of Paris (1957), Illegal Cargo (1958), Sahara on Fire (1961), Ame qui Vive (1962), Action Man (1967), Popsy Pop (1971), The Lonely Killers (1972), Gates of Fire (1972), Le Grande Recre (1976), Parisian Life (1977), Mama Dracula (1980) as the narrator, and Jean Galmot, Adventurer (1990). He also

Cletus Anderson

ANDERSON, JOHN B. Effects animator John B. Anderson died suddenly on December 11, 2007. He was 39. Anderson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on

9 August 13, 1968. He began in working in animation in the late 1990s as a shading artist for A Bug’s Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999). He continued to serve as a shader writer and effects animator for such films as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001), It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003), House of Wax (2005), Madagascar (2005), Mee-Shee: The Water Giant (2005), Moongirl (2005), and Surf ’s Up (2007). Anderson worked at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and was employed at Sony Pictures Imageworks in recent years.

John B. Anderson

ANDERSSON, INGVAR Swedish actor Ingvar Andersson died in Skane Ian, Sweden, on July 31, 2007. He was 80. Andersson was born in Skane Ian on January 13, 1927. A leading performer on stage and screen, he was featured in such films as Sven klangs Combo (1976), The Call-Up (1979), The Simple-Minded Murder (1982), Jim and the Pirates (1987), Murder at the Savoy (1993), Roseanna (1993), Sommarmord (1994), and 7 Miljonarer (2006). Andersson also appeared on television in productions of Ashojdens BK (1985), August Palms Aventyr (1985), and Hemvarnets Glada Dagar (2006).

2007 • Obituaries tective series The Mod Squad, died of cardiac arrest at his home in Encino, California, on January 27, 2007. He was 86. Andrews was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 19, 1920. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was wounded in action in Sicily. After the war he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He made his stage debut in a production of The Threepenny Opera in 1955. He also appeared on Broadway in Mister Roberts, and reprised the role of Wiley in John Ford’s 1955 film version. His other film credits include The Wings of Eagles (1957), Until They Sail (1957), China Doll (1958), Imitation General (1958), Onionhead (1958), and A Private Affair (1959). Andrews was also a frequent performer on television from the 1950s, appearing in episodes of Kraft Television Theatre, ABC Album, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Inner Sanctum, The Phil Silvers Show, U.S. Marshal, Playhouse 90, The Grand Jury, Zorro, The Lawless Years, The Best of the Post, Adventures in Paradise, The Dick Powell Show, Alcoa Premiere, Ensign O’Toole, and Sam Benedict. He starred as Lt. Russo on the series The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor from 1959 to 1962, and guest-starred in episodes of Mr. Novak, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, Slattery’s People, Twelve O’Clock High, Jericho, Run for Your Life, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, The F.B.I., Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Dundee and the Culhane, Star Trek as the Klingon Kras in the “Friday’s Child” episode, Premiere, Gunsmoke, and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in the recurring role of Chief Petty Officer Simpson. Andrews also appeared in the 1968 film In Enemy Country before beginning his beginning his five year stint as Captain Greer in The Mod Squad in 1968. He earned an Emmy nomination for his role as mentor to the young undercover cops played by Clarence Williams III, Michael Cole, and Peggy Lipton. He reprised the role in the 1979 reunion tele-film Return of the Mod Squad. He was also seen in the films The Last Tycoon (1976) and Gypsy Angels (1980), and the tele-films Skyway to Death (1974), The Werewolf of Woodstock (1975) as the werewolf, and Raid on Entebbe (1977) as Shimon Peres. His other television credits include episodes of Marcus Welby, M.D., Amy Prentiss, Barbary Coast, Police Story, Police Woman, Good Heavens, Kojak, Vega$, CHiPs, Quincy, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Hawaiian Heat, Street Hawk, Misfits of Science, Sledge

Ingvar Andersson

ANDREWS, TIGE Actor Tige Andrews, who starred as Captain Adam Greer on the cult television de-

Tige Andrews

Obituaries • 2007 Hammer!, and Murder, She Wrote. Andrews was married for 46 years to Norma Thornton, a dancer featured frequently on The Ed Sullivan Show, until her death in 1996.

ANGEL AZTECA Masked Mexican wrestler Angel Azteca, died of a heart attack after competing in a match in Campeche, Mexico, on March 18, 2007. He was 43. He began wrestling in the early 1980s and became known as Angel Azteca in 1988. He was a popular star in the early 1990s, wrestling with CMLL and AAA. He held the NWA Middleweight Championship and the Mexican Welterweight title and teamed with Atlantis and Volador to capture the Mexican Tag Team belts. He also teamed with Hijo de Santo and Super Muneco to hold the Mexican National Trios Title. He lost his mask in a match against Arkangel de la Muerte in 2003. He continued to work in the ring as a referee and competed on the independent circuit until his death.

10 all (1960), ...Und du, Mein Schatz, Bleibst Heir (1961), Im Schwarzen Rossl (1961), The Bandit and the Princess (1962), Das Ist die Liebe der Matrosen (1962), Ohne Krimi Geht die Mimi nie ins Bett (1962), Rote Lippen Soll Man Kussen (1963), Im Singenden Rossel am Konigssee (1963), Liebesgrusse aus Tirol (1964), Murder by Proxy (1964), Die Grosse Kur (1964), Ruf der Walder (1965), and Happyend in St. Gilgen (1966). By the mid–1960s Antel was primarily directing ribald sex comedies, many under the pseudonym Francois Legrand. He helmed The Sweet Sins of Sexy Susan (1967), The Lucky Strike (1967), Tower of Screaming Virgins (1968), Sexy Susan Sins Again (1968), House of Pleasure (1969), The Viking Who Became a Bigamist (1969), Wild, Willing & Sexy (1969), The Hostess Exceeds All Bounds (1970), Sexy Susan Knows How...! (1970), My Father, the Ape and I (1971), Cutting Loose at the Wolfgangsee (1972), Was Geschah auf Schloss Wildberg (1972), Naughty Nymphs (1972), The Countess Died of Laughter (1973), Das Wandern ist Herm Mullers Lust (1973), When Girls Trumpet for Manuevers (1974), Trinity Plus the Clown and a Guitar (1975), Naughty Roommates (1975), As of Tomorrow (1976), Casanova & Co. (1977), Love Hotel in Tyrol (1978), and Traumbus (1979). Antel earned international acclaim for his film adaptation of Ulrich Becher and Peter Preses’ anti–Fascist play Der Bockerer in 1981. Three sequels followed, Der Bockerer 2 (1996), Der Bockerer III — Die Brucke von Andau (2000), and Der Neue Bockerer — Prager Fruhling (2003). His later credits also include the film Johann Strauss: The King Without a Crown (1987), and the television productions Die Kaffeehaus-Clique (1990) and My Friend, the Lipizzaner (1993).

Azteca Angel

ANTEL, FRANZ Austrian film producer and director Franz Antel died in Vienna, Austria, on August 11, 2007. He was 94. Antel was born in Vienna on June 28, 1913. He began working in films as a producer in the mid–1930s, with such credits as Immortal Melodies (1936), Millinenerbschaft (1937), Narren im Schnee (1938), Das Ehesanatorium (1938), and Meine Tochter Lebt in Wien (1940). He became noted as a director and writer of film comedies and musicals after World War II. Antel helmed, and often scripted, such films as The Singing House (1948), Kleiner Schwindel am Wolfgangsee (1949), Der Alte Sunder (1951), Eva Inherits Paradise (1951), Hello Dienstmann (1952), Der Mann in der Wanne (1952), Ideal Woman Sought (1952), Ein Tolles Fruchtchen (1953), Der Obersteiger (1953), Heute Nacht Passiert’s (1953), The Emperor Waltz (1953), Die Sussesten Fruchte (1954), Rosen aus dem Suden (1954), Kaisermanover (1954), Loving Couples (1954), Ja, So Ist Das Mit der Liebe (1955), Spionage (1955), Homeland (1955), Congress Dances (1955), Symphonie in Gold (1956), Lumpazivagabundus (1956), Kaiserball (1956), Roter Mohn (1956), Heimweh ... Dort Wo die Blumen Bluh’n (1956), Das Gluck Liegt auf der Strasse (1957), Vier Madels aus der Wachau (1957), Solang’ die Stern Gluh’n (1958), Ooh ... Diese Ferien (1958), Liebe, Madchen und Soldaten (1958), Der Schatz vom Toplitzsee (1959), Glocken Lauten Uber-

Franz Antel

ANTONIONI, MICHELANGELO Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni died at his home in Rome on July 30, 2007. He was 94. Antonioni was born in Ferrara, Italy, on September 29, 1912. He studied economics at the University of Bologna, where he also wrote and directed several plays. He moved to Rome in 1940, where he worked as a film critic and studied at the Institute of Experimental Filmmaking. He also scripted several films including The Return of the Pilot (1942) with Roberto Rossellini. He made his debut as a director with the 1943 documentary People of Po Valley about the lives of the local fishermen. Much of the footage was de-

11

2007 • Obituaries

stroyed during the German occupation. He continued to write film criticism and direct documentaries after World War II, with such credits as Roma Montevideo (1948), Oltre l’Oblio (1948), Nettezza Ubrana (1948), Superstition (1949), Seven Reeds One Suit (1949), Ragazze in Bianco (1949), Bomarzo (1949), and Lies of Love (1949). Antonioni began directing more ambitious features in the 1950s with The Funicular of Mount Faloria (1950), The Villa of Monsters (1950), Story of a Love Affair (1950), The Lady Without Camelias (1953), Youth and Perversion (1953), a segment of Love in the City (1953), The Girlfriends (1955), The Cry (1957) the first of several films starring actress Monica Vitti, and Sign of the Gladiator (1959). Antonioni next directed what is considered his masterpiece, L’Avventura (The Adventure) (1960), which further explored the themes of alienation present in many of his films. L’Avventura and his next two films, La Notte (The Night) (1961) starring Marcello Mastroianni, and L’Eclisse (The Eclipse) (1962) were meant by the director to form a trilogy. He examined a woman’s descent into madness in his first color film Red Desert (1964) starring Richard Harris and Monica Vitti, and helmed the “Il Provino” segment of Three Faces of a Woman in 1965. He made his next film for MGM in English, and scored his biggest commercial hit. Blow Up starred David Hemmings as a photographer whose pictures may contain evidence of a murder. Vanessa Redgrave also starred in the feature set in London in the Swinging 60s. Antonioni filmed his 1970 homage to the student protest movement, Zabriskie Point, in the United States, though it was largely a critical and commercial failure. His career recovered with 1975’s The Passenger, starring Jack Nicholson as a reporter who takes the identity of a gunrunner. He also directed The Mystery of Oberwald (1981) and Identification of a Woman (1982). He suffered a stroke in 1985 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak clearly. Largely inactive for nearly a decade, he was lured from retirement to direct the 1995 film Beyond the Clouds. German film director Wim Wenders assisted Antonioni in the filming because of his infirmities and was credited as co-director. He was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 1995 Academy Awards ceremony. Antonioni’s final credits include the 2004 short film Michelangelo Eye to Eye and the 2004 trilogy Eros,

made with Steven Soderbergh and Wong Kar-wai. Antonioni was married to Letizia Balboni from 1942 to 1954, and to actress Enrica Fico from 1986 until his death.

Michelangelo Antonioni

Don Arden

ARDEN, DON Rock music entrepreneur Don Arden, who was noted for his often violent and heavyhanded management style which earned him the nickname the “Al Capone of Pop” and “The English Godfather,” died after a long illness in Los Angeles, California, on July 21, 2007. He was 81. He was born Harry Levy in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England, on January 4, 1926, and left school at the age of 13 to pursue a career in entertainment. He changed his name to Don Arden in 1944, and set out as a stand-up comic and singer, entertaining the troops during World War II. After the war, he continued to perform on the vaudeville circuit until deciding there was more money to be made in promoting. In the late 1950s Arden began a career that spanned 60 years, promoting and managing some of the biggest names in pop music, including American Gene Vincent, the Animals, the Small Faces, ELO (Electric Light Orchestra), and legendary heavy metalist Ozzy Osbourne. Arden became known for his ill temper and brutal, often illegal, methods for dealing with any conflicts of interests included legal battles, threats, and physical violence. In 1963, Arden led the British beat band the Animals to the top of the charts with a #1 hit, “House of the Rising Sun,” though the partnership ended in dispute a short time later. He managed the Nashville Teens and the group made the Top Ten with the single “Tobacco Road” but the association quickly ended when monetary conflicts led to physical confrontation with the band’s pianist. Arden signed the mod band Small Faces in the mid–1960s and they achieved great success with their debut album Whatcha Gonna Do About It, though he admitted to manipulating the system by paying off chart fixers. A lengthy legal battle with the band ensued over money owed to the group, eventually ending in 1977. During this time Arden went on to manage the Electric Light Orchestra, which sold millions of albums internationally, and later followed the group’s band leader, Roy Wood, in the formation of Wizzard in the mid– 1970s. His son, David, ran his UK record company Jet and his daughter, Sharon, managed such acts as former

Obituaries • 2007 Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne during the 1980s. Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne in 1982 and an extensive dispute ensued when she took over management of her husband’s works, signing him with Epic Records. Arden once again made headlines in 1986 when he and son, David, were charged with the blackmail and false imprisonment of fellow music associate Harshad Patel. Arden fled to his Los Angeles home, though was eventually extradited and acquitted of all charges in 1987. His son was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. The feud between Arden and Sharon continued in the public eye for more than 20 years, and the two finally reconciled in 2002. He was seen in a 2002 episode of Intimate Portrait with Sharon Osbourne and made an appearance on the reality show The Osbournes in 2003. His biography, entitled Mr. Big: Ozzy, Sharon and My Life as the Godfather of Rock, was published in 2004.

ARDOIN, BOIS SEC Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin, a Louisiana Creole singer and accordion player, died in a Eunice, Louisiana, nursing home on May 16, 2007. He was 91. Ardoin was born in Duralde, Louisiana, on November 16, 1915. He learned to play the accordion as a child, and joined with fiddler Canray Fontenot as the Duralde Ramblers in the 1940s. Their zydeco style was popular at local dancehalls and on the radio, and they were featured at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966. They subsequently recorded their first album, Les Blues du Bayou, and continued to perform at various concerts and folk festivals until Fontenot’s death in 1995. Ardoin was joined by his sons, Morris, Lawrence, and Gustave, to form the Ardoin Family Orchestra in the 1970s, and he also toured and recorded with Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa.

12 People (1962), La Murga (1963), Circe (1964), A Nation with Me (1967), Amor Libre (1969), Nino (1972), In the Driver’s Seat (1972), La Mary (1974), Las Procesadas (1975), Los Orilleros (1975), What’s Autumn? (1977), From the Abyss (1980), Las Barras Bravas (1985), and Las Lobas (1986). Argibay’s numerous television credits include such productions as Simplemente Maria (1969), El Hombre que Volvio de la Muerte (1969), El Monstruo no ha Muerto (1970), Alta Comedia: El Avaro (1971), El Tobogan (1971), El Regresso (1974), La Zarpa (1974), Andrea Celeste (1980), El Solitario (1980), Un Latido Distinto (1981), El Teatro de Irma Roy (1983), Amor Gitano (1983), and Coraje Mama (1985). Argibay largely retired from the screen because of poor health in the mid–1980s, though he made a final performance in the film Los Ratones in 1998.

Alberto Argibay

ARMSTRONG, ROGER Comic artist Roger Armstrong, who illustrated Bugs Bunny and The Flintstones during his long career, died of cardiac arrest in a Mission Viejo, California, hospital on June 7, 2007. He was 89. Armstrong was born in Los Angeles on October 12, 1917. He began drawing for a advertising agency while in his teens and was hired by Western Publishing in 1941. He was assigned to draw the new Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics starring Bugs Bunny. He also assisted Clifford McBride on the Napoleon and Uncle Elby comic

Bois Sec Ardoin

ARGIBAY, ALBERTO Argentine actor Alberto Argibay died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 10, 2007. He was 74. Argibay was born in Santa Cruz, Argentina, on October 25, 1932. He made his film debut in Mario Soffici’s 1958 feature Isla Brava. He remained a popular performer in films and on television over the next three decades. His other film credits include I Was Born in Buenos Aires (1959), La Patota (1960), Three Times Ana (1961), Alias Big Shot (1961), Los Inconstantes (1962), Mi Buenos Aires Querido (1962), The Young Old

Roger Armstrong

13 strip, and took over as artist after McBride’s death in 1950. He also illustrated comic strips featuring Bugs Bunny, Ella Cinders, Little Lulu, and Scamp. He continued to work for Western Publishing on such titles as Donald Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Porky Pig, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, The Pink Panther, Super Goof, and The Beagle Boys. Most of these titles were published by Dell, and later Gold Key comics. Armstrong was also the author of the 1990 book How to Draw Comic Strips.

ARNALL, DICK British animator Dick Arnall died of pneumonia and complications from a brain tumor in London on February 6, 2007. He was 62. Arnall was born in Sunderland, England, on July 14, 1944. His early interest in animation led to him organizing several animated film festivals in the 1960s. He worked with George Dunning on the animated Beatles film Yellow Submarine in 1968. He continued to work in animation with Halas and Bachelor through the early 1970s, when he married Finnish animator Marjut Rimminen. After taking time off to raise their child, Arnall returned to film production as producer of his wife’s award-winning I’m Not a Feminist but... in 1986. He continued to produce such animated classics as Tim Webb’s A Is for Autism (1992), Ruth Lingford’s Death and the Mother (1997), and Robert Bradbrook’s Home Road Movies (2001). His other animated credits include Exten. 21 (2003), Flight (2005), Sweet Salt (2005), Rabbit (2005), Careful (2005), Anime TV (2005), Yours Truly (2006), Purple Grey (2006), Proximity (2006), and From Nose to Mouth (2006).

2007 • Obituaries Bade Dil Wala (1983), Today’s Voice (1984), Saaheb (1985), Balidaan (1985), Sandak Chhap (1987), Purani Haveli (1989), The Final Scream (1991), Geetanjali (1993), and Indian Babu (2003). He also appeared in such television productions as Ramayan (1986), Lakeerein (2001), and Talaash (2001). Arora had also worked as a cinematographer for the past decade, photographing such films as Aai (1995), The Reality (1999), Jungle (2000), Tera Mera Saath Rahen (2001), Tum Bin ... Love Will Find a Way (2001), Rakht (2004), Struggler (2005), It Was Raining That Night (2005), Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi! (2005), Naksha (2006), and Deha (2006).

Vijay Arora

ARTIS, TOM Comic artist Tom Artis died of complications from diabetes at his home in Springfield, Illinois, on May 1, 2007. He was 51. Artis was born on January 3, 1956. He worked for most of the major comic companies, illustrating Aliens vs. Predator for Dark Horse, She-Hulk for Marvel, and Green Arrow, The Spectre and Justice Society of America for DC. Artis also cocreated the DC mini-series Tailgunner Jo, with writer Peter Gillis.

Dick Arnall

ARORA, VIJAY Indian actor Vijay Arora, who was best known for starring in the 1973 hit film Yaadon Ki Baraat, died of complications from an intestinal ailment at his home in Mumbai, India, on February 2, 2007. He was 62. Arora was born in India on December 27, 1944. He attended the Film and Television Institute of India, graduating in 1971. He embarked on a successful career in film and television, appearing in over 100 features. His film credits include Samadhi (1972), My Brother (1972), Justice (1973), 36 Ghante (1974), Natak (1975), The Bandit (1975), The Heart and the Wall (1978), Sargam (1979), Gautam Govinda (1979), Sannata (1981), Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya (1982), Ek Din Bahu Ka (1983),

Tom Artis (his comic creation Tailgunner Jo)

Obituaries • 2007 ASENDORF, CHARLOTTE German actress Charlotte Asendorf died in Darmstadt, Germany, on July 21, 2007. She was 88. Asendorf was born in Bremen, Germany, in 1919. She was featured in the films Odipussi (1988), Pappa ante Portas (1991), and Hausmanner (1991). She also appeared the in 2005 tele-film Die Dieben & der General, and in episodes of such series as Polizeiruf 110 and Tatort.

14 the Clown on Toronto television before hosting his own children’s series, The Uncle Bobby Show, from 1964. Assisted by the Singing Policeman and Bimbo the Birthday Clown, Ash hosted several incarnations of the show over the next two decades.

Bobby Ash

Charlotte Asendorf

ASFARI, ROSY Bangladeshi actress Rosy Afsari died of kidney failure in a Birdem, Bangladesh, hospital on March 9, 2007. She was 60. She began her film career in 1964 in what was then East Pakistan. Afsari appeared in over 2000 films during her career including Eito Jibon, Sangam, Joarbhata, Etotuku Asha, Neel Akasher Nichey, Lathial, Bela Shesher Gaan, Oshikkhito, Protikar, Jibon, Theykeneya, Shurjo Grahan, Shurjo Shangram, and Titas Ekti Nadir Naam. She also produced and directed a number of films during her career.

ASHTON, AL HUNTER British actor Al Hunter Ashton was found dead of heart failure at his home in Guinions Road, High Wycombe, England, on April 27, 2007. He was 49. Ashton was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, on June 26, 1957. He was best known for his role as Pitbull in the ITV television drama London’s Burning and as Ray Grice in Crossroads. Ashton also appeared in the television mini-series The 10th Kingdom (2000) and King of Bandit Jing (2002), and guest starred in episodes of Urban Gothic, Murder in Mind, Doctors, and Wire in the Blood. He was also featured in several films including Gladiator (2000) with Russell Crowe, The Wedding Tackle (2000), From Hell (2001), and Mr. In-Between (2001). Ashton also began writing for television in the mid–1980s, scripting episodes of the soap-opera EastEnders. He also wrote the television productions The Firm (1990), Alive and Kicking (1991), Safe (1993), and White Goods (1994), and scripted the BBC series The Broker’s Man (1997).

Rosy Asfari

ASH, BOBBY Canadian children’s entertainer Bobby Ash, who was known to several generations of youngsters as Uncle Bobby, died of a heart attack in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada, on May 20, 2007. He was 82. Ash was born to a theatrical family in Staffordshire, England, in 1924. He worked as a circus clown in England before relocating to Canada. He starred as Kiddo

Al Hunter Ashton

15 ASMODI, HERBERT German playwright and screenwriter Herbert Asmodi died of a stroke in Munich, Germany, on March 3, 2007. He was 83. Asmodi was born in Heilbronn, Germany, on March 30, 1923. His play, Nachsaison, was adapted for German television several times in the 1960s. Asmodi also scripted the 1966 film adaptation of Young Torless, and was featured in the film as Torless’ father. He also wrote such television productions as Palace-Hotel (1969), Eine Unwurdige Existenz (1971), Die Frau in Weiss (1971), Der Rote Schal (1973), Du Land der Lieb (1974), Der Monddiamant (1974), Frag Nach bei Casanova (1975), Die Affare Lerouge (1976), Onkel Silas (1977), Lady Audleys Geheimnis (1978), Der Eiserne Gustav (1978), Treu und Redlichkeit (1979), Konsul Mollers Erben (1983), and Das Totenreich (1986).

2007 • Obituaries screen role was as Geoff Noble in “The Runaway Bride” episode of Doctor Who in 2006.

AUTRAN, PAULO Brazilian actor Paulo Autran died of complications from lung cancer in a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hospital on October 12, 2007. He was 85. Autran was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 7, 1922. He studied law and diplomacy before embarking on a stage career in the late 1940s. He appeared in numerous theatrical productions over the next fifty years, and was also seen frequently in films and television productions. Autran’s film credits include Apassionata (1952), Veneno (1952), Destiny in Trouble (1954), E Probido Beijar (1954), As Sete Evas (1962), Le Tout Pour le Tout (1963), Cronica da Cidade Amada (1964), Mar Corrente (1967), Earth in Trance (1967) as Porfirio Diaz, O Menino Arco-Iris (1983), Vertige (1985), O Pais dos Tenentes (1987), Fogo e Paixao (1988), Felicidade E... (195), Oriundi (1999), Tiradentes (1999), Artificios (2001), A Maquina (2005), The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006), and The Past (2007). He also starred in the television mini-series Hilda Furacao in 1998.

Herbert Asmodi

ATTFIELD, HOWARD British character actor Howard Attfield died in England on October 31, 2007. He was 60. Attfield appeared frequently on television from the 1980s in episodes of such series as Minder, The Optimist, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Darling Buds of May, One Foot in the Grave, Lexx, ChuckleVision, and Rosemary & Thyme. He also appeared in the 1980 television production of Cream in My Coffee (1980) and in the films Leon the Pig Farmer (1993), Ever After (1998), Lighthouse (2000), and Brothers of the Head (2005). His final on-

Howard Attfield

Pedro Autran

AWESOME, MIKE Mike Alfonso, who wrestled professionally under the name Mike Awesome, was found dead of an apparent suicide by hanging at his home in Tampa, Florida, on February 17. 2007. He was 42. Alfonso was born in Tampa on January 24, 1965. He attended Steve Keirn’s wrestling school in Florida and made his professional debut in February of 1989. In 1990, wrestling as the Gladiator, he teamed with Mr. Pogo to win the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) Tag Team Title. He continued to wrestle in Japan in the early 1990s, often teaming with Big Titan and Mr. Pogo. Awesome defeated Wing Kanemura for the Independent World Heavyweight Title in December of 1996. He entered the ECW in the fall of 1999, where he was managed by Judge Jeff Jones. He captured the ECW World Heavyweight Title in September of 1999 in a three-way match against Taz and Masato Tanaka. He lost the belt to Tanaka in December 1999, but regained the title in a rematch six days later. He also briefly held the ECW tag team belts with Raven in March of 2000. Awesome subsequently joined the WCW, dropping the ECW belt to Tazz in April 2000, before feuding with Hulk Hogan

Obituaries • 2007 and Diamond Dallas Page at WCW. Later in the year Awesome became “that 70’s guy,” hosting the “Lava Lamp Lounge” in WCW. With his Awesome Bomb finishing maneuver, he defeated such competitors as Jeff Jarrett, Vampiro and Bam Bam Bigelow. In March of 2001, Awesome’s contract was acquired by the WWE after the purchase of WCW. He debuted with the WWE in June of 2001, defeating Rhyno for the WWE Hardcore belt. He subsequently joined Paul Heyman’s ECW faction in the ECW/WCW invasion angle. A major injury in November of 2001 sidelined Awesome for several months. In the spring of 2002 he competed while rehabilitating from his injuries with the WWE affiliate Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA). Awesome returned briefly to compete with the WWE before he was released from his contract in September of 2002. He continued to compete on the independent circuit in the United States and Japan and made several appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Awesome made one of his final ring appearances at ECW One Night Stand in 2005, again facing Tanaka.

16 with lead guitarist and vocalist Paul Samson, singer Bruce Brice (later know as Bruce Dickinson), and drummer Thunderstick (Barry Graham) on the group’s early albums Survivors (1979), Head On (1980), Shock Tactics (1981), Before the Storm (1982), and Don’t Get Mad, Get Even (1984). He also appeared with the band in the 1980 short film Biceps of Steel. Aylmer left the band in 1985, though he continued to perform on occasion with members of the group. The band attempted a reunion tour in 1999 and played in several venues before Samson’s death from cancer in 2002.

BAAU HON LAM Hong Kong character actor Baau Hon Lam died in London, England, on July 12, 2007. He was 92. Baau portrayed elderly Chinese in such films as Lin Ya Zhen (1978), The Story of a Refugee (1980), Working Class (1985), Year of the Dragon (1985), Passion (1986), My Days Inside the Underworld (1989), God of Gamblers (1989), A Killer’s Blues (1990), The Ultimate Trickster (1991), God of Gamblers II (1991), Dances with the Dragon (1991), Gambling Respect (1991), Party of a Wealthy Family (1991), God of Gamblers’ Return (1994), and Tristar (1996). He was also featured in such television productions as Dynasty (1980), Fatherland (1980), Rise of Great Wall — Emperor Qin Shi Huang (1986), and The Fragile Heart (1996).

Mike Awesome

AYLMER, CHRIS British rock musician Chris Aylmer died in England after a long battle with throat cancer on January 9, 2007. He was 49. Aylmer began working with the band Samson as a soundman in 1977, but soon joined the group as their bassist. He performed

Chris Aylmer

Baau Hon Lam

BACKES, ALICE Character actress Alice Backes died in her sleep at her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on March 15, 2007. She was 83. Backes was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 17, 1923. She served in the WAVES during World War II and went to Hollywood after the war to embark on an acting career. She appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, guest starring in episodes of such series as Gang Busters, Dragnet, Medic, Bachelor Father, M Squad, Lux Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Law of the Plainsman, The Rifleman, Startime, Goodyear Theatre, Hennesey, Thriller, Ben Casey, Leave It to Beaver, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, General Electric Theater, The Virginian, The Andy Griffith Show, My Favorite Martian, Wagon Train, Hazel, The Rogues, Burke’s Law, The Munsters, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gunsmoke, The Donna Reed Show, The Farmer’s Daughter, Bewitched, The Big Valley, The Outsider, Dragnet, Lancer,

17 Mayberry R.F.D., Mannix, Ironside, Adam-12, Maude, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Baretta, Welcome Back, Kotter, Barnaby Jones, Barney Miller, The Greatest American Hero, Knight Rider, and Mr. Belvedere. She was also seen several films during her career including the sci-fi comedy The Twonky (1953), I Want to Live! (1958), It Started with a Kiss (1959), That Touch of Mink (1962), The Glory Guys (1965), Snowball Express (1972), The Man from Independence (1974), Gable and Lombard (1976) as Hedda Hopper, The Cat from Outer Space (1978), and Half a House (1979). Backes other television credits include the tele-films Snowball Express (1972), Columbo: Negative Reaction (1974), Winner Take All (1975), Fear on Trial (1975), Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid (1978), The Best Place to Be (1979), and Columbo: A Trace of Murder (1997).

2007 • Obituaries Sally Jessy Raphael after the hoax was discovered, where she condemned them for making a mockery of television talk shows.

BAITZEL, EDGAR Edgar Baitzel, the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Opera, died of cancer in Los Angeles on March 11, 2007. He was 51. Baitzel was born in Koblenz, Germany, on May, 17, 1955, and later studied at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. In 1978 he became assistant manager of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich until a promotion to head dramaturge in 1983. He oversaw productions of the complete works of Robert Wagner in 1983 and Richard Strauss in the following year. He was also assistant manager and artistic director at the Karlsruhe Opera in Germany, artistic director of the Bonn Opera and artistic consultant for the Opera de Nice in France. Baitzel was recruited to the Los Angeles Opera by Placido Domingo as director of operation in 2001. The following year, he became the artistic director and was appointed chief operating officer in 2006. During his six year career at the Los Angeles Opera he oversaw the creation of such productions as Puccini’s Turandot (2002), Deborah Drattell’s Nicholas and Alexandra (2003) and Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel (2006).

Alice Backes

BAILEY, WES Wes Bailey, a Chicago actor who caused a scandal in television talk shows when he impersonated guests in 1988, died of lung cancer in Chicago on November 8, 2007. He was 52. Bailey performed frequently on the local stage, appearing for several years in Cannibal Cheerleaders on Crack at the Torso Theater. He and fellow performer Tani Freiwald posed as guests on Sally Jessy Raphael and Geraldo, with Freiwald pretending to be a sex therapist and Bailey was an impotent young married man on one and a rescued male virgin on the other. The two were later invited to return to

Wes Bailey

Edgar Baitzel

BAKER, ELLIOTT Elliott Baker, who was best known for writing the novel and screenplay for the Sean Connery film A Fine Madness, died of cancer in Los Angeles on February 9, 2007. He was 84. He was born Elliot Cohen in Buffalo, New York, on December 15, 1922. He began writing for television in the 1950s, scripting episodes of Robert Montgomery Presents, Look Up and Live, Armchair Theatre, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Way Out, Great Ghost Tales, and Zero Hour. He wrote his first novel, a dark comedy entitled A Fine Madness, in 1964. He adapted his novel for the film version two years later. He also adapted Murray Schisgal’s play Luv for the screen in 1967. Baker also scripted the films Viva Max! (1969) and Breakout (1975), and the tele-films The Entertainer (1976), Malibu (1983), Lace (1984), Lace II (1985) and To Be the Best (1992). Baker scripted several episodes of the television series Adderly. His other novels include The Penny Wars (1968), Pocock and Pitt (1971), Klynt’s Law (1976), And We Were Young (1979) and Unhealthful Air (1988).

Obituaries • 2007 BAKKER, TAMMY FAYE Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, the mascara encrusted televangelist who cohosted the PTL Club with her former husband, Jim Bakker, died of cancer on July 20, 2007. She was 65. She was born Tamara Faye LaValley in International Falls, Minnesota, on March 7, 1942. She “found God” during a service at an Assembly of God church at the age of ten according to her 1996 autobiography, Tammy: Telling It My Way. She met Bakker while attending bible college and married him in April of 1961. She and her new husband left school to become itinerant preachers in the South. Their services included a puppet show that brought them to the attention of Pat Robertson. He incorporated the Bakkers into his newly formed Christian Broadcasting Network in 1965. They created a popular children’s television show for the network and Jim soon became host of the first Christian talk show The 700 Club. The Bakkers broke with Robertson in 1972 and helped form the rival Trinity Broadcasting Network in 1973. Jim and Tammy Faye began co-hosting the PTL Club (PTL standing for “Praise the Lord,” or by critics as “Pass the Loot”) in 1975. By the end of the decade, they were raking in millions upon millions from the faithful around the world. Tammy Faye became a cultural icon, noted for her lavish use of make-up and on screen dramatics that often ended in tears. The Bakker empire was brought down in 1977, initially with allegations that Jim Bakker had a sexual encounter with his former secretary, Jessica Hahn, earlier in the decade. He resigned as leader of the PTL ministry with Jerry Falwell taking the reigns. Later that year, Tammy Faye was treated for prescription drug dependency, and her husband was indicted on federal charges of fraud and conspiracy regarding the ministries finances. Jim was convicted on all counts in 1989 and served four and one half years in prison. Tammy Faye divorced him mid-way through his prison term and married former PTL contractor Roe Messner in 1993. Her second husband also ended up in jail, serving more than two years for federal bankruptcy fraud later in the decade. Tammy Faye appeared frequently on television despite the scandals. She made cameo appearances in episodes of Roseanne and The Drew Carey Show and guest appearances on The Roseanne Show, The Sharon Osbourne Show, Hollywood Squares, The Anna Nicole Show and Larry King Live. She co-hosted a short lived talk

18 show The Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show in 1996 with comedian Jim J. Bullock, and was one of the fading celebrities to star in the WB reality show The Surreal Life in 2003. Her support for gay civil rights made her a popular figure in the homosexual community. She was the subject of a sympathetic documentary film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 2000, and her on-going fight with cancer was recorded in the 2005 documentary film, Tammy Faye: Death Defying.

BALDI, FERDINANDO Italian film director and screenwriter Ferdinando Baldi, who was noted for his spaghetti westerns in the 1960s, died in Italy on November 12, 2007. He was 90. Baldi was born in Cava dei Tireeni, Salerno, Italy, on May 19, 1917. He began making films in Italy in the early 1950s with Il Prezzo dell’Onore (1952), Assi Alla Ribalta (1954), Ricordami (1955), Amarti e il Mio Destino (1957), and Due Selvaggi a Corte (1959). Baldi was co-director for the 1960 film David and Goliath starring Orson Welles, and also directed Welles in the 1961 film The Tartars. Baldi continued to direct, and often script, such films as The Tyrant of Castile (1964), Son of Cleopatra (1964), Goodbye Texas (1966), Sex Service (1966), Suicide Mission to Singapore (1966), In the Shadow of the Eagles (1966), Rita of the West (1967), Massacre in the Black Forest (1967), Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968), Hate Thy Neighbor (1968), Gunman of Ave Maria (1969), The Corsairs (1971), Blindman (1971), The Sicilian Connection (1972), Long Lasting Days (1973), Carambola (1974), Geometra Primetti Selvaggiamente Osvaldo (1976), Get Mean (1976), Nine Guests for a Crime (1977), L’Inquilina del Piano di Sopra (1978), Terror Express (1979), La Compagna di Viaggio (1980), the 3-D film Comin’ at Ya! (1981), Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983), Warbus (1985), Ten Zan — Ultimate Mission (1988), and Just a Damned Soldier (1988).

Ferdinando Baldi

Tammy Faye Bakker

BALINT, STEPHAN Hungarian avant garde theatrical figure Stephan Balint died in Budapest, Hungary, on October 11, 2007. He was 64. Balint was born in Budapest on July 11, 1943. He began his career on stage in Budapest in the 1970s, where his stage productions brought the displeasure of the communist regime. He and his theatrical troupe were forced to leave Hungary and settled in New York City, where they formed the

19 Squat Theater in 1977. Balint would frequently write, direct and star in many of the company’s plays, which included Andy Warhol’s Last Love, Mr. Dead and Mrs. Free and Pig, Child, Fire! He also wrote and appeared in Robert Frank’s 1989 film Hunter, and played Hungarian physicist Eugen Wigner in the 1989 tele-film about the construction of the atomic bomb, Day One. He also appeared in the 1990 film The Golden Boat. Balint returned to Hungary after the collapse of the communist government in 1991, where he continued his theatrical endeavors.

2007 • Obituaries 1975. Her second novel, Imaginary Crime, was released in 1982 and was a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood. It was adapted into a 1994 film, starring Harvey Keitel and Fairuza Balk. She also published as short story collection, Life on Earth, in 1988.

Sheila Ballantyne

Stephan Balint

BALL, FRED Fred Ball, the younger brother of comedienne Lucille Ball, died at his home in Cottonwood, Arizona, on February 5, 2007. He was 91. Ball was born in Jamestown, New York, on July 17, 1915. He often accompanied his brother-in-law Desi Arnaz’s band while they toured in the 1940s and 1950s. He also worked at Lucy and Desi’s Desilu Productions in Hollywood.

BALLIETT, WHITNEY Jazz critic Whitney Balliett died of cancer at his home in Manhattan, New York, on February 1, 2007. He was 80. Balliett was born in Manhattan on April 17, 1926. He served in the U.S. Army in the late 1940s and joined The New Yorker in 1951. He worked in various editorial jobs until gaining his own column on jazz in 1957. Bringing a strong literary style to his columns, Balliett often incorporated interviews and biographical profiles of the musicians he covered. He remained with The New Yorker until 2001, and many of his essays were collected in a series of seventeen books.

Whitney Balliett Fred Ball (with sister Lucille Ball)

BALLANTYNE, SHEILA

Novelist Sheila Ballantyne died of a degenerative neurological disease at her home in Berkeley, California, on May 2, 2007. She was 70. She was born Sheila Caroline Weibert in Seattle, Washington, on July 26, 1936, and later wrote her books under her mother’s maiden name, Ballantyne. Her first novel, Norma Jean, the Termite Queen, was released in

BALMUTH, BERNARD Television editor Bernard Balmuth died on December 6, 2007. He was 89. Balmuth was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on May 19, 1918. He worked as an editor for such television series as I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, The Waltons, Taxi, and Palmerstown, U.S.A., which earned him an Emmy nomination in 1981. He also edited the tele-films The Last Hurrah (1977), Dal-

Obituaries • 2007 las Cowboys Cheerleaders II (1980), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983), and Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984).

20 William Barber in Hornell, New York, on May 21, 1920, and began playing the tuba while in high school. He studied at Juilliard before joining the Army during World War II, where he performed with the Army band. After the war, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and played with the Kansas City Philharmonic. He moved to New York in the late 1940s and joined Claude Thornhill’s big band. He recorded arrangements with Miles Davis and Gil Evans throughout the 1950s, producing several albums which include Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain and Porg y and Bess. He also performed on John Coltrane’s big-band album, Africa/Brass. He later earned a master’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music and became a high school music teacher. He remained active, performing with the Goldman Band and releasing a new rendition of Birth of the Cool with the band in 1992.

Bernard Balmuth (with his wife)

BAMPTON, ROSE Opera singer Rose Bampton, who performed as both a mezzo-soprano and soprano, died in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on August 21, 2007. She was 99. Bampton was born in Lakewood, Ohio, on November 28, 1907. She made her operatic debut as Siebel in Gounod’s Faust with the Chautauqua Opera in 1929. She performed as a mezzo-soprano with the Philadelphia Grand Opera, and debuted with the Met as Laura in La Gioconda in 1932. She continued to perform as a mezzo-soprano with the Met until 1937, when she sang the soprano role of Leonora in Verdi’s Trovatore. She performed the role of Leonore in a radio broadcast of Beethoven’s Fidelio with the NBC Symphony Orchestra led by Arturo Toscanini in 1944. She also starred in productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni as Donna Anna, Wagner’s Die Walkure as Sieglinde, and Verdi’s Aida before her retirement in 1950. Bampton was married to Met conductor Wilfrid Pelletier from 1937 until his death in 1982.

Bill Barber

BARCELONA, DANNY Jazz drummer Danny Barcelona, who earned international fame as a member of the band Louis Armstrong and His All Stars, died of cancer in San Gabriel, California, on April 1, 2007. He was 77. Barcelona was born in Hawaii on August 23, 1929. He formed the Hawaiian Dixieland All Stars in the early 1950s, and joined Louis Armstrong’s All Stars in 1958. They had such hits as “Hello, Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World.” Barcelona was also seen on

Rose Bampton

BARBER, BILL Bill Barber, who was a pioneer tuba jazz player, died of heart failure in Bronxville, New York, on June 18, 2007. He was 87. He was born John

Danny Barcelona (right, on drums, with Louis Armstrong)

21 film, appearing as himself in 1959’s Die Nacht vor der Premiere and 1960’s Jazz on a Summer’s Day. He was also seem with the All Stars in the film When the Boys Meet the Girls in 1965. The group disbanded after the death of Armstrong in 1971.

BARDA, ART Motorcycle racer Art Barda died of prostate cancer on January 23, 2007. He was 70. Barda was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1936. He began racing motorcycles in the late 1950s. He also worked in films as a stunt rider in the 1978 feature Deathsport, the semi-sequel to the Death Race 2000. He retired from racing in the 1970s, though he continued to remain active in the industry.

Art Barda

BARDOTTI, SERGIO Italian composer Sergio Bardotti died in Rome, Italy, on April 11, 2007. He was 68. Bardotti was born in Pavia, Italy, on February 14, 1939. He composed the song “Spiral Waltz,” which was heard in the 1965 science fiction film The Tenth Victim. He also composed scores for such films as Summertime Killer (1972), The Big Showdow (1972), and Os Saltimbancos Trapalhoes (1981).

2007 • Obituaries 2007. She was 80. Barnes was born in Newman, Georgia, on July 24, 1927, and studied journalism at the University of Georgia. In 1976 she published Murder in Coweta County, which told the story of a wealthy white landowner who was sentenced to death on the testimony of two black field hands after he killed a sharecropper. The book won the Edgar Allan Poe Award and was adapted into a tele-film in 1983, which starred Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith. She published The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama in 1998, which examined the 120-year reign of crime in Alabama’s Russell County. Barnes’ memoir, A Buzzard Is My Best Friend, was published in 1981.

Margaret Barnes

BARR, SANDY Professional wrestler and promoter Sandy Barr died of a heart attack in Portland, Oregon, on June 2, 2007. He was 69. Barr was born on January 21, 1938. He began wrestling professionally in 1957, competing primarily in the Pacific Northwest region. During the 1960s Barr worked frequently as referee and began promoting wrestling matches in the Oregon area with Don Owen. His older son, Jesse Barr, had a successful career as a wrestler, often teaming with Terry and Dory Funk under the name Jimmy Jack Funk. Barr’s younger son, Art Barr, became a leading wrestler in Portland and Mexico under the names Beetlejuice and the American Love Machine before his death in 1994. Sandy

Sergio Bardotti

BARNES, MARGARET ANNE Award-winning author Margaret Anne Barnes, whose books recounted landmark events in Southern history, died of emphysema at an Atlanta, Georgia, hospital on October 11,

Sandy Barr

Obituaries • 2007 Barr also trained the wrestlers Matt Borne, Velvet McIntyre, and Princess Victoria. He later operated a popular flea market in Portland, where he was working at the time of his death.

BARTER, SYLVIA British character actress Sylvia Barter died at Denville Hall, the British actors’ retirement home in Northwood, London, in March of 2007. She was 94. Barter was born in England on April 13, 1912. She studied to be a singer at the Royal College of Music, but abandoned her career for marriage and a family. She returned to the stage in the early 1960s, performing at repertory theatres throughout England. She also appeared frequently on television, starring as Daisy Penfold in the series Crossroads in 1964. She was also featured in episodes of Softly Softly, Play for Today, Helen: A Woman of Today, When the Boat Comes In, ITV Playhouse, Secret Army, Jemima Shore Investigates, Ladies in Charge, Casualty, KYTV, Forever Green, Love Hurts, and Lovejoy. Barter also appeared in television productions of Separate Tables (1983), Blott on the Landscape (1985), Absolute Hell (1991), and Emma (1996). She was also featured in several films during her career including Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991), The Countess Alice (1992), and Shadowlands (1993).

22 She was 49. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 16, 1958. Trained as a ballet dancer, she began her acting career in the early 1970s, appearing in several episodes of the television series Emergency! She was featured in a small role in the 1974 horror film The House of Seven Corpses, and was Karen Campbell in the daytime soap opera Another World in 1978. Bartram was best known for her final film, appearing as camp counselor Brenda, who was gruesomely slain by the psychotic killer in Friday the 13th (1980).

BASTABLE, TONY British television personality Tony Bastable died of pneumonia in a Redhill, Surrey, England, hospital on May 29, 2007. He was 62. Bastable was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, on October 14, 1944. He began working in television in the early 1960s as a children’s program host for Southern Television. He soon moved to ATV, and ended up at Thames Television in 1968. He became host of the popular children’s program Magpie, and served as the series’ producer from 1972. He also served as host of the consumer affairs series Money-Go-Round, the paranormal investigative series Mind Over Matter, and the programs Drive-In and Database. He also was featured frequently as a panelist on various radio shows. He also narrated documentaries for the Profiles of Nature series and was the author of several children’s books and biographies.

Sylvia Barter

BARTRAM, LAURIE

Actress Laurie Bartram died of cancer in Lynchburg, Virginia, on May 25, 2007.

Laurie Bartram

Tony Bastable

BATCHELDER, WARREN Animator Warren Batchelder, who worked on numerous Warner Bros. and Pink Panther cartoons, died in Malibu, California, on February 12, 2007. He was 89. Batchelder was born in Los Angeles on April 18, 1917. He began working in films in 1936 and became an animator at Warner in 1958. He worked on several Foghorn Leghorn and Bugs Bunny cartoons before moving to De Patie Freleng in the early 1960s. He was animator for the title sequence for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and served as animator for the many subsequent cartoons featuring the character. Batchelder also animated segments of Linus! The Lion Hearted, The Road Runner Show, The Ant and the Aardvark, Here Comes the Grump, Doctor Dolittle, The Houndcats, The Barkleys, Super President, The Oddball Couple, Bagg y Pants and Nitwits, What’s New, Mr. Magoo? and The Sylvester and Tweety Show. He served as an anima-

23 tion director at Marvel Productions in the early 1980s, where he worked on the series Dungeons & Dragons, Transformers and G.I. Joe. Batchelder also worked on such animated television productions as The HooberBloob Highway (1975), Bug Bunny’s Easter Special (1977), A Pink Christmas (1978), Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales (1979), Pink Panther and the Olym-pinks (1980), Daffy Duck’s Easter Show (1980), Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (1980), and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982). He was also involved in the theatrical compilation features The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981), Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982), and Daffy Duck’s Movie: Fantastic Island (1983). He was also sequence director for the 1985 video release Big Foot and the Muscle Machines.

2007 • Obituaries of such series as The Range Rider, Gunsmoke, My Friend Flicka, The Lone Ranger, The Restless Gun, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Buckskin, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun Will Travel, Cimarron City, One Step Beyond, Sky King, Rawhide, Bonanza, Tales of Wells Fargo, Riverboat, Zane Grey Theater, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Laramie, Outlaws, The Twilight Zone, Mannix, The Saint, Mayberry, R.F.D., Family Affair, Marcus Welby, M.D., Cannon, The Chisholms, Barnaby Jones, The Rockford Files, Charlie’s Angels, Wonder Woman, Wings, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Sister, Sister, and That ’70s Show.

Jeanne Bates Warren Batchelder (right, with animator Virgil Ross)

BATES, JEANNE Actress Jeanne Bates died at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on November 28, 2007. She was 89. Bates was born in Berkeley, California, on May 21, 1918. She began her career in radio, performing in soap operas and the mystery series Whodunit. She also performed on stage before signing a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942. She made her film debut the following year, appearing in such features as The Chance of a Lifetime (1943), The Phantom (1943), The Return of the Vampire (1944), The Racket Man (1944), Hey Rookie (1944), Sundown Valley (1944), The Black Parachute (1944), She’s a Soldier Too (1944), Shadows in the Night (1944), Soul of a Monster (1944), Sergeant Mike (1944), Tonight and Every Night (1945), The Mask of Diijon (1946), Trouble In-Laws (1951), Death of a Salesman (1951), Paula (1952), Sabaka (1954), Back from the Dead (1957), Trooper Hook (1957), Guns Don’t Argue (1957), Blood Arrow (1958), Vice Raid (1959), The Strangler (1964), Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970), Gus (1976), David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977), Die Hard 2 (1990), Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990), Mom (1990), Grand Canyon (1991), Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue (1992), Dream Lover (1994), and Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. (2001). Bates was featured as Nurse Wills in the television medical drama Ben Casey in the early 1960s. She also appeared in the tele-films The Stranger (1973), Getting Married (1978), and From the Dead of Night (1989). Her numerous television credits also include guest roles in episodes

BATISTE, ALVIN Clarinetist Alvin Batiste, who toured with Ray Charles, recorded music with Branford Marsalis, and was a leading musical instructor, died of a heart attack in New Orleans on May 6, 2007. He was 74. Batiste was born in New Orleans on November 7, 1932. He went on to become a dedicated teacher at the Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he created his own jazz institute. He also taught jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, educating such students as Branford Marsalis, Henry Butler, Kent Jordan, Donald Harrison, Michael Ward, Charlie Singleton and Woodie Douglas. He wrote music for and toured with such artists as Billy Cobham, Cannonball Adderley and Ray Charles. Batiste recorded with the group Clarinet Summit in the 1980s, producing such

Alvin Batiste

Obituaries • 2007 albums as Bayou Magic (1988), Late (1993) and Songs, Words and Messages, Connections (1999). Early in 2000 Marsalis performed and recorded the album Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste. Batiste became considered one of the founders of New Orleans’ modern jazz scene, remaining an active performer until the day of his passing.

BAXTER, CHARLIE Charles Morrison Baxter, who was best known as Florida’s horror movie host M.T. Graves in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died in a Tennessee nursing home on October 3, 2007. He was 82. Baxter was born on March 29, 1925. He began working in radio after World War II in the Detroit and Chicago areas. He moved to Florida in the 1950s where he became a popular radio and television personality. He was host of the children’s show The Fun Club before creating the ghoulish M.T. Graves for station WCKT in 1957. Graves was host of The Dungeon and hosted the weekly Saturday afternoon horror film program. He carried on through the early 1960s, later adding a football helmet to his costume and billing himself as M.T. Space. Later in the 1960s, he briefly hosted Captain Kid’s Secret Island before retiring from television.

24 on June 15, 2007. He was 73. He was born Arlington Billie Beatty in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on February 11, 1934, and taught himself how to play guitar as a teenager. Known for his flashy and flamboyant suits and matching shoes, he played with such groups as the Divine Travelers and the Victory Stars, often inciting his audience into a spiritual frenzy. He joined with the Queens of Faith and performed with them for over 40 years. Beatty was a honored member of the Coalition of Black Gospel Artist and the Washington Metropolitan Quartet Association.

BEEK, RICHARD German actor Richard Beek died in Munich, Germany, on August 17, 2007. He was 83. Beek was born in Ulm, Germany, on February 17, 1924. He was best known for his work on stage, performing with the Munich Kammerspiele from 1955 to 2001. Beek also appeared in such films as Knife in the Back (1975), A Lost Life (1976), Der Morder (1979), Stern Ohne Himmel (1980), Peaceful Days (1984), Cascadeur (1998), Requiem for a Romantic Woman (1999), Gigantics (1999), Ants in the Pants (2000), Strange Date with Herself (2000), and About the Looking for and the Finding of Love (2005). He was also featured frequently on television from the 1970s, appearing in such productions as Pizza-Express (1988), Florian (1990), Mit den Clowns Kamen die Tranen (1990), Der Tod kam als Freund (1991), Tasilo — Ein Fall fur Sich (1991), Konig Lear (1992), Doktor Knock (1996), Calculated Risk (1997), Cymbelin (2000), Ein Unmoglicher Mann (2001), and Der Kaufmann von Venedig (2004). His other television credits include episodes of Tatort, Forsthaus Falkenau, Polizeiruf 110, Der Bergdoktor, and Bella Block.

Charlie Baxter (as horror host M.T. Graves)

BEATTY, BILLIE Gospel guitarist Billie Beatty, who spent more than four decades jamming for Jesus, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Washington, D.C.,

Richard Beek

Billie Beatty

BEGARY, MARYSE French trapeze artist Maryse Begary died in Evansville, Illinois, on October 25, 2007. She was 81. Begary was born in Paris in 1926 and began performing in the circus at an early age. By the late 1940s she had become one of the leading aerialists in Europe, performing in routines high above the ring with her husband, Franz. She made her U.S. debut with the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1958. She performed with most other major American circuses over the next several decades, preferring to work her act without a net. Begary was Gina Lollobrigida’s stunt double

25 in the 1956 film Trapeze, with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. In 1958 she performed Rita Hayworth’s aerial sequences for the film Circus World, with John Wayne. She was also featured in an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show in 1962. She retired from performing in the mid–1980s.

Maryse Begary

BEGOLLI, FARUK Kosovo Albanian actor and director Faruk Begolli died of cancer in Pristina, Serbia, on August 23, 2007. He was 63. Begolli was born in Pec, Serbia (then Yugoslavia) on January 24, 1944. He studied at the Academy of Drama in Belgrade and appeared in numerous films and theatrical productions from the 1960s. Begolli’s film credits include Looking into the Eyes of the Sun (1966), The Dream (1966), The Morning (1967), Wolf of the Mountain (1968), Operacija Beograd (1968), Noon (1968), Brat Doktora Homera (1968), My Part of the World (1969), The Battle of the River Neretva (1969), Dear Irena (1970), Last Rampage (1970), Sam (1973), Biografija Jozefa Sulca (1973), The Dervish and Death (1974), Crveni Udar (1974), Pavle Pavlovic (1975), The Peaks of Zelengore (1976), Meduza Sejana (1976), Beach Guard in Winter (1976), Destines (1978), Arrive Before Daybreak (1978), Battle of the Eagles (1979), 13. Jul (1982), Timocka Buna (1983), Dih (1983), Opasni Trag (1984), Azra (1988), Kuca Pored Pruge (1988), The Cartier Operation (1991), The Love in Damned Mountain (1997), Metropolet (2005), and Kosova: Desperate Search (2006). Begolli was a professor at Pristina University in Kosovo

Faruk Begolli

2007 • Obituaries from the late 1980s and was director of the local Dodona theatre.

BEHM, MARC Novelist and screenwriter Marc Behm died in France on July 12, 2007. He was 82. Behm was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on January 12, 1925. He served in the military in Europe during World War II and remained there after his discharge. After an unsuccessful attempt at a career in acting, Behm turned to writing. He and Peter Stone co-authored the 1961 story “The Unsuspecting Wife,” which was adapted for a popular 1963 film, Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. He also began writing for film, scripting the 1961 German feature The Return of Dr. Mabuse and the ill-fated The Party’s Over in 1965. Behm was best known for writing the Beatles’ second film appearance, the fantasy comedy Help, in 1965. His other film credits include the films Trunk to Cairo (1966), The Twelve Chairs (1969) directed by Mel Brooks, Someone Behind the Door (1971), The Mad Bomber (1973), Piaf (1974), Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981) starring Sylvia Kirstel, Nana (1982), and Hospital Massacre (aka X-Ray) (1982). Behm was also noted for his novels, which included Queen of the Night (1977), The Ice Maiden (1982), and Afraid to Death (1990). His 1980 novel, The Eye of the Beholder was adapted for the French film Deadly Circuit in 1983 and for a British rendition under its original title in 1999. He also wrote the 1999 tele-film Past Imperfect, and several other novels that were only published in France.

Marc Behm

BEHR, EDWARD British foreign correspondent and writer Edward Behr died in Paris, France, on May 27, 2007. He was 81. Behr was born in Paris on May 7, 1926. He covered conflicts around the globe for such publications as Newsweek during his lengthy career as a foreign correspondent. He authored several books of his experiences, including The Algerian Problem (1961), Anyone Here Been Raped and Speaks English? (1981), The Last Emperor (1987), Hirohito: Behind the Myth (1989), Kiss the Hand You Cannot Bite: The Rise and Fall of the Ceausescus (1991), and The Artful Eater (1992). Behr was featured in a cameo role in the 1975 film Rosebud. His novel Half Moon Street was adapted for film in 1986, and his 1996 book Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America was adapted for a television documentary in

Obituaries • 2007 1997. Behr’s other works include the thriller Getting Even (1981), The Complete Book of Les Miserables (1990), and The Story of Miss Saigon.

Edward Behr

BEJART, MAURICE French choreographer Maurice Bejart died of heart and kidney problems in a Lausanne, France, hospital on November 22, 2007. He was 80. He was born Maurice Jean Berger in Marseille, France, on January 1, 1927. He began dancing in Marseille in the early 1950s and founded the Ballet de l’Etoile in 1954. He achieved acclaim for his choreography for Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with Belgium’s Monnaie Theater in 1959. He formed the Ballet of the 20th Century in Brussels the following year. He left Brussels after a clash with the theater management, and formed the Bejart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland in 1987. He choreographed dances for such works as Ravel’s Bolero, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, and Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet. His choreography was showcased in several films including Bhakti (1969), Je t’Aime, tu Danses (1977), Bolero (1981), Babilee ’91 (1992), Ballet for Life (1997), The Nutcracker (2000), and Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet (2001). He also choreographed such television productions as Salome (1973), Les Plaisirs de l’Ile Enchantee (1981), Six Personnages en Quete d’un Chanteur (1981), A Force de Patir, je Suis Reste Chez Moi (1990), and Schnelle Fusse, Rascher Mut (1993).

26 BELL, CAREY Carey Bell, an acclaimed Chicago blues harmonica player, died of heart failure in Chicago, Illinois, on May 6, 2007. He was 70. He was born Carey Bell Harrington in Macon, Mississippi, on November 14, 1936, and began playing the harmonica by the age of eight. He moved to Chicago with his godfather, pianist Lovie Lee, in September of 1956 and was soon performing professionally. Bell studied under such artists as Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Big Walter Horton. Delmark released Carey Bell’s Blues Harp in 1961 and the following year he began playing with Muddy Waters, performing with his band on the 1971 album London Sessions. He worked with Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All-Stars throughout the 1970s. He performed with Big Walter, releasing Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell in 1972 and can be heard on such albums as Last Night (1973) and Heartache and Pain (1977). Bell was featured on the 1978 Grammy nominated album Living Chicago Blues and recorded the albums Goin’ on Main Street (1983) and Harpslinger (1988). He teamed with Junior Well, James Cotton and Billy Branch to release Harp Attack in 1990, which became one of Alligator Record’s best selling albums. His other credit during this time include Dynasty! (1990), Mellow Down Easy (1991), Harpmaster (1994), Carey Bell & Spike Ravenswood (1995), Deep Down (1995) and Good Luck Man (1997). In 2004, he and his son, blue guitarist and vocalist Lurrie Bell, recorded the album Second Nature. Bell was awarded the Blues Music Award for Traditional Male Artist of the Year in 1998. He worked with a band consisting of Lurrie Bell’s guitarist Scott Cable, Kenny Smith, Bob Stroger and Joe Thomas to produce his final work, Gettin Up: Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends Rosa’s, in 2007.

Carey Bell

Maurice Bejart

BELL, RICHARD Canadian musician and songwriter Richard Bell died of cancer in a Toronto hospital on June 15, 2006. He was 61. Bell was born in Toronto on March 5, 1946. He began playing the piano at an early age and played with Ronnie Hawkins’ band, the Hawks, in the 1960s. He joined Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band in 1970, and was featured on Joplin’s album Pearl that was released after her death. Bell also worked as a studio musician, performing with such artists as Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh, Bonnie Raitt, and Judy

27 Collins. He subsequently joined The Band in the 1990s and played keyboard on the albums Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation. He played with the Pork Bellies Futures, a jazz and blues band from Toronto, in recent years.

Richard Bell

BELLO, NAIR Brazilian actress Nair Bello died of complications from a series of heart attacks in a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hospital on April 17, 2007. She was 75. Bello was born in Sao Paulo on April 27, 1931. She began her career on radio in 1949, and made her film debut in Liana, the Sinner in 1951. She was also seen in the films Simon the One-Eyed (1952), Os Apavorados (1962), To na Tua, O Bicho (1971), Heart and Guts (1982), and Fogo e Paixao (1988). Bello also performed on stage but was best known for her roles in television series. She was Cininha in the A Viagem series in 1994, and appeared as Santinha in the comedy series Zorra Tota in 1999. She was also seen in the television productions Sossega Leao (1976), Joao Brasileiro, O Bom Baiano (1978), Olhai os Lirios do Campo (1980), Dona Santa (1981), Casa de Irene (1982), Maca do Amor (1983), Perigosas Peruas (1992), O Mapa da Mina (1993), Voce Decide (1994), Malhacao (1995), Vira Lata (1996), Sai de Baixo (1997), Era Uma Vez... (1998), Torre de Babel (1998), Uga (2000), Brava Gente (2001), O Quinto dos Infernos (2002), and A Grande Familia (2004). Bello also starred as Dolores in the series Kubanacan from 2003 to 2004, and was Leona

2007 • Obituaries Lake in Bang in 2006 until suffering a heart attack in November of that year.

BELTRAN, NELLY Argentine comic actress Nelly Beltran died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 2, 2007. She was 82. Beltran was born in Argentina on August 29, 1925. She was a popular star in films from the mid–1950s, with such credits as Para Vestir Santos (1955), Rosaura at 10 O’Clock (1958), El Rufian (1960), Dos Tipos Con Suerte (1960), El Televisor (1962), Propiedad (1962), Pelota de Cuero (1963), Pajarito Gomez (1964), Conjugal Pleasures (1964), Canuto Canete, Detective Privado (1965), Vivir es Formidable (1966), La Gorda (1966), La Buena Vida (1966), Villa Carino (1967), Coche Cama Alojamiento (1968), Destino Para Dos (1968), La Vida Continua (1969), La Sonrisa de Mama (1972), El Picnic de los Campanelli (1972), Autocine mon Amour (1972), Crimen en el Hotel Alojamiento (1974), A World of Love (1975), Don Carmelo il Capo (1976), El Profesor Erotico (1976), El Divoricio esta de Moda — de Comun Acuerdo (1978), You Tambien Tengo Fiaca (1978), Abierto dia y Noche (1981), La Magia de Los Parchis (1982), La Gran Aventura de Los Parchis (1982), Los Fierecillos Indomables (1982), Los Fierecillos se Divierten (1983), Los Colimbas se Divierten (1986), Rambito y Rambon Primera Mision (1986), Los Colimbas al Ataque (1987), and There Are No Men Left (1991). She was also featured in television productions of El Vendedor de Ilusiones (1971), Manana Puedo Morir (1979), Un Beso muy Peligroso (1982), Coraje Mama (1985), La Banda del Golden Rocket (1991), and The Angels Don’t Cry (1996). She was married to actor Maurice Jouvet until his death in 1999. Survivors include their children, actor Maurice Jouvet and actress Monica Jouvet.

Nelly Beltran

Nair Bello

BELTRAN, PEDRO Spanish actor Pedro Beltran died of a heart attack in Madrid, Spain, on March 9, 2007. He was 79. Beltran was born in Cartaqgena, Spain, on April 20, 1927. He was a popular film actor in Spain from the early 1950s, appearing in such features as Under the Sky of Spain (1953), Encuentro en la Ciudad (1956), The Rocket from Calabuch (1956), The Tenant (1957), Miracles of Thursday (1957), Messengers of Peace (1957), Aquellos Tiempos del Cuple (1958), El Hincha (1958), 15 Bajo la Lona (1959), Dias de Feria (1960), La

Obituaries • 2007 Estatua (1961), The Daughters of Helena (1963), Not on Your Life (1969), Vamos por la Parejita (1969), Life Size (1974), What’s a Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1978), Yo que Se (1980), National Heritage (1981), The Heifer (1985), Voyage to Nowhere (1986), Scent of a Crime (1988), Long Life Together (1994), Pintadas (1996), Casting (1998), and Desalmados (2005). He also appeared in television productions of Juan Soldado (1973), El Picaro (1974), Cervantes (1980), and La Huella del Crimen: El Crimen de la Calle Fuencarral (1984). Beltran also wrote several films including Strange Voyage (1964), The Moment of Truth (1965), The Wise Monkey (1977), and Mambru Went to War (1986).

Pedro Beltran

BENES, SVATOPLUK Czech actor Svatopluk Benes died in Prague, the Czech Republic, on April 27, 2007. He was 89. Benes was born in Raudnitz, AustriaHungary (now Roudnice, Czech Republic) on February 24, 1918. A leading performer on the Czech stage, film, and television, he began his film career in the 1930s. Benes was featured in such films as Studentska Mama (1935), History of Philosophy (1937), Karel Hynek Macha (1938), Zborov (1938), Fiery Summer (1939), Povod’s Rubensem (1940), Cekanky (1940), Pacientka Dr. Hegla (1940), Minulost Jany Kosinove (1940), Nocturnal Butterfly (1941), Pereje (1941), From the Czech Mills (1941), The Guest House (1942), Nevideli Jste Bobika? (1944), Spring Song (1944), The Magic of the River (1946), A Kiss from

Svatopluk Benes

28 the Stadium (1948), Mikolas Ales (1952), Youthful Years (1953), The Secret of Blood (1953), Ezpres z Norimberka (1954), Komedianti (1951), The Unconquered (1956), Nezlob Kristino (1956), Dedecek Automobil (1957), Posiusne Hlasim (1958), Alibi na Vode (1965), Slecny Prijdou Pozdeji (1966), I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen (1970), Slecna Golem (1972), Drahe Tety a Ja (1974), The Quiet American in Prague (1977), Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977), Maiden’s War (1977), Postaveni Mimo Hru (1979), Concert at the End of Summer (1979), Jak Napalit Advokata (1980), Ma Laska s Jakubem (1982), The Wanderings of Jan Amos (1983), Clovek Proti Zkaze (1989), Kacenka a Zase ta Strasidla (1992), Kacenka a Strasidla (1992), and Zelary (2003). Benes also appeared on Czech television in productions of Byl Jednou Jeden Dum (1974), Nemocnice na Kraji Mesta (1977), Arabela (1979), Les Affinites Electives (1982), Bambinot (1984), and Where Stars Fall (1996).

BENNETT, BRUCE Olympic athlete Herman Brix, who had a long career as a Hollywood star under the name Bruce Bennett, died of complications from a broken hip in a Los Angeles hospital on February 24, 2007. He was 100. He was born Harold Herman Brix in Tacoma, Washington, on May 19, 1906. A leading athlete in high school, he attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he played football and participated in track and field events. He earned the silver medal for the shot put at the Olympics in 1928. The following year he moved to Los Angeles where his friendship with actor Douglas Fairbanks led to a screen test at Paramount. He made his film debut in a small role as a football player in the 1931 film Touchdown. Brix broke his shoulder while making the film, which cost him a spot in the 1932 Olympics as well as the chance to play Tarzan in the 1932 MGM film Tarzan the Ape Man, a role that made a star of Johnny Weismuller. Brix continued to appear in small roles in such films as Million Dollar Legs (1932), Madison Square Garden (1932), College Humor (1933), Meet the Baron (1933), You Can’t Buy Everything (1934), Riptide (1934), Death on the Diamond (1934), and Student Tour (1934). He eventually got the opportunity to portray Edgar Rice Burrough’s jungle hero in the 1935 film The New Adventures of Tarzan (aka Tarzan and the Lost Goddess). Brix was chosen by Burroughs himself to play Tarzan in the independent film, and many considered his dignified and articulate portrayal to be more in keeping with the vision of the jungle lord found in the original novels. He continued his career in Hollywood, largely in action roles in films and serials. His credits include Shadow of Chinatown (1936), Silks and Saddles (1936), Blake of Scotland Yard (1937), A Million to One (1937), Flying Fists (1937), Sky Racket (1937), Million Dollar Racket (1937), Two Minutes to Play (1937), Danger Patrol (1937), Amateur Crook (1937), The Lone Ranger (1938), Land of Fighting Men (1938), Fighting Devil Dogs (1938), Hawk of the Wilderness (1938), and Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939). Brix realized that Hollywood’s identification with him in the role of Tarzan was limiting his acting career, and decided to change his professional name to Bruce Bennett in 1939. He continued acting under the name Bennett for the remainder of

29 his long career, with such film credits as Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939), Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939), My Son Is Guilty (1939), Invisible Stripes (1939), Cafe Hostess (1940), His Bridal Fright (1940), Convicted Woman (1940), Five Little Peppers at Home (1940), The Heckler (1940), Blazing Six Shooters (1940), The Man with Nine Lives (1940), The Man from Tumbleweeds (1940), The Lone Wolf Meets the Lady (1940), Escape to Glory (1940), Island of Doomed Men (1940), Boobs in the Woods (1940), Babies for Sale (1940), The Taming of the Snood (1940), Girls of the Road (1940), How High Is Up? (1940), The Secret Seven (1940), Before I Hang (1940), The Spook Speaks (1940), Glamour for Sale (1940), So You Won’t Talk (1940), No Census, No Feeling (1940), West of Abilene (1940), A Bundle of Bliss (1940), The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1941), So Long Mr. Chumps (1941), The Phantom Submarine (1941), Dutiful but Dumb (1941), Two Latins from Manhattan (1941), The Officer and the Lady (1941), Three Girls About Town (1941), Honolulu Lu (1941), Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942), Submarine Raider (1942), Atlantic Convoy (1942), Sabotage Squad (1942), Underground Agent (1942), The More the Merrier (1943), Murder in Times Square (1943), Frontier Fury (1943), Sahara (1943), There’s Something About a Soldier (1943), U-Boat Prisoner (1944), I’m from Arkansas (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945) as Joan Crawford’s first husband, Bert Pierce, Danger Signal (1945), Beer Barrel Polecats (1946), A Stolen Life (1946), The Man I Love (1947), Nora Prentiss (1947), Cheyenne (1947), and Dark Passage (1947). Bennett was featured as James Cody, a gold prospector whose offer to assist Humphrey Bogart’s Fred C. Dobbs and his two partners for a share of their mine, led to his death by bandits in John Huston’s 1948 classic film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. He continued to appear in such films as To the Victor (1948), Silver River (1948), Smart Girls Don’t Talk (1948), The Younger Brothers (1949) as Jim Younger, Task Force (1949), The House Across the Street (1949), The Doctor and the Girl (1949), Without Honor (1949), Undertow (1949), Mystery Street (1950), Shakedown (1950), The Second Face (1950), The Great Missouri Raid (1951) as Cole Younger, The Last Outpost (1951), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Sudden Fear (1952), Dream Wife (1953), Dragonfly Squadron (1954), The Big Tip Off (1955), Strategic Air Command (1955), Robbers’ Roost (1955), Hidden Guns (1956), The Bottom of the Bottle (1956), The Three Outlaws (1956), Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (1956) as Daniel Boone, Love Me Tender (1956) with Elvis Presley, Three Violent People (1957), and Flaming Frontier (1958). Bennett was featured in the cult science fiction films The Alligator People and The Cosmic Man in 1959, and scripted and starred in the 1961 feature Fiend of Dope Island. He was also seen in the films The Outsider (1961), Lassie: Well of Love (1970), Deadhead Miles (1972), and The Clones (1973). Bennett also appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, gueststarring in episodes of such series as Letter to Loretta, The Ford Television Theatre, Stories of the Century, Lux Video Theatre, Cavalcade of America, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Damon Runyon Theater, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, Crossroads, Science Fiction Theatre, West Point, Playhouse 90, Tales of Wells Fargo, Panic!, The Texan, 77 Sunset Strip, Laramie, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, Kraft Suspense

2007 • Obituaries Theatre, Perry Mason, Branded, The Virginian, and O’Hara, U.S. Treasury. He retired from acting in the early 1970s to work in the food service industry in Los Angeles, becoming sales manager for the West Coast. He subsequently had a successful real estate career before retiring in the mid–1980s. Bennett cooperated in Mike Chapman’s 2001 biography Please Don’t Call Me Tarzan: The Life Story of Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett.

Bruce Bennett

BENNETT, EARL Hanna-Barbera animation editor Earl Bennett, who appeared with Spike Jones and His City Slickers as comedian Sir Frederick Gas, died in Woodland Hills, California, on October 4, 2007. He was 87. Bennett was born in Kansas City, Kansas, on November 5, 1919. He began his career on stage, appearing in the Ken Murray revue Blackouts. He also appeared in several films including The Egg and I (1947), Sarge Goes to College (1947), and Champagne for Two (1947) before joining Spike Jones’ ensemble as Sir Frederick Gas. Bennett’s ability to belch and create a comedic Yiddish accent made him a featured player with Jones’ group. He was frequently heard on the popular Jones Radio broadcasts in the late 1940s, and stared in The Spike Jones Show on television in the early 1950s. He also appeared with the band in the 1954 film Fireman Save My Child. His Yiddish accent was used to good effect on several of their popular tunes, including comic renditions of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and “Tennessee Waltz.” He left

Earl Bennett (as Sir Frederick Gas)

Obituaries • 2007 Jones’ group in 1954 and joined the UPA editing staff as a commercial voice-over artist. He also worked as a sound effects specialist on several Mister Magoo cartoons. He began working with Hanna-Barbera in the 1960s as an editor for such animated productions as Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles, Fantastic Four, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Help! ... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!, C.B. Bears, The Cattanooga Cats, Speed Bugg y, Where’s Huddles?, and Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics.

BENOIT, CHRIS Chris Benoit, a leading professional wrestler with the WWE, committed suicide by hanging himself from a cable of a weight machine in his home in Fayetteville, Georgia, on June 24, 2007. He was 40. Benoit’s body was found the following day along with those of his wife, Nancy, and seven-year-old son Daniel. Nancy, who had been a wrestling valet under the name Woman in WCW, had been strangled and Daniel had been suffocated by Benoit over the weekend before he took his own life. Benoit was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on May 21, 1967. He was trained by Stu Hart and made his ring debut in December of 1985 with Calgary Stampede Wrestling. He teamed with Keith Hart to hold the Stampede International Tag Team Title in May of 1986. He went to Japan to wrestle the following year, where he became a popular star. He recaptured the Calgary Stampede International tag belts in 1988 and 1989, teaming with Lance Idol and Biff Wellington. Benoit was injured in an automobile accident in Canada in July of 1989. After recovering from a knee injury he wrestled as the Pegasus Kid in Japan and Mexico, holding several championship titles. He wrestled in ECW in 1994, where he often teamed with Dean Malenko. He entered the WCW in September of 1995. Benoit joined with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman as the new Four Horsemen in 1995. He engaged in a lengthy feud with Kevin Sullivan that resulted in Sullivan’s wife, Woman, siding with Benoit. The in-ring storyline soon became reality as Nancy left Sullivan and moved in with Benoit. The couple married in 2000. In 1998 Benoit competed in a series of bouts against Booker T., and was instrumental in the reformation of the Four Horsemen in 1998 with Dean Malenko joining the group. He and Malenko often teamed, capturing the WCW tag team belts from Barry Windham and Curt Hennig in March of 1999. Benoit held tag and singles championship several more times and defeated Sid Vicious for the vacant WCW Heavyweight Title on January 16, 2000. He was stripped of the belt the following day and left the WCW for the WWE soon afterwards. Fellow defectors Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero entered the WWE as the Radicalz. Benoit became known as “the Rabid Wolverine” and won numerous matches utilizing his dangerous submission hold, the Crippler Crossface. Benoit defeated Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho in a three-way match for the WWE Intercontinental Title in April of 2000. He held the belt several more times over the next year before he was sidelined for nearly a year after undergoing neck surgery in June of 2001. He returned to the ring in May of 2002, where he partnered with Eddie Guerrero. Benoit defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental

30 Title in July of 2002, and soon joined with Kurt Angle for another tag team championship. He won the 2004 Royal Rumble and defeated Triple H at WrestleMania XX in March of 2004 to become the WWE Heavyweight Champion. He won several rematches with Triple H before losing the title to Randy Orton in August of 2004. Over the next several years Benoit feuded with such stars as Eddie Guerrero, Edge, JBL, and Booker T. Benoit was scheduled to compete in an ECW championship match against C.M. Punk the weekend of his death.

Chris Benoit

BENOIT, NANCY “WOMAN” Nancy Benoit, the wife of wrestler Chris Benoit who had worked as a wrestling valet in the WCW under the name Woman, was strangled to death by her husband on June 22, 2007, before he also killed their seven-year-old son Daniel and himself. She was 43. She was born Nancy Toffoloni on May 21, 1964, and was briefly married to Jim Daus before becoming involved in wrestling. She began her career in wrestling as a model for the magazine Wrestling All Stars. She also appeared as Para in some of the “Apartment Wrestling” features before meeting wrestler Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan introduced her to the ring as his valet, Fallen Angel, and the two were later married in 1985. Nancy joined the NWA (later WCW) as Robin Green, a fan of Rick Steiner, who eventually turned on him and cost the Steiner Brothers a match. She reemerged as Woman, the manager of the masked tag

Nancy “Woman” Benoit

31 team on Ron Simmons and Butch Reed known as Doom. After leaving the WCW she briefly managed the Sandman in ECW in 1994. She returned to the WCW in late 1995, often accompanying Ric Flair to the ring. Sullivan, who was working as a writer and booker for the WCW, orchestrated a storyline that involved Nancy leaving him for Benoit. The storyline soon took on a life of its own, when she left Sullivan for Benoit in reality. She made her last appearance with the WCW in May of 1997 and divorced Sullivan soon afterwards. She gave birth to son Daniel Christopher Benoit on February 23, 2000, and she and Chris Benoit married the following November. She later filed for divorce in 2003, but subsequently dropped the suit.

BERG, JOHN Character actor John Berg was found dead at his home in Van Nuys, California, of an apparent suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on December 16, 2007. He was 58. Berg was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, on April 5, 1949. He was best known for his roles on television, appearing in episode of Law & Order, The Guardian, The Practice, The Handler, The Division, Summerland, The Bold and the Beautiful, House, Kitchen Confidential, Boston Legal, Navy NCIS, Brothers & Sisters, and Monk. He also appeared in the 2007 tele-film Supreme Courtships. Berg was featured in several films during his career including Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) as a Senator, Hold the Rice (2004), and The Hope Chest (2007).

2007 • Obituaries Hitchcock Hour, The Addams Family, My Favorite Martian, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Burke’s Law, Hogan’s Heroes, Get Smart, T.H.E. Cat, Amos Burke, Secret Agent, Jericho, Mission: Impossible, Pistols ’n’ Petticoats, Mr. Terrific, Wild Wild West, Mannix, Run for Your Life, Death Valley Days, Star Trek as Abraham Lincoln in the 1969 episode “The Savage Curtain,” It Takes a Thief, The Young Lawyers, Emergency!, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Maude, Wonder Woman, All in the Family, Soap, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Love Boat, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Murder, She Wrote. Bergere appeared as George in the short-lived comedy series Hot L Baltimore in 1975, and was Joseph Arlington Aynders in the prime-time soap opera Dynasty from 1981 to 1983. He also appeared as Justin Nash in the series Falcon Crest in 1989. He was also seen in the tele-films and mini-series Sullivan’s Empire (1967), Incident at Vichy (1973), Evening in Byzantium (1978), North and South (1985) as Nicholas Fabray, and Dream West (1986). Bergere was featured in several films during his career including Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and Time Trackers (1989).

Lee Bergere (as Abraham Lincoln in Star Trek)

John Berg

BERGERE, LEE Veteran character actor Lee Bergere died in a nursing facility in Fremont, New Hampshire, on January 31, 2007. He was 88. Bergere was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 10, 1918. He served in the military in North Africa during World War II, where he was in charge of entertaining the soldiers. He began his career on stage after the war, appearing in Broadway productions of Lady in the Dark (1943), Mrs. McThing (1952), and the 1972 revival of Man of La Mancha. He was a familiar face on television from the 1950s, appearing in episodes of Studio One, Robert Montgomery Presents, Aloca Theatre, The Alaskans, One Step Beyond, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Law and Mr. Jones, The New Breed, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bonanza, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, McHale’s Navy, The Munsters, The Alfred

BERGMAN, INGMAR Legendary Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman died at his Faro Island home off the coast of Sweden on July 30, 2007. He was 89. Bergman was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on July 14, 1918. His father was a Lutheran clergyman and he was raised in a strict and severe environment. He broke with his family in the late 1930s, leaving Stockholm University before graduation to work in amateur theatre. He soon became involved in films, and was hired as an assistant scriptwriter by the Swedish Film Industry in 1942. His original screenplay for Torment was filmed by director Alf Sjoberg in 1944, with Bergman also serving as assistant director. The film received the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Bergman made his directorial debut in 1946, directing Crisis and Man with an Umbrella. He also began a long association with the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm and other theaters as a stage director in the mid–1940s. He became a popular filmmaker in Sweden with such credits as A Ship Bound for India (1947), Night Is My Future (1948), Port of Call (1948), The Devil’s Wanton (1949), Thirst (1949), To Joy (1950), High Tension (1950), Illicit Interlude (1951), Secrets of Women (1952), Monika, the Story of a Bad Girl (1953),

Obituaries • 2007 The Naked Night (1953), A Lesson in Love (1954), and Dreams (1955). He earned international acclaim for his 1955 romantic comedy Smiles of a Summer Night. His next work was the classic allegory The Seventh Seal (1959), starring Max von Sydow as a crusader on a search for God in plague-infested Europe. The film included a memorable scene of Von Sydow’s knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death. He closed out the decade with several more memorable films including Wild Strawberries (1957), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay, Brink of Life (1958), and The Magician (1958). He also directed several productions for Swedish television including Mr. Sleeman Is Coming (1957), The Venetian (1958), Rabies (1958), and The Storm (1960). His 1960 film The Virgin Spring, a tale of rape and vengeance in Medieval times, and Through a Glass Darkly (1961), the story of a mentally ill woman who believes that she was visited by God, each won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, with the latter gaining Bergman another nomination for best screenplay. He also directed and scripted the films The Devil’s Eye (1960), Winter Light (1962), The Silence (1963), All These Women (1964), Persona (1966), and the “Daniel” segment of Stimulantia (1967). Bergman worked frequently with the same group of actors and his films made international stars of many of them. His repertory company included Max von Sydow, Liv Ullman, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, Harriett Andersson, and Bibi Andersson. He also utilized the services of acclaimed cinematographer Sven Nykvist on a regular basis. His reputation as an auteur continued with such films as Hour of the Wolf (1968), Shame (1968), The Passion of Anna (1969), and The Touch (1971). He was the recipient of the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award at the Academy Award presentations in 1971. His 1972 film Cries and Whispers, the story of three sisters, earned Oscar nominations for best picture, director, and original screenplay. Scenes from a Marriage starring Liv Ullman followed in 1973. His later films include Face to Face (1976) which garnered him another Academy Award nomination for best director, The Serpent’s Egg (1977), Autumn Sonata (1978). which starred his unrelated namesake actress Ingrid Bergman and earned him another Oscar nomination for best screenplay, and From the Life of the Marionettes (1980). His final theatrical film, Fanny and Alexander, was released in 1982 and earned him nominations for best director and screenplay. The film received four Academy Awards, including that for Best Foreign Film. Bergman also frequently directed productions for Swedish television including A Dream Play (1963), Don Juan (1965), The Rite (1969), Faro Document (1970), The Misanthrope (1974), the 1975 adaptation of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, Faro Document 1979 (1979), Hustrukolan (1983), Karin’s Face (1984), After the Rehearsal (1984), De Tva Saliga (1986), Markisinnan de Sade (1992), Back Anterna (1993), The Last Gasp (1995), In the Presence of a Clown (1997), and Bila Makarma (2000). His final director’s credit was 2003’s Saraband starring Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson, revisiting the characters from his film Scenes from a Marriage thirty years later. Bergman also continued to direct plays on a regular basis for Sweden’s Royal Dramatic

32 Theater, and directed several productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He was the author of three novels including The Best Intentions, about his parents, which was adapted as a film by director Bille August in 1991. His son Daniel directed a 1992 television adaptation of his second novel Sunday’s Children, and his frequent leading lady Liv Ullman, directed an adaptation of the third, Private Confessions, in 1996. He also wrote a 1987 memoir of his life, The Magic Lantern. Bergman had spent much of his time at his home on Faro Island off the Baltic coast of Sweden since the 1960s. He left Sweden for Germany for nearly a decade after accusations of tax evasion in 1976. He was later absolved of the charges and returned to Sweden. Bergman was married to dancer and choreographer Else Fisher from 1943 to 1945, and to choreographer and director Ellen Lundstrom from 1945 to 1950. He was married to journalist Gun Grut from 1951 to 1959, and to concert pianist Kabi Laretei from 1959 until 1969. He was married to Ingrid von Rosen from 1971 until her death in 1995. A son, theatrical director Jan Bergman, predeceased him in 2000. His survivors include at least eight children, including actress Lena Bergman, director Eva Bergman, actress Anna Bergman, actor Mats Bergman, airline captain Ingmar Bergman, Jr., director Daniel Bergman, and author Maria von Rosen. He also had a daughter, novelist Linn Ullman, from his lengthy relationship with Liv Ullman. Considered the world’s greatest living filmmaker by Time magazine in 2005, he had a great influence on other directors including Woody Allen and Robert Altman.

Ingmar Bergman

BERTOLA, CLODY Romanian actress Clody Bertola died in Romania on December 27, 2007. She was 94. Bertola was born in Bucharest, Romania, on August 12, 1913. She was a leading stage actor who made frequent appearances with the Bulandra Theatre, the Comedy Theatre, and the National Theatre of Bucharest. She was noted for her roles in productions of Saint Joan, The Three-Penny Opera, Elisabeth 1, The Sea-Gull, and A Streetcar Named Desire. She was also featured in several films during her career including Ciulinii Baranganului (1958), Facerea Lumii (1971), Felix si Otilia (1972), Ciprian Porumbescu (1972), and The Prophet, the Gold, and the Transylvanians (1978). (See photograph on page 33.)

33

2007 • Obituaries novel Thieves’ Market, Sirocco (1951), On Dangerous Ground (1952), Holiday for Sinners (1952), Beneath the 12Mile Reef (1953), Track of the Cat (1954), A Bullet for Joey (1955), Kiss Me Deadly (1955) based on Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novel, The Angry Hills (1959), and The Jayhawkers! (1959). Bezzerides also wrote for television from the 1950s, scripting episodes of The 20th Century– Fox Hour, Screen Directors Playhouse, and The O. Henry Playhouse. He also wrote for such western series as Bonanza and The Virginian, and co-created of the 1965 series The Big Valley. Bezzerides was married to screenwriter Silvia Richards until her death in 1999.

Clody Bertola

BERTRAND, MARCHELINE Actress and model Marcheline Bertrand, who was the mother of actress Angelina Jolie, died of cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on January 27, 2007. She was 56. Bertrand was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 9, 1950. She married actor Jon Voight in 1971, and the couple had two children, Jolie and her older brother, James Haven. Bertrand and Voight separated in 1976 and divorced two years later, and she raised both of the children. Bertrand studied acting under Lee Strasberg, and was featured in an episode of Ironside on television in 1971. She later appeared in small roles in the films Lookin’ to Get Out (1982) and The Man Who Loved Women (1983).

Marcheline Bertrand (with former husband Jon Voight)

BEZZERIDES, A.I. Screenwriter A.I. “Buzz” Bezzerides, who penned such film noir classics as Kiss Me Deadly and On Dangerous Ground, died in Los Angeles after a brief illness on January 1, 2007. He was 98. Albert Isaac Bezzerides was born in Samsun, Turkey, on August 9, 1908, and came to the United States with his parents as a child. He began writing stories while attending the University of California at Berkeley. He adapted his 1938 novel Long Haul for Warner Bros in 1940, which became the film They Drive by Night starring Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. He continued to write novels and films during the 1940s and 1950s, with such credits as Juke Girl (1942), Action in the North Atlantic (1943), Desert Fury (1947), Thieves’ Highway (1949) based on his

A.I. Bezzerides

BHASKARAN, P. Indian film director P. Bhaskaran died of a heart attack in Thiruvananthapuram, India, on February 25, 2007. He was 82. Bhaskaran was born in Cranganur, India, on April 21, 1924. He began his career working at All India Radio in the 1940s. He first worked in films as a lyricist, writing songs for S.S. Vasan’s 1949 film Apoorvasahodararkal. He made his directorial debut several years later with 1954’s Neelakkuyil (aka The Blue Cuckoo), also appearing in the film. He continued to direct over 50 Malayalam language films during his career including Citizen Rarichan (1956), Tiger by the Tail (1958), Laila Majnu (1962), Lucky Horoscope (1962), Ammaye Kaanaan (1963), First Rays of the Sun (1964), Shyamalachechi (1965), The Soul of Darkness (1966), The Test (1967), Futile Search (1967), A Wife Devoted to Her Husband (1968), The Millionaire (1968), Wild Monkey (1968), The Criminal (1968), Capital (1969), Chellamma the Thief (1969), The Unopened Door (1970), Woman (1970), The Battlefield (1970), Black Sparrow (1970), Dove in the Temple (1970), Vithukal (1971), The Purchased Veena (1971), Ummachu (1971), Grandmother (1971), Moonupukkal (1971), Open the Eye of Love (1972), Owner of Six Measures of Land (1972), Dawn (1973), Dawn Once Again (1973), Rakkuyil (1973), Nephew Chandu of Thachali (1974), One Handful of Rice (1974), Half Thief ThreeQuarter Thief (1974), The Second Seetha (1975), Resting Spot (1975), Vazhi Vilakku (1976), The Holy Bhagwat Geeta (1976), Grandfather (1976), World Teacher Sankaran (1977), The Lamp and the Light (1978), Enikku Visakkunu (1983), Lord Krishna (1984), The Ballad of Guruvayoor (1984), Nattarangu (1987), Soaring About (1989), and New Horizons (1989). Bhaskaran was fea-

Obituaries • 2007 tured in the 1979 film Ezhamkadalinakkare, which he also wrote songs for. He continued his career as a lyricist through the 1990s, penning songs for such films as Ariyappedatha Rahasyam (1981), Rugma (1983), Sunil Vayassu 20 (1986), Vilambaram (1987), Loose Arappiri Loose (1986), Kadathanadan Ambadi (1990), and Rektha Sakshikal Zindabad (1998).

34 name Crusher Yircov in 1985, holding the Southern Heavyweight Title and the World Class Television Title over the next year. He soon became known as Bam Bam Bigelow, the Beast from the East, and wrestled in the WWE, USWA and New Japan. He returned to the WWE in the early 1990s, where he was managed by Ted DiBiase and accompanied to the ring by Luna Vachon. He lost a bout to football star Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI in April of 1995. Bigelow subsequently became a fan favorite, and feuded against members of DiBiase’s stable. Bigelow wrestled in the ECW in the late 1990s, briefly holding the ECW Television Title. He entered the WCW in November of 1998, where he briefly feuded with Goldberg. He competed in the WCW’s Hardcore Division before joining with Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon as the Triad. The trio briefly held the WCW Tag Tame Title on several occasions. Bigelow subsequently turned on Page and engaged in a feud with his former partner. He was sidelined from wrestling in the summer of 2000 after suffering burns while rescuing children from a forest fire. He recovered to resume his wrestling career, competing in independent promotions until retiring in 2004.

P. Bhaskaran

BIERLICH, STINE Danish actress Stine Bierlich died in Denmark on February 20, 2007. She was 40. Bierlich was born in Denmark on February 14, 1967. She began her film career as a child in the late 1970s in such features as Children of Agony (1977) and The Heritage (1977). She was also featured in the films Ofelia Kommer til Byen (1985), Ballerup Boulevard (1986), Jorden er Giftig (1988), Lykken er en Underlig Fisk (1989), and Letter to Jonas (1992). Bierlich also starred as Rita in the 1987 television series Once a Cop....

Bam Bam Bigelow

BIG MOE Rap singer Big Moe, who was known for his unique lyrical blend of rap and song called rapsinging, died from complications of a heart attack on October 14, 2007. He was 33. He was born Kenneth

Stine Bierlich

BIGELOW, BAM BAM Professional wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow was found dead at his home in Hudson, Florida, on January 20, 2007. He had reportedly been suffering from diabetes and infections. He was 45. He was born Scott Bigelow in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, on September 1, 1961. The imposing 6'2", 400 pound Bigelow was noted for his agility and size, and tattoos of flames lacing his bald scalp. He began wrestling under the

Big Moe

35 Moore in a poverty stricken section of Houston, Texas, on June 27, 1974. He attended the University of Houston, earning a degree in political science, before embarking on a career as a singer. Sometimes known as Big Moe the Chef for his lyrical flavoring of rap singing, he also performed under the names Barr Baby, MoYo, and Motorola. He began his career freestyling on DJ Screws’ mix tapes before going to Wreckshop Records, who released his debut album City of Syrup in 2000. His second album, Purple World, was widely distributed by Priority Records in 2002. Big Moe was soon appearing on MTV and performing with such rap stars Mike Jones, Z-Ro, Lil’O, Walter Cooper, Southside Playaz, and Big Pokey. His other albums include Moe Life (2003), Classics: Vol. 1 (2004), and his final release, Moe Life Swishahouse Chopped & Skrewed, in 2006.

2007 • Obituaries chid (1983), The Parade (1984), and Bridge Across Time (1985), before retiring in the early 1990s.

BINYON, CLAUDE, JR. Assistant director and production manager Claude Binyon, Jr., died in Bellevue, Washington, on January 27, 2007. He was 76. He was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 13, 1930, the son of Hollywood screenwriter Claude Binyon. The younger Binyon began his career in television in the late 1950s, working as an assistant director for such series as Hawaiian Eye, Maverick, Surfside 6, The Gallant Men, Lawman, and 77 Sunset Strip. He also served as assistant director for several films in the 1960s including Black Gold (1962), Sergeant Deadhead (1965), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), Spinout (1966), Double Trouble (1967), and Clambake (1967). He was production manager and assistant director for numerous episodes of the science fiction anthology series The Outer Limits from 1963 to 1965, and also served as assistant director for the comedy spy series Get Smart and the original Star Trek series. Binyon also served as assistant director for the films Cold Turkey (1971), B.S. I Love You (1971), What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971), Westworld (1973), and That’s Entertainment! (1974), and the tele-films Gargoyles (1972), A Brand New Life (1973), The Virginia Hill Story (1974), and Fight for Life (1987). He was also a production manager for the films Santee (1973), Win, Place or Steal (1975), The Deer Hunter (1978), Things Are Tough All Over (1982), and Cold Dog Soup (1990). He also worked on the tele-films The Hatfield and the McCoys (1975), Someone I Touched (1975), Girls of the White Or-

BISHOP, JOEY Comedian Joey Bishop, who was the last surviving member of Frank Sinatra’s legendary Rat Pack, died after a long illness at his home in Newport Beach, California, on October 17, 2007. He was 89. He was born Joseph Abraham Gottlieb in the Bronx, New York, on February 3, 1918. He began performing as a teenager, forming a music and comedy act in Philadelphia. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned to his career as a comic in 1945. Bishop caught the attention of Frank Sinatra in the early 1950s and was hired as the singer’s opening act. His association with Sinatra led to him being a part of the legendary quintet known as the Rat Pack, which also included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford. They dominated the Las Vegas entertainment scene in the early 1960s. Bishop also appeared in a handful of films, including The Deep Six (1958), The Naked and the Dead (1958), Onionhead (1958), the original Ocean’s Eleven (1960) as Mushy O’Connors, Pepe (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), Johnny Cool (1963), Texas Across the River (1966), A Guide for the Married Man (1967), Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967), Valley of the Dolls (1967), The Delta Force (1986), the 1987 tele-film Glory Years, Betsy’s Wedding (1990), and Mad Dog Time (1996). Bishop appeared frequently on television from the early 1950s, making appearances in such series as Cavalcade of Bands, Frankie Laine Time, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Frank Sinatra Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Paar Tonight Show, Here’s Hollywood, The Jack Benny Program, The Andy Williams Show, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Dick Powell Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, The Hollywood Palace, Get Smart, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Barbara McNair Show, Playboy After Dark, The Dean Martin Show, Chico and the Man, Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Jacksons, Dinah!, The Merv Griffin Show, Trapper John, M.D., Hardcastle and McCormick, and Murder, She Wrote. Bishop was a guest panelist on several game shows including Keep Talking, What’s My Line?, The Hollywood Squares, Celebrity Sweepstakes, Match Game, and Break the Bank. He was also featured in the 1960 production of Heaven Can Wait on the DuPont Show of the Month.

Claude Binyon, Jr.

Joey Bishop

Obituaries • 2007 Bishop starred as Joey Barnes in the television sit-com The Joey Bishop Show from 1961 through 1965. He headlined a late night talk show, The Joey Bishop Show, from 1967 to 1969, with Regis Philbin as his sidekick. The ABC series was designed to compete with NBC’s Tonight Show but lasted only two seasons. He was later an occasional guest host for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in the early 1970s. Bishop has largely retired to the upscale Newport Bay area of Newport Beach. He was married to the former Sylvia Ruzga from 1941 until her death in 1999. His survivors include his son, actor and director Larry Bishop.

BLACK, EUNICE British character actress Eunice Black died in England on August 27, 2007. She was 92. Black was born Eunice Holden in London in 1915. She began performing on stage with the Unity Theatre in London in 1937. She continued to appear on stage in repertory theatre, and was a drama and English teacher during the 1940s. Black made her film debut in 1961’s A Taste of Honey. She was also featured in character roles in such films as Arriverderci, Baby! (1966), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Love Is a Splendid Illusion (1969), On the Buses (1971), Holiday on the Buses (1973), Sex Play (1974), and Bullseye! (1990). She was a familiar face on television, appearing in television productions of Martin Chuzzlewit (1964) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1981), and in episodes of The Wednesday Play, ITV Playhouse, The Liver Birds, Doctor at Large, On the Buses, It’s Murder but Is It Art, Father Dear Father, The Benny Hill Show, and George and Mildred.

36 Zombies (1962), Santo in the Hotel of Death (1963), El Senor Tormenta (1963), Las Lobas del Ring (1965), Aranas Infernales (1968), Blue Demon Versus the Infernal Brains (1968), Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (1970), The Champions of Justice (1971), Los Leones del Ring (1974), Los Leones del Ring Contra la Cosa Nostra (1974), and Noche de Muerte (1975). He largely retired from the ring during the 1970s due to injuries and poor health.

Black Shadow

BLACKTON, CHARLES STUART Silent film child actor Charles Stuart Blackton died on April 21, 2007. He was 92. He was born in New York City, the son of pioneering film producer J. Stuart Blackton and actress Paula Blackton, on October 27, 1914. He made his film debut as an infant in his father’s film The Battle Cry of Peace (1915). At the age of three, he was appearing with his sister, Violet Virginia Blackton, in his mother’s Country Life films. Blackton was seen onscreen in The Collie Market (1917), A Spring Idyl (1917), The Little Strategist (1917), Satin and Calico (1917), The Fairy Godfather (1917), The Diary of a Puppy (1917), The Common Cause (1919), The Littlest Scout (1919), A House Divide (1919), The Moonshine Trail (1919), Passers-By (1920), and The Glorious Adventure (1922). His film career ended by the time he was eight years old. Blackton later graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles. He served in Naval Intelligence during World War II, and became a history professor at Colgate College after the war.

Eunice Black

BLACK SHADOW Alejandro Cruz Ortiz, who wrestled in Mexico under a mask as the Black Shadow, died of pneumonia in Mexico City on March 8, 2007. He was 85. Cruz was born in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, on May 3, 1921. He began wrestling as Jungla Cruz in 1942 and became the Black Shadow in May of 1947. A masked wrestler, he lost a mask vs. mask bout to Santo in November of 1952. During the 1950s he often teamed with fellow masked wrestler Blue Demon, claiming they were brothers. The Black Shadow was featured in numerous films from the late 1950s including Furias Desatada (1957), Ladron de Cadaveres (1957), Tigers of the Ring (1960), El Torneo de la Muerte (1960), Invasion of the

Charles Stuart Blackton

37 BLAIR, JANET Actress Janet Blair died of complications from pneumonia in a Santa Monica, California, hospital on February 19, 2007. She was 85. Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 1921. She began singing with Hal Kemp’s band in the early 1940s and was offered a contract with Columbia Pictures shortly after Kemp’s death in a traffic accident. She appeared in small roles in the films Three Girls About Town (1941), Blondie Goes to College (1942), and Two Yanks in Trinidad (1942). She was cast in the title role of Eileen Sherwood in the 1942 comedy My Sister Eileen with Rosalind Russell. She continued to appear in such films as Broadway (1942) with George Raft, Something to Shout About (1943), Once Upon a Time (1944) opposite Cary Grant in a fantasy about a dancing caterpillar, Tonight and Every Night (1945), Tars and Spars (1946), Gallant Journey (1946), The Fabulous Dorseys (1947) with bandleaders Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, I Love Trouble (1948), The Fuller Brush Man (1948) with Red Skelton, and The Black Arrow (1948). She left Hollywood for the stage in the late 1940s, starring in the touring version of the musical South Pacific. She also appeared frequently on television from the late 1940s in episodes of such series as The Ford Theatre Hour, The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Elgin Hour, The U.S. Steel Hour, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre, Climax!, Front Row Center, Ford Television Theatre, Screen Director’s Playhouse, Alcoa Theatre, The Chevy Mystery Show, Shirley Temple’s Storybook as Aunt Polly in the episode Tom and Huck, and The Chevy Show. She starred as Sandy in a television production of A Connecticut Yankee (1955), and was the goddess Venus in One Touch of Venus (1955). She starred in the title role of the 1960 tele-film Around the World with Nellie Bly. Blair appeared regularly as a performer in the television variety series Caesar’s Hour in 1956. She also was featured on the variety and quiz shows Leave It to the Girls, The Jimmy Durante Show, Producer’s Showcase, What’s My Line?, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Bell Telephone Hour. She returned to the screen in the 1957 film Public Pigeon No. 1. She appeared in several more films over the next two decades including the supernatural thriller Burn, Witch, Burn (1962), Boys’ Night Out (1962), The One and Only, Genuine,

2007 • Obituaries Original Family Band (1968) with Fred MacMurray, and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976). She was seen frequently on television during that period in episodes of such series as Pantomime Quiz, The Outer Limits, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Destry, Burke’s Law, Ben Casey, Marcus Welby, M.D., Switch, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. She starred as Betty Smith opposite Henry Fonda in the short-lived drama series The Smith Family in the early 1970s. Her final role was in an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1991.

BLAKE, JEREMY Digital artist Jeremy Blake was reported missing on July 17, 2007, when he left his clothes on a beach and walked into the ocean in the Rockaways in Queens, New York. His body was found by a fisherman off Sea Girt, New Jersey, on July 22, 2007. He was 35. Blake left a note that indicated his suicide was connected to the suicide of his longtime companion, filmmaker Theresa Duncan, a week earlier. Blake was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on October 4, 1971. He became a noted digital artist in the late 1990s, creating images that combined photographic realism with abstract imagery. He and Duncan teamed together to create the 1999 animated film The History of Glamour, a spoof on the world of fashion. His video documentary trilogy about the mysterious Winchester house was exhibited in 2005 at the San Francisco Museum of Natural Art. He was involved in the design of the video game Grand Theft Auto 2, and his art was featured in the 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love, starring Adam Sandler. He was collaborating with musician and designer Malcolm McLaren on an exhibition entitled Glitterbest at the time of his death.

Jeremy Blake (with Theresa Duncan)

Janet Blair

BLAKELEY, JAMES E. Film actor turned editor James E. Blakeley died of heart-related problems in Los Angeles on January 30, 2007. He was 96. He was born in London on February 18, 1910, the son of actor James Blakeley. The younger Blakeley began working in films as an actor in the early 1930s, appearing in Perfectly Mismated (1934), Broadway Bill (1934), Fugitive Lady (1934), Mills of the Gods (1934), Paris in Spring (1935), Two for Tonight (1935), She Couldn’t Take It (1935), The Gay Desperado (1936), Exclusive (1937), Small Town Boy (1937), The Shadow Strikes (1937), Prison Train (1938),

Obituaries • 2007

38

and Private Affairs (1940). Blakeley joined the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, serving as manager of a training school for pilots and ground crew. After the war he assisted Elizabeth Arden in establishing her cosmetics empire. Blakeley returned to Hollywood in 1950 where he was trained in film editing by Grant Whytlock. He worked on such films as Les Miserables (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Monkey on My Back (1957), and Patton (1970). He was also active in television as an editor for such series as Lassie, Rawhide, Peyton Place, Batman, and The Green Hornet. He was a longtime member of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild, and served as head of post-production at 20th Century–Fox, where he worked for nearly 50 years. Blakeley is survived by his wife, actress Mary Carlisle, whom he married in 1942.

(1974) and Disco Fever (1978), and episodes of such television series as Family Affair, To Rome with Love, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Ironside, Marcus Welby, M.D., Barnaby Jones, Barbary Coast, Electrawoman and DynaGirl, and Isis. Blodgett abandoned his acting career to try his hand as an author in the 1970s. His somewhat traumatic publishing experiences resolved favorably when his first two novels, Captain Blood and Hero and the Terror, were published in 1982 and became best sellers. He co-wrote a screen version of Hero and the Terror, which starred Chuck Norris, in 1988. Teaming with Dennis Shryack, he also scripted the films Rent-a-Cop (1987) and Turner & Hooch (1988), starring Tom Hanks. Blodgett also scripted the 1991 film Run, and the 1992 tele-film Revenge on the Highway. He adapted his novel, The White Raven, for the screen in 1988.

James E. Blakeley

Michael Blodgett

BLODGETT, MICHAEL Actor and writer Michael Blodgett, who was best known for starring in the cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles on November 14, 2007. He was 67. Blodgett was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 26, 1939. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he appeared in small roles in such television series as McHale’s Navy, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Never Too Young, The Munsters, Daniel Boone and Bonanza. He also appeared in television productions of Macbeth (1961) as Malcolm, Man in the Square Suit (1966) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1966). Blodgett hosted the local Los Angeles television teen music series Groovy in 1967. The following year, he hosted the Michael Blodgett Show, a talk series with celebrity guests. He also began appearing in films in the mid–1960s, with such credits as A Swingin’ Summer (1965), 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967), The Trip (1967), and Catalina Caper (1967). He starred as Lance Rocke in Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in 1970. The cult classic X-rated film about an all girl rock-n-roll band, a transvestite killer, and a Nazi war criminal was scripted by film critic Roger Ebert. He also starred as outlaw Coy Cavendish, whose brutal whipping was the highlight of the 1970 western prison film There Was a Crooked Man, and was Lee Ritter in Stephanie Rothman’s 1971 feminist vampire film The Velvet Vampire. His other credits include the films The Carey Treatment (1972), The Ultimate Thrill

BLOW, ISABELLA British fashion editor Isabella Blow died of ovarian cancer in Gloucester, England, on May 7, 2007. She was 48. She was born Isabella Delves Broughton in London on November 19, 1958. She began working for British Vogue as an assistant to editor Anna Wintour in the early 1980s. She eventually became the fashion editor of the British magazine Tatler, where she championed such designers as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Jun Takahashi. Noted for her own Surreal fashion sense, Blow was a striking figure in British society. She also appeared in the cameo

Isabella Blow

39 role of Antonia Cook in Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

2007 • Obituaries the Golden Goose (1979), The Little Dragons (1980), and Force: Five (1981).

BOAZ, CHARLES Actor Charles Boaz, who was featured as Corporal Dixon in the 1950s television series Mackenzie’s Raiders, died in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 2, 2007. He was 87. Boaz was born in Massena Springs, New York, on June 19, 1919. He appeared in several films in the 1950s including The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), My Gun Is Quick (1957), The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958), Don’t Give Up the Ship (1959), and The Jayhawkers! (1959). He appeared in Mackenzie’s Raiders from 1958 to 1959, and guest starred in episodes of The Loretta Young Show and Bat Masterson. He also appeared in a production of The Land of Oz on Shirley Temple’s Storybook in 1960. BODANYA, NATALIE Operatic soprano Natalie Bodanya died in Santa Barbara, California, on March 4, 2007. She was 98. She was born Natalie Bodanskaya in Manhattan, New York, on August 23, 1908. She studied at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Micaela in Carmen in 1936. She continued to perform at the Met in such operas as Carmen, La Boheme and Parsifal before leaving the stage to have a son in 1941. She returned to perform with the New York City Opera in 1944, and was also a featured singer in nightclubs and on radio. Bodanya also recorded several duets with Mario Lanza. After retiring from the stage she became a voice teacher in California.

Bong Soo Han

BONO, JERRY Costume designer Jerry Bono died in Sherman Oaks, California, on August 31, 2007. He was 65. Bono was born in Illinois on December 27, 1941. He studied at the Pasadena Playhouse in California before serving in the U.S. Army. After his discharge he began working as a wardrober for films and television. He served as a key costumer on the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series. He also worked on the television series Airwolf, Voyagers, and BJ and the Bear, and the films Switched at Birth (1991), The Vanishing (1993), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), and Speechless (1994). BOOTY, KASMA Leading Malaysian actress Kasma Booty died of complications from pneumonia in a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hospital on June 1, 2007. She was 75. She was born Kasmah Abdullah in Kiasaran, Sumatra, in 1931. She began her career in films at the age of fifteen and became a leading star in Malaysian cinema. Known as the Elizabeth Taylor of Malaysia, Booty’s numerous film credits include Cempaka (1947), Pisau Berachun (1948), Noor Asmara (1949), Rachun Dunia (1950), Bakti (1950), Bewi Murni (1950), Sejoli (1951), Juwita (1951), Manusia (1951), Mahsuri (1958), Keris Sempena Riau (1961), Selendang Merah (1962), Siti Payung

Natalie Bodanya

BONG SOO HAN Bong Soo Han, the leading exponent of the Korean martial arts discipline of Hapkido, died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on January 8, 2007. He was 75. Han was born in On Chun, South Korea, on August 25, 1931. He began studying martial arts as a child, and trained in Hapkido under its founder Yong Sul Choi from the early 1950s. Han opened his first school in Los Angeles in 1967 and soon became involved in the film industry. He trained actor Tom Laughlin in Hapkido, and served as fight coordinator for Laughlin’s 1971 film Billy Jack. He also worked with Laughlin on the 1974 sequel The Trial of Billy Jack, and appeared in the film as Master Han. He was also seen in the films The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), Kill

Kasma Booty

Obituaries • 2007 (1962), Ratapan Ibu (1962), Tangkap Basah (1963), Anak Manga (1963), Ragam P. Ramlee (1965), and Damak (1967).

BORG, ARIANE French actress Ariane Borg died in Couilly-Pont-Aux-Dames, France, on April 16, 2007. She was 91. Borg was born in Roubaix, Nord, France, on August 24, 1915. She began her career in films in the early 1930s under the name Olga Muriel, appearing in From Top to Bottom (1933), Jeanne (1934), L’Hotel du Libre Echange (1934), Famille Nembreuse (1934), and Tovaritch (1935). She continued to appear in a handful of films over the next decade as Ariane Borg including Dede (1935), Girls in Distress (1939), The Phantom Wagon (1939), La Valse Blanche (1943), Bifur 3 (1945), Father Serge (1945), and La Cabane aux Souvenirs (1947).

40 cracker, and Balanchine’s Frankie and Johnny. She also choreographed the ballets Cirque de Deux (1947) and Quelques Fleurs (1948), before leaving the Ballet Russe in 1950. She choreographed a ballet number for the Broadway revue Two on the Aisle in 1951, and soon began working with the New York City Ballet. Boris choreographed Cakewalk (1951), Bayou (1952), Kaleidoscope (1952), and Will o’ the Wisp (1953). She and her husband, dancer Frank Hobi, led their own touring company from 1954 to 1956. Her dance career ended due to hip surgery in the late 1950s, though she continued to teach and served on the faculty at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1965 to 1983. Widowed in 1967, Boris occasionally returned to choreography, creating Ragtime to Scott Joplin’s music for the Houston Ballet in 1975.

BORISOV, YURI Russian film director Yuri Borisov died of myocardial infarction in Moscow on November 16, 2007. He was 50. He was the son of leading actor Oleg Borisov. Yuri wrote and directed the 1993 television production Devil, I’m Bored.

Ariane Borg

BORIS, RUTHANNA Ballet dancer and choreographer Ruthanna Boris died of cancer at her home in El Cerrito, California, on January 5, 2007. She was 88. Boris was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 17, 1918. She studied at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. She performed on stage with George Balanchine’s American Ballet in 1935, the Ballet Caravan from 1936 to 1937, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1937 to 1942. She joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1942, where she starred in such productions as Swan Lake, The Nut-

BOROWIEC, KAZIMIERZ Polish actor Kazimierz Borowiec died in Krakow, Poland, on December 24, 2007. He was 68. Borowiec was born in Ruda, Soviet Union, on January 15, 1939. A leading stage actor, he also appeared frequently in films from the early 1960s. Borowiec’s film credits include Reality (1961), The Last

Ruthanna Boris

Kazimierz Borowiec

Yuri Borisov

41 Days of Peace (1963), Matthew’s Days (1967), Hubal (1973), From Nowhere to Nowhere (1975), Enlightment (1976), The Scent of Earth (1978), The Constant Factor (1980), From a Far Country: Pope John Paul II (1981), The Colors of Loving (1988), Death as a Slice of Bread (1994), and Julie Walking Home (2002).

BORTNIKOV, GENNADI Russian actor Gennadi Bortnikov died of heart failure in Moscow on March 24, 2007. He was 67. Bortnikov was born in Moscow on April 1, 1939. He appeared frequently on the Russian stage and was seen in several films from the early 1960s. His film credits include Grown-Up Children (1961), Song Over Moscow (1963), Our House (1965), The Centaurs (1978), and Urod (1993). He also appeared on television in productions of 20-e Dekabrya (1981) and Experts Are Investigating: Mafia (1989).

2007 • Obituaries BOURNE, ST. CLAIR Documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne died in Manhattan on December 15, 2007. He was 64. Bourne was born in Harlem in New York City on February 16, 1943. He studied journalism and filmmaking and began his career as an assistant producer on the PBS black public affairs series Black Journal in the late 1960s. He formed his own production company, which became known as Chamba Mediaworks, in 1971. He went on to produce and direct numerous documentary films over the next 36 years. Some of his early credits include Something to Build On (1971), Ourselves (1971), Nothing but Common Sense (1972), A Piece of the Block (1972), Pusher Man (1972), Let the Church Say Amen! (1974), and A Nation of Common Sense (1975). He produced and directed the 1983 documentary The Black and the Green, about a trip by American civil rights activists to Northern Ireland. Bourne also produced and directed the 1989 documentary Making “Do the Right Thing,” about Spike Lee’s film. He directed the 1996 documentary John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk, and the two-part American Masters production of Paul Robeson: Here I Stand for PBS in 1999. Bourne also directed the 2001 tele-film Dr. Ben.

Gennadi Bortnikov

BOTHA, HANNAH South African stage, film and television actress Hannah Botha died after a brief illness in a Johannesburg, South Africa, hospital on April 16, 2007. She was 84. Botha was born in the small village of Dwarsderbos, South Africa, on January 17, 1923. She worked in the government Department of Revenue for over 40 years before retiring in the late 1980s. She performed occasionally in films and on radio but began acting career in earnest in 1988. She was best known for her role as Elsa du Plessis Pienaar in the television soap opera Egoli: Place of Gold from 1992 until her death.

Hannah Botha

St. Clair Bourne

BRACEWELL, DAME JOYANNE Dame Joyanne Bracewell, a former child actress who became a British High Court judge, died of cancer in England on January 9, 2009. She was 72. Bracewell was born in

Joyanne Bracewell

Obituaries • 2007 Manchester, England, on July 5, 1934. She was an actress in her teens, appearing in several films including Holidays with Pay (1948) and Cup-Tie Honeymoon (1948). She studied law and was called to the bar in 1955. She worked in the courts and became a judge in 1983. Bracewell was instrumental in drafting the Children’s Act in the late 1980s. She was named a High Court judge and Family Division liaison judge in 1990. Bracewell oversaw many high profile cases involving juveniles and was considered to conduct proceedings in the interests of the child’s best welfare.

BRAID, HILDA British actress Hilda Braid, who starred as Nana Moon in the popular television soap opera EastEnders, died in a hospital in Brighton, East Sussex, England, on November 6, 2007. She was 78. Braid was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, on March 3, 1929. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and appeared frequently on stage. She was also a familiar face on British television, with guest role in episodes in such series as No Hiding Place, Suspense, Crossroads, Softly Softly, ITV Playhouse, The Wednesday Play, The Borderers, Z Cars, Catweazle, Play for Today, Thirty-Minute Theatre, The Onedin Line, The Organisation, Emmerdale Farm, The View from Daniel Pike, So It Goes, Man About the House, Play of the Month, The Crezz, Doctor on the Go, BBC 2: Play of the Week, In Loving Memory, Citizen Smith in the recurring role of Florence Johnson, Robin’s Nest, Dick Turpin, L for Lester, They Came from Somewhere Else, Juliet Bravo, Brookside, The Bright Side, Campion, You Rang, M’Lord?, Teenage Health Freak, Press Gang, One Foot in the Grave, The 10 Percenters, Goodnight Sweetheart, Dangerfield, The Bill, Midsomer Murders, Bodger and Badger, Time Gentlemen Please, ChuckleVision, Doctors, My Family, Casualty, and Ultimate Force. She was also featured in television productions of Angel Pavement (1967), Sons and Lovers (1981), Oliver Twist (1985), Kiss and Tell (1996), and Cold Enough for Snow (1997). Braid also appeared in a handful of films during her career including For the Love of Ada (1972), Killer’s Moon (1978), The Wildcats of St. Trinian’s (1980), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Mrs. Dalloway (1997), and Romeo Thinks Again (1998). She starred as Nana Moon in the popular soap opera EastEnders from 2002 through 2005, when failing health forced her retirement.

42 BRANCKAERTS, SJAREL Belgian actor Sjarel Branckaerts died in Brussels, Belgium, on June 10, 2007. He was 59. Branckaerts was born in Turnhout, Belgium, on September 11, 1947. He was a familiar face on Belgian television from the late 1960s, appearing in such productions as Wij, Heren van Zichem (1969), A Girl’s Best Friend (1971), De Vierde Man (1972), Trijntje Cornelis (1972), De Vorstinnen van Brugge (1972), Magister Maesius (1974), De Neus van Cleopatra (1974), Baas Gansendonck (1974), De Danstent (1976), In Perfecte Staat (1977), Le Mur Italien (1977), The Wedding Feast (1978), Het Testament (1978), De Onweersvogel (1979), Secret Army (1979), Place Saint Catherine (1979), Filumena (1979), De Paradijsvogels (1979), A Song of Europe (1985), Hard Labeur (1985), Semi-Detached (1987), Samson en Gert (1988), Romeo en Julia (1991), The Bubbles (1991), Lili & Marleen (1994), Thuis (1995), Plankenkoorts: Het Verhoor (1999), Make My Day (2002), De Kavjaks (2005), and Grappa (2006). He also appeared in recurring roles in such series as Aspe as Burgemeester Moens, Spoed as Geert, Witse as Walter Adriaensen, Flikken as Gilbert Van Luchene, Ut het Leven Gegrepen: Katt & Co. as Rene Segers, and Mega Mindy as Commissaris Migrain in 2007. Branchaerts also appeared in several films during his career including Na de Liefde (1983), Diary of a Mad Old Man (1987), Gaston en Leo in Hong Kong (1988), Kurrel & Co. (1999), Blinker (1999), Blinker en het Bagbag-Juweel (2000), Don’t Cry Germaine (2000), The Publishers (2000), De Frigo (2001), Olivettti 82 (2001), Dead Man’s Hand (2002), Hop (2002), and Plot in de Stad (2006).

Sjarel Branckaerts

Hilda Braid

BRANDENBURG, OTTO Danish singer and actor Otto Brandenburg died in Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 1, 2007. He was 72. Brandenburg was born in Hegnsvig, Denmark, on September 4, 1934. He began his career in music as a member of the Four Jacks in 1957, and appeared with them in the film Stymrmand Karlsen (1958) before leaving the group to embark on a solo career. He became a popular rock and roll performer in Denmark and sang the other worldly closing theme to the 1962 science fiction film Journey to the Seventh Planet. Brandenburg appeared in numerous films including Somand I Knibe (1960), Mine Tossede Drenge (1961), Don Olsen Kommer til Byen (1964), The Mad Dane (1969),

43 Sunny Bech Revolution (1971), Gold for the Tough Guys of the Prairie (1971), Bedside Dentist (1971), Love Me Darling (1971), Lenin, You Rascal, You (1972), Oh, to Be on the Bandwagon! (1972), Mor, Jeg Har Patienter (1972), Me and the Mafia (1973), In the Sign of the Taurus (1974), Prince Piwi (1974), Justine and Juliette (1975), Girls at Arms (1975), The Goldcabbage Family (1975), Danish Escort Girls (1976), Ghost Train (1976), Blind Is Beautiful (1976), Bedside Sailors (1976), Cop (1976), The Office Party (1978), Mind Your Back, Professor (1977), The Golden Cauliflower Family Gets the Vote (1977), Havoc (1977), Me and Charly (1978), The Thralls (1978), Did Somebody Laugh? (1978), Children of the Warriors (1979), Next Stop Paradise (1980), The Last Detail (1981), Langturschauffor (1981), Har du Set Alice? (1981), Rubber Tarzan (1981), Thorvald og Linda (1982), Kidnapping (1982), Three Angels and Five Lions (1982), Ballerup Boulevard (1986), Emma’s Shadow (1988), Kaerlighed Uden Stop (1989), Black Harvest (1993), Max (2000), and Beyond (2000). Brandenburg was also featured on television in productions of Muld Og Marv (1973), Tillokke Herbert! (1974), Stykvis (1974), Fiskerne (1977), Mor er Major (1985), Skibet i Skilteskoven (1992), Opdagelsesrejsen (1993), Jul i Juleland (1993), Riget (aka The Kingdom) (1994), Bryggeren (1996), and Riget II (1997). He was also a voice actor in the films Ogginoggen (1997), Circleen: City Mouse (1998), Circleen: Mice and Romance (2000), Proop and Berta (2000), and The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear (2002).

2007 • Obituaries tet in 1979. He also worked as a production assistant on Altman’s films HealtH (1980) and Popeye (1980), and was seen in the latter as fighter Oxblood Oxheart. He was a set dresser for David Cronenberg’s 1981 science fiction classic Scanners, and worked as a production manager on the films Quest for Fire (1981), The Bay Boy (1984), Keeping Track (1985) which also featured him in a small role, and The Boy in Blue (1986). He was also a production executive on the tele-films Louisiana (1984), Hitting Home (1987), Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) which also saw him in the role of the Animal, Treacherous Beauties (1994), Dead Silence (1997), Breach of Faith: Family of Cops II (1997), and The Hunchback (1997). Bray served as a producer for the television series Bordertown, Due South, Wild Card, G-Spot, and The Best Years. He also was a producer for the films The Art of War (2000), Blacktop (2000), and Interstate 60 (2002), and the tele-films A Change of Place (1994), Broken Lullaby (1994), Family of Cops (1995), Joan of Arc (1999) which earned him an Emmy Award nomination, Crossed Over (2002), and Riverworld (2003).

Peter Bray

Otto Brandenburg

BRANNON, CYNTHIA Actress and stuntwoman Cynthia Brannon died in Los Angeles on March 4, 2007. She was 55. Brannon was born on October 10, 1951. She was active in films from the 1980s, performing stunts for such features as The Terminator (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and America 3000 (1986). BRAY, PETER Film and television producer Peter Bray died in Toronto, Canada, on October 17, 2007. He was 59. Bray was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on February 5, 1948. He began his career working as a road manager for rock bands in Canada during the 1970s. He began working with director Robert Altman as a transportation coordinator for the film Quin-

BRECKER, MICHAEL Prolific saxophonist and composer Michael Brecker, who earned 13 Grammy awards and was one of the most influential jazz musicians from the 1960s, died of leukemia in a New York City hospital on January 13, 2007. He was 57. Brecker was born into a musical family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 19, 1949, and began playing various instruments at an early age. He studied at the Indiana University before embarking upon a career in music and moved to New York at the age of 19. He worked with his brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker, to form the jazz rock band Dreams and his first album Score was released in 1969. The two formed the Brecker Brothers Band, one of the most innovative and successful jazz-funk fusion bands of the decade. They performed from 1975 to 1982, producing such albums as East River, Out of the Loop, which earned him a Grammy, Return of the Brecker Brothers, Straphangin’, Detente, Heavy Metal Be-Bop, Blue Montreux, Don’t Stop the Music, Back to Back, The Brecker Brothers, The Collection, Vol. 1 and The Collection, Vol. 2. During this time, Brecker continued to be a popular soloist, recording with such pop and rock artists as Frank Zappa, Aerosmith, James Brown, Paul Simon, Joni

Obituaries • 2007 Mitchell, Lou Reed, Funkadelic, Steely Dan, John Lennon, Elton John and James Taylor. He also recorded or performed with leading jazz figures such as Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Chet Baker, Elvin Jones, and Herbie Hancock. He was became a member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live band in the early 1980s and went on to perform with the band Steps Ahead in the mid–1980s, producing such albums as Live in Tokyo, Magnetic, Modern Times, Steps Ahead, Paradox, Step by Step, and Smokin’ in the Pit. Brecker released his first self-named album as a leader in 1989. He earned a Grammy the following year for his album, Don’t Try This at Home and earned a second Grammy for his 1997 release Tales from the Hudson. His other lead credits include Two Blocks from the Edge, Time Is of the Essence, Wide Angels, Nearness of You, and Now You See It ... Now You Don’t. Brecker made his final public performance in June of 2006 playing with Herbie Hancock at Carnegie Hall. His final recording, Pilgrimage, consisted entirely of his original compositions and featuring Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, John Patitucci and Jack DeJohnette, was released to great acclaim in May of 2007. Michael Brecker was awarded two posthumous Grammy awards for his involvement on his brother Randy’s 2005 album, Some Skunk Funk, on February 11, 2007, bringing his Grammy total to 13. His discography contains more than 900 albums.

Michael Brecker

BREWER, TERESA Singer Teresa Brewer, who topped the hit parade during the 1950s, died of a rare degenerative brain disease at her home in New Rochelle, New York, on October 17, 2007. She was 76. She was born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, on May 7, 1931. She began singing at an early age and was frequently featured on radio’s Major Bowes’s Amateur Hour in the early 1940s. She became a star while in her teens with the novelty song “Music! Music! Music!” She also recorded such hits as “Ricochet,” “Till I Waltz Again with You,” and “Choo’n Gum.” Known as “the little girl with the big voice,” she performed frequently on television in the 1950s in such series as Songs for Sale, The Colgate Comedy Hour, Frankie Laine Time, The Big Record, Summertime U.S.A., The United States Steel Hour, The Perry Como Show, The Steve Allen Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Jackie Gleason Show. She also starred in the 1953

44 film Those Redheads from Seattle as Pat Edmonds. Brewer expanded her musical range in the 1970s, recording jazz, country, swing and pop tunes, recording nearly 600 songs in her lengthy career. She made several appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and appeared on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.

Theresa Brewer

BREYER P’ORRIDGE, LADY JAYE Lady Jaye Breyer P’Orridge died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition in New York City on October 9, 2007. She was 38. She was born Jacqueline Breyer on July 1, 1969. She worked as a nurse in New York, caring for incurable children, before meeting avant garde musician Genesis P’Orridge (originally known as Neil Megson). Breyer and P’Orridge married in 1993 and merged their identities into what they claimed was a single entity. They went from dressing in identical attire to the extreme of undergoing cosmetic surgery to have features aligned. Genesis and Lady Jaye even underwent dual breast implants to celebrate their 10th anniversary. They coined the term “pandrogyny” to describe their lifestyle. She was instrumental in reviving Genesis’ musical career with the bands Thee Majesty and Throbbing Gristle. She joined him as a keyboardist and singer with Psychic TV, which recorded the 2006 album Hell Is Invisible ... Heaven Is Her/e.

Lady Jaye Breyer P’Orridge (left, with husband Genesis P’Orridge)

45 BRIALY, JEAN-CLAUDE French film star Jean-Claude Brialy died at his home in Paris after a long illness on May 30, 2007. He was 74. Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), Algeria, on March 30, 1933, the son of a French Colonial stationed there. He settled in Paris in 1954, where he became friends with such cinematic innovators as Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rozier, and Claude Chabrol. He soon embarked on a career in films, making his debut in Jacques Rivette’s short Fools Mate and Jean Renoir’s Elena and Her Men in 1956. Brialy appeared in nearly two hundred subsequent films over the next forty years, starring in many of France’s early New Wave features. His numerous film credits include A Friend of the Family (1957), Young Girls Beware (1957), Nude in His Pocket (1957), The Tricyclist (1957), Everybody Wants to Kill Me (1957), Bitter Reunion (1958), Les Surmenes (1958), Frantic (1958), Illegal Cargo (1958), School for Coquettes (1958), Et ta Soeur (1958), The Lovers (1958), Love Is When You Make It (1959), Claude Chabrol’s The Cousins (1959) with Gerard Blain, The 400 Blows (1959), All the Boys Are Called Patrick (1959), Way of Youth (1959), Bad Girls Don’t Cry (1959), Eyes of Love (1959), Rivette’s Paris Belongs to Us (1960), The Gigolo (1960), The Army Game (1960), Three Faces of Sin (1961), A Story of Water (1961), Wise Guys (1961), Godard’s A Woman Is a Woman (1961), The Lions Are Loose (1961), Famous Love Affairs (1961), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961), La Banda Casaroli (1962), Adieu Philippine (1962), A Very Private Affair (1962), The Burning Court (1962), The Seven Deadly Sins (1962), Hitch-Hike (1962), Lessons in Love (1962), The Devil and the Ten Commandments (1962), Arsene Lupin vs. Arsene Lupin (1962), Love at Sea (1963), The Sword and the Balance (1963), People in Luck (1963), Carom Shots (1963), Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963), Careless Love (1964), Tonio Croeger (1964), Male Hunt (1964), Roger Vadim’s Circle of Love (1964), Comment Epouser un Premier Ministre (1964), Male Companion (1964), The Real Bargain (1965), How Not to Rob a Department Store (1965), The Mandrake (1965), I Knew Her Well (1965), I Nostri Marti (1966), King of Hearts (1966), Lamiel (1967), Shock Troops (1967), The Oldest Profession (1967), Operation St. Peter’s (1967), Dear Caroline (1968), Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black (1968), Manon 70 (1968), Don’t Be Blue (1969), Eric Rohmer’s Claire’s Knee (1970), Una Stagione all’Inferno (1970), The Ball of Count Orgel (1970), Gang War (1971), A Murder Is a Murder ... Is a Murder (1972), A Rare Bird (1973), Loving in the Rain (1974), Like a Pot of Strawberries (1974) The Phantom of Liberty (1974), Catherine & Co. (1975), The 11,000 Sexes (1975), The Judge and the Assassin (1976), Nudez de Alexandra (1976), Scrambled Eggs (1976), Holy Year (1976), Barocco (1976), Julie Gluepot (1977), The Accuser (1977), For Clemence (1977), Focal Point (1977), Double Murders (1977), Robert et Robert (1978), The Song of Roland (1978), Le Maitre-nageur (1979), Jacko and Lise (1979), His Master’s Eye (1980), The Woman Banker (1980), Within Memory (1981), That Night in Varennes (1982), The Girl from Trieste (1982), Cap Canaille (1983), Deadly Circuit (1983), Demon of the Island (1983), Edith and Marcel (1983), Sarah (1983), Stella (1983), Cover Up (1983), Papy Fait de la Resistance (1983), Pinot Simple Flic (1984), Marriage of the Century

2007 • Obituaries (1985), The Telephone Always Rings Twice (1985), The Fourth Power (1985), Charlotte and Lulu (1985), Grand Guignol (1986), Inspecteur Lavardine (1986), Follow My Gaze (1986), A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later (1986), The Debutante (1986), The Field Agent (1987), Levy and Goliath (1987), Maschenka (1987), Malady of Love (1987), The Innocents (1987), Summer Interlude (1989), There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs (1990), My New Partner at the Races (1990), Forgery and the Use of Forgeries (1990), No Fear, No Die (1990), August (1991), Tous les Garcons (1992), Queen Margot (1994), The Monster (1994), A Hundred and One Nights (1995), A French Woman (1995), Beaumarchais the Scoundrel (1996), Unpredictable Nature of the River (1996), Shadow Play (1996), Man of My Life (1999), Kennedy and I (1999), Tribute to Alfred Lepetit (2000), Actors (2000), To the Extreme (2000), Unfair Competition (2001), South Kensington (2001), Girls Can Get Away Anything (2002), Special Delivery (2002), The Car Keys (2003), People (2004), Quartier V.I.P. (2005), and Mon Dernier Role (2006). Brialy also directed a handful of feature films and television productions during his career including Eglantine (1971), Closed Shutters (1973), A Rare Bird (1973), Loving in the Rain (1974), La Nuit de l’Ete (1979), Les Malheurs de Sophie (1981), Cingmars (1981), Un Bon Petit Diable (1983), Vacances Bougeoises (1996), Georges Dandin de Moliere (1997), La Dame aux Camelias (1998), and Les Parents Terribles (2003). He also performed frequently on the stage, appearing in such productions as Georges Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear (1968), Hotel Paradiso (1974), Sacha Guitry’s Desire (1984), The Illusionist (1989), and Jealousy (1992). Brialy made numerous appearances on French television, appearing in Cheri (1962), Anna (1967), Soiree Courteline (1974), Dancing Star (1977), Arsene Lupin Joue et Perd (1980), Cing-mars (1981), L’Accompagnateur (1982), Mozart (1982), Les Uns et les Autres (1983), Pere Noel et Fils (1983), Die Schone Wilhelmine (1984), L’Herbe Rouge (1985), Colpo di Coda (1993), Lucas (1993), Vacances Bougeoises (1996), Les Heritiers (1997), La Grande Beke (1998), The Count of Monte Cristo (1998), Nos Jolies Colonies de Vacances (2000), The Blue Bicycle (2000), Elisabeth (2000), Les Filles a Papa (2001), Nana (2001), On ne Choisit pas sa Famille (2002), Le Hasard fait bien les Choses (2002), and Les Rois Maudits (2005). He appeared regularly as Eric Ferbac in the French television

Jean-Claude Brialy

Obituaries • 2007 series Ferbac from 1991 through 1994, and was Guillaume Ferrare in Le President Ferrare from 2004. Brialy’s final role was as poet Max Jacob in the 2006 television production of Monsieur Max.

BRIGHTMAN, LUCY Character actress Lucy Brightman died in Bethesda, Maryland, on April 9, 2007. She was 88. Brightman was born on November 15, 1918. She appeared frequently on the local stage in Maryland. She was also featured in several films including He Said, She Said (1991) and Falling to Peaces (1999). She starred as Hilary Stevens in the 2004 film Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing.

46 Me (1956), and Das Liebesleben des Schonen Franz (1956). He also appeared onscreen in the films I and My Wife (1953) and Die Schone Lugnerin (1959), and was featured in a small role in the 1983 television mini-series Wagner. During the course of his career Bronner composed or contributed to more than 2,500 songs. He remained an active part of Austria’s theatrical life, making his final stage performance several weeks before his death.

BROOKS, DONNIE Singer Donnie Brooks died of a heart attack in Burbank, California, on February 23, 2007. He was 71. He was born John Dee Abohosh in Dallas, Texas, on February 6, 1936, and took the name John Faircloth when he was adopted by his stepfather as a teenager. He began singing in the late 1950s, recording under several names including Johnny Jordan, Dick Bush, and Johnny Faire. He became known as Donnie Brooks in 1959 with the song “Lil’ Sweetheart,” and had his first hit with the 1960 song “Mission Bell.” He was featured in cameo roles in several films in the 1960s including Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) singing “Sloppy Sue,” A Swingin’ Summer (1965) singing “Penny the Poo,” and The Love-Ins (1967). He also appeared in an episode of the television sit-com Our Man Higgins. Brooks continued to record through the 1970s, playing Jesus Christ in the 1971 rock opera Truth of Truths which featured Jim Backus as the voice of God. Brooks performed in several oldies revival concerts in recent years.

Lucy Brightman

BRONNER, GERHARD Austrian cabaret artist and composer Gerhard Bronner died of complications from a stroke in Vienna, Austria, on January 19, 2007. He was 84. Bronner was to a Jewish family born in Vienna on October 23, 1922. He fled Austria after the Nazis took control of the country in the 1930s and eventually settled in Palestine. He performed there as a pianist entertaining British troops during the war. Bronner returned to Vienna in 1948 where he transformed a nightclub into a small theatre. Bronner wrote and composer for the stage there, and often performed comedy routines with Helmut Qualtinger. He also composed music for films and television productions in the 1950s including the features Wienerinnen (1952), And Who Is Kissing

Gerhard Bronner

Donnie Brooks

BROOKS, JOE Joe Brooks, who was featured as Trooper Vanderbilt in the 1960s comedy western sit-com F-Troop died in California on December 5, 2007. He was 83. Brooks made his film debut in a small role in John Wayne’s 1944 feature The Fighting Seabees. He served in the merchant marine during World War II, and returned to Hollywood to work as a film extra after leaving the service in 1948. He appeared in small roles in the films East of Eden (1955), Tall Man Riding (1955), The Enemy Below (1957), Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958), Born Reckless (1958), The Young Philadelphians (1959), Blue Denim (1959), Flaming Star (1960), Bachelor Flat (1962), Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), and Advance to the Rear (1964). He was best known for his role as F Troop’s blind Trooper Vanderbilt from 1965 to 1967. He was a stunt driver in the 1971 cult classic Vanishing Point, and appeared in the

47 films Bite the Bullet (1975), The Bad New Bears (1976), The Big Bus (1976), Gremlins (1984) as Santa Claus, Vendetta (1986), and Eye of the Tiger (1986). Brooks was also featured in the tele-films The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970), Pursuit (1972), and Exo-Man (1977). His other television credits include episodes of Cheyenne, Rawhide, Bewitched, The Munsters, Slattery’s People, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Fall Guy.

2007 • Obituaries State Trooper, One Step Beyond, Ben Casey, The Dick Powell Show, The Great Adventure, The Fugitive, and Slattery’s People. Brophy also appeared in several films during her career including Storm Center (1956), The Green-Eyed Blonde (1957), and The Children’s Hour (1961). Brophy married writer and television host George J. W. Goodman, who was better known as Adam Smith, in 1961. She retired from the screen in 1965 when she and her husband moved to Princeton. She taught theater for over 20 years at nearby Rider College and directed student productions at Princeton University.

BROPHY, SALLIE Actress Sallie Brophy died of non–Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a Princeton, New Jersey, hospital on September 18, 2007. She was 78. Brophy was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 14, 1928. She studied in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1950. She began acting on stage and television in New York in the early 1950s. Brophy starred as Julie Fielding in the 1953 drama series Follow Your Heart. She starred as Montana territory boarding house proprietor Annie O’Connell in the western series Buckskin in 1958. Her other television credits include episodes of Eye Witness, Fireside Theatre, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, Medic, The Lone Wolf, Producer’s Showcase, The Millionaire, Cavalcade of America, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Studio 57, Climax!, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Frontier, Matinee Theatre, United States Steel Hour, Lux Video Theatre, The Alcoa Hour, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Wagon Train, Suspicion, General Electric Theater,

BROSSET, CLAUDE French actor Claude Brosset died in Pontoise, Val d’Oise, France, after a long illness on June 25, 2007. He was 63. Brosset was born in Juvisy-Sur-Orge, Essonne, France, on December 24, 1943. He was a popular performer in French films and television productions from the early 1960s. Heavy-set with red hair, Brosset appeared in supporting and character roles in such films as Shock Troops (1967), La Desirade (1969), One Is Always Too Good to Women (1971), The Fighting Cock (1971), Nothing to Report (1973), The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (1973), The French Detective (1975), Hunter Will Get You (1976), Body of My Enemy (1976), The Barricade at Point du Jour (1978), Out of It (1978), Cop or Hood (1979), I’ve Got You, You’ve Got Me by the Chin Hairs (1979), A Little Romance (1979), La Flambeuse (1981), Putain d’Histoire d’Amour (1981), Scratch (1982), Le Crime de’Amour (1982), The Outsider (1983), Kill the Referee (1984), My New Partner (1984), Cayenne Palace (1987), Maldonne (1988), France Images d’Une Revolution (1989) as King Louis XVI, No Time for Justice (1990), L 627 (1992), La Braconne (1993), The Raft of the Medusa (1994), Turkish Passion (1994), Le Dur Metier de Policier (1996), Captain Conan (1996), The Three Kings (2001), OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006), and Gomez vs. Tavares (2007). He was also seen in numerous television productions including Ambrose Pare (1968), Fortune (1969), Les Cousins de la Constance (1970), Dossiers de Me Robineau: Main Basse sur la Campagne (1972), Raboliot (1972), Les Rois Maudits (1972), Les Coqs de Minuit (1973), L’Education Sentimentale (1973), Histoire Vraie (1973), Un Humme, Une Ville (1973), Un Certain Richard Dorian (1973), Cadoudal (1974), Le Port (1974), Aredchois-Coeur-Fidele (1974), Die Unfreiwilligen

Sallie Brophy (with Mike Road from Buckskin)

Claude Brosset

Joe Brooks (from F Troop)

Obituaries • 2007 Reisen des Moritz August Benjowski (1975), Le Berthe (1975), La Filere (1978), Le Dernier Regard de l’Aigle (1979), La Servante (1979), Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1980), Raspail ou La Passion de la Republique (1981), Histoire Contemporaine (1981), An Orphan Tale (1981), Rioda (1981), Le Village sur la Colline (1982), Adios, Antoinette (1982), Le Truqueur (1982), Jupiter 81 (1982), Les Chardons de la Colline (1983), La Groupie (1984), Tout Comme un Homme (1984), Un Aventurier Nomme Godin (1985), Felicien Greveche (1986), Les Nuits Revolutionnaires (1989), Le Dejeuner de Sousceyrac (1990), L’Alerte Rouge (1991), Evasion (1992), Emma Zunz (1992), Prat et Harris (1993), A Year in Provence (1993), Ma Petite Mimi (1993), Le Jour du Serpent (1994), La Riviere Esperance (1995), Une Femme Explosive (1996), Flairs Ennemis (1996), Credit Bonheur (1996), Le Bois du Pardoux (2000), L’Aine des Ferchaux (2001), Night Squad (2001) as Nounors, and La Rohnde des Flandres (2004).

BROSSET, COLETTE French actress Colette Brosset died in Paris on March 1, 2007. She was 85. Brosset was born in Paris on February 21, 1922. She began performing on stage and in films while in her teens. Brosset appeared in such films as Un Coup de Rouge (1937), Therese Martin (1939), Star Without Light (1946), Master Love (1946), Are You Quite Sure? (1947), Les Aventures des Pieds-Nickeles (1948), I Like Only You (1949), Branguignol (aka Crazy Show) (1949), Bernard and the Lion (1951), L’Amour n’est pas un Peche (1952), Peek-A-Boo (1954), The American Beauty (1961), Allez France! (aka The Counterfeit Constable) (1964) which she also wrote, Public School (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966), Don’t Look Now, We’re Being Shot At (1966), The Mad Adventures of the Bouncing Beauty (1967) which she also scripted, Three Men on a Horse (1969), and Shut Up, Gulli (1974). She also starred as the grandmother in the 1987 television mini-series Qui c’est ce Garcon?

48 came a leading competitor in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s where he was known as Bad News Allen. He entered the WWF (now WWE) as Bad News Brown in 1988, where he feuded with Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts. He also challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF championship before leaving the promotion in 1990. He continued to compete in independent promotions until retiring from the ring due to knee injuries in 1998.

Bad News Brown

BROWN, BOOGIE WOOGIE Delance Clifford Wright, who wrestled professionally as Boogie Woogie Brown, died of complications from lupus on June 23, 2007. He was 54. Wright was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 1, 1952. He began wrestling professionally in the early 1990s, and competed frequently with the East Coast Wrestling Alliance (ECWA). He teamed with Danny “Inferno Kid” Gimondo to hold the ECWA Tag Team Titles, and was ECWA MidAtlantic Champion twice during the decade.

Colette Brosset Boogie Woogie Brown

BROWN, BAD NEWS Allen Coage, who wrestled in the WWE in the late 1980s as Bad News Brown, died of a heart attack in a Calgary, Alberta, Canada, hospital, on March 6, 2007. He was 63. Coage was born in New York City on October 22, 1943. A student of judo, he earned a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He began wrestling professionally in 1978, and be-

BROWN, BUCK Robert “Buck” Brown, the cartoonist who created the naughty “Granny” cartoons for Playboy magazine, died of complications from a stroke in Chicago, Illinois, on July 2, 2007. He was 71. Brown was born in Morrison, Tennessee, on February 3, 1936. He began working as an artist in the 1950s and his

49

Buck Brown

first cartoon appeared in Playboy in 1962. He created the popular Granny character in 1966. Playboy printed more than 600 of Brown’s cartoons over the next forty years. His work was also seen in the pages of Esquire, Ebony, and Jet. A leading black artist, Brown also produced numerous artworks which he termed “soul genre painting.”

Buck Brown (his cartoon creation Granny)

BROWNE, GEORGE Trinidadian Calypso singer George Browne, who was known as Young Tiger, died in London on March 23, 2007. He was 86. Browne was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on May 4, 1920.

George Browne

2007 • Obituaries He went to London in 1941 after serving in the merchant marine, and was soon singing in clubs. He composed the popular song “Christmas Calypso” in 1943, and formed the band Three Just Men in 1947. The group performed in Paris before breaking up in 1950. Browne recorded “Single Man” in 1951, and the popular “I Was There (at the Coronation”) following the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He continued to record and perform over the next decade, experimenting with forms of music other than calypso. He also appeared as the storyteller in several episodes of the children’s television series Jackanory, and recorded the album A Folk Evening with George Browne in 1967. He also performed onstage with the National Theatre and the Stratford Theatre Royal in the late 1960s. He largely retired from show business in 1970, but returned to performing several years before his death.

BROWNE, ROSCOE LEE Stage, film and television star Roscoe Lee Browne, who was noted for his rich, distinctive voice, died of cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on April 11, 2007. He was 81. Browne was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, on May 2, 1925. He graduated from Lincoln University, where he later taught French and comparative literature. Brown was also a leading track star, winning the world championship in the 800yard dash in 1951. He worked as a sales representative for a wine and liquor import business for several years before embarking on an acting career in 1956. He made his stage debut in a production with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and remained a frequent performer with the festival over the years. He was part of the original cast of the Off-Broadway production of Jean Genet’s The Blacks in 1961, and starred as the mutinous slave Babu in the production of Robert Lowell’s Benito Careno in 1964. He also appeared in several short-lived Broadway productions in the 1960s including Edward Albee’s adaptation of Carson McCuller’s Ballad of Sad Cafe and A Hand Is on the Gate: An Evening of Negro Poetry and Folk Music, which he also directed. He made his film debut in 1962’s The Connection (1962), and became a familiar face in films and television. He was featured in such films as Terror in the City (1964), Black Like Me (1964), Graham Greene’s The Comedians (1967) as Petit Pierre, Up Tight! (1968), Me and My Brother (1969), Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz (1969), The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) as L.B. Jones, The Cowboy (1972) with John Wayne, The Ra Expeditions (1972) as the narrator, Cisco Pike (1972), The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973), Super Fly T.N.T. (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Logan’s Run (1976) as the cyborg Box, Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977), Double Take (1979), Nothing Personal (1980), Legal Eagles (1986), Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986), Night Angel (1989), Moon 44 (1990), Eddie Presley (1992), The Mambo Kings (1992), Naked in New York (1993), The Beast (1995), Babre (1995) as the Narrator, Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), The Pompatus of Love (1996), Dear God (1996), Forest Warrior (1996), Judas Kiss (1998), Babe: Pig in the City (1998) reprising his role as the narrator, Morgan’s Ferry (1999), Sweet Deadly Dreams (2002), and Behind the Broken Words (2003). He also narrated the films Garfield: A Tail

Obituaries • 2007 of Two Kitties (2006) and Epic Movie (2007). He was also seen in the tele-films Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love (1974), The Big Rip-Off (1975), King (1978), Dr. Scorpion (1978), The Haunting of Harrington House (1981), For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983), James Michener’s Space (1985), Stuck with Each Other (1989), Lady in the Corner (1989), Columbo: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo (1990), Open Window (1991), You Must Remember This (1992), Hard Time: The Premonition (1999), Hamlet (2000) as Polonius, and The Notorious 7 (1997). Browne starred as Gideon Gibbs in the television series McCoy from 1975 to 1976, and was Harold Nelstadter in the short-lived comedy series Miss Winslow and Son in 1979. He became Saunders, the butler, on the sit-com Soap from 1980 to 1981 after Robert Guillaume’s Benson received his own show. He was also featured as Rosemont in the evening soap opera Falcon Crest in 1988. He also guest-starred in episodes of such television series as East Side/West Side, That Was the Week That Was, Espionage, Mannix, The Invaders, The Outcasts, The Flip Wilson Show, The Name of the Game, Insight, Bonanza, Sanford and Son, The Streets of San Francisco, All in the Family, Good Times, Planet of the Apes, Barney Miller, Starsky and Hutch, Maude, Once Upon a Classic, Benson, Hart to Hart, Magnum, P.I., Head of the Class, 227, The Cosby Show and A Different World in the recurring role of Dr. Barnabus Foster, Highway to Heaven, Father Dowling Mysteries, Baby Talk, SeaQuest DSV in the recurring role of Dr. Raleigh Young, The John Larroquette Show, New York Undercover, CBS Schoolbreak Special, Cosby, ER, Hope Island, The Proud Family, The Shield, Law & Order, and Will & Grace. Browne was the voice of Merklyn and Reekon in the children’s series Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light in 1987. He was also a voice actor in the animated films Oliver & Company (1988) and Treasure Planet (2002), and such cartoon series as Foofur, Ring Raiders, The Real Ghost Busters, Batman: The Animated Series, Freakazoid!, Spider-Man as the Kingpin, The Wild Thornberrys, and Static Shock. Browne returned to Broadway in Tommy Tune’s hit production of My One and Only in 1983, and he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running in 1992. He also performed spokenword works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, and various other orchestras.

50 BRUCE, CAROL Actress and singer Carol Bruce, who was featured as Mama Carlson in the television comedy series WKRP in Cincinnati, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on October 9, 2007. She was 87. She was born Shirley Levy in Great Neck, New York, on November 15, 1919. She began her career as a singer in nightclubs in Montreal in 1937. Her sultry voice led to a career on stage, and she made her Broadway debut in the 1940 musical comedy Louisiana Purchase. She signed a contract with Universal in the early 1940s, appeared in several films including This Woman Is Mine (1941), Keep ’Em Flying (1941), and Behind the Eight Ball (1942). She starred on Broadway as Julie in the 1946 revival of Showboat, and appeared in the musical revue Along Fifth Avenue in 1949. She also appeared on such television series as The Silver Theater, Musical Comedy Time, Studio One, Curtain Call, and Armstrong Circle Theatre in the 1950s. She continued to perform on the New York stage, and also appeared in the television soap opera Love of Life as Amanda Randolph in 1969 and 1970. She was featured in several films in the 1980s including American Gigolo (1980) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). She starred as matriarch Mama Carlson on WKRP in Cincinnati from 1979 to 1982, and appeared in episodes of Charlie’s Angels, Diff ’rent Strokes, The Twilight Zone, Knots Landing in the recurring role of Annette Cunningham, Our House, Rags to Riches, Marblehead Manor, Perfect Strangers, Hooperman, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Golden Girls, Jake and the Fatman, Equal Justice, Live Shot, Party of Five, Diagnosis Murder, Pacific Palisades, Profiler, and That’s Life. She also voiced the role of the Old One in the 1996 animated film The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists.

Carol Bruce

Roscoe Lee Browne

BRUZZO, ALICIA Argentine actress Alicia Bruzzo died of lung cancer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 13, 2007. She was 51. Bruzzo was born in Buenos Aires on September 29, 1955. She began her career on stage in a production of The Witches of Salem in the late 1960s. She became a popular film and television star in the 1970s, appearing in such movies as Me Enamore sin Darme Cuente (1972), Pano Verde (1973), Las Venganzas de Beto Sanchez (1973), Los Chantas (1975), I

51 Ragazzi della Roma Violenta (1976), Crazy Women (1977), The Island (1979), El Bromista (1981), Sentimental (1981), The Conquest of Paradise (1981), Esperame Mucho (1983), Nightmare’s Passengers (1984), La Rosales (1984), A Shadow You Soon Will Be (1994), De mi Barrio con Amor (1996), El Che (1997), and La Mitad Negada (2005). She starred as Luisa in the popular 1981 television series El Rafa. She also appeared in television productions of El Monstruo no ha Muerto (1970), Un Extrano en Nuestras Vidas (1972), Mama Linda (1979), La Pobre Clara (1984), Libertad Condicionada (1985), Vendedoras de Lafayette (1988), Endless Summer (1999), and The Desire (2004).

Alicia Bruzzo

BUCHHEIM, LOTHAR-GUENTHER German author Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, who was best known for writing the German war novel Das Boot, died in Berlin on February 22, 2007. He was 89. Buchheim was born in Weimar, Germany, on February 6, 1918. He served in the German Navy during World War II, and based several of his later novels on his experiences. His 1971 novel Das Boot was set aboard a war-time submarine. It was adapted into a six-hour film by director Wolfgang Petersen in 1981. Buchheim was also a noted art collector and author of books about such artists as Max Beckmann, Otto Mueller, and Pablo Picasso.

2007 • Obituaries Washington, D.C., on January 17, 2007. He was 81. Buchwald was born in Mount Vernon, New York, on October 20, 1925. He left high school to join the U.S. Marines at the start of World War II. After the war he attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he edited the campus humor magazine. He continued his studies in Paris, where he began writing for the European edition of the Herald Tribune. His column, “Paris After Dark,” gained popularity in the early 1950s and was soon syndicated internationally. Buchwald’s stay in Paris ended in 1962, when he relocated his sometimes biting humor to Washington, D.C. He remained a popular figure in the social scene there, as he had previously been in Paris. Buchwald wrote his first novel, A Gift from the Boys, in 1958. The novel, about a deported mob boss who is given a girl as a parting gift by his mob, was adapted for a 1960 film, Surprise Package, starring Yul Brynner. He wrote a comic play, Sheep on the Runway, which was produced on Broadway in 1970. His second novel, The Bollo Caper, was published in 1974, and was adapted as a tele-film in 1985. Buchwald sued Paramount Pictures in the late 1980s, alleging that the hit Eddie Murphy film Coming to America was based on a script idea he had written. The Superior Court of California ruled in his favor in 1990. His memoir, I’ll Always Have Paris, was published in 1996. Buchwald suffered from kidney failure in February of 2006, and was only given several weeks to live by doctors after he refused dialysis. He continued to write his column, visited with friends, gave numerous, interviews, and wrote a final book, Too Soon to Say Goodbye, over the next year.

Art Buchwald

Lothar-Guenther Buchheim

BUCHWALD, ART

Satirical columnist Art Buchwald died of kidney failure at his son’s home in

BUNDLES, STACK Rising young rap singer Stack Bundles was shot to death outside his home in Queens, New York, on June 11, 2007. He was 24. He was born Rayquon Elliot in Far Rockaway, New York, in 1983. He worked with such artists as Fabolous and DJ Clue and was affiliated with Cam’ron and Jim Jones’ Diplomat Brydgang rap groups. The rapper also led his own Riot Squad crew and released a myriad of solo mixtapes. (See photograph on page 52.) BUPP, SONNY Child actor Moyer “Sonny” Bupp, who was best known for his role as young Charles Foster Kane III in the 1941 film classic Citizen Kane, died

Obituaries • 2007

52 ner (1940), Queen of the Mob (1940), Three Faces West (1940), Diamond Frontier (1940), Slightly Tempted (1940), She Couldn’t Say No (1940), Father’s Son (1941), Citizen Kane (1941) as Orson Welles’ young son, Sergeant York (1941), Bad Men of Missouri (1941), International Squadron (1941), One Foot in Heaven (1941), The Devil and Daniel Webster (aka All That Money Can Buy) (1941), West of Cimarron (1941), Code of the Outlaw (1942), Syncopation (1942), Wings for the Eagle (1942), The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942), Tennessee Johnson (1942), and Eyes of the Underworld (1943). Bupp retired from films and later worked as an executive with the Ford Motor Company.

Stack Bundles

in Henderson, Nevada, on November 1, 2007. He was 79. Bupp was born in New York City on January 10, 1928. He was the younger brother of actor Tommy Bupp, and the two siblings appeared together in several films. He began his onscreen career as a child in the early 1930s, appearing in such films and shorts as Kid Millions (1935), It Happened in New York (1935), Annie Oakley (1935), Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935), Man Hunt (1936), Song and Dance Man (1936), Hearts and Bondage (1936), And Sudden Death (1936), San Francisco (1936), Star for a Night (1936), Rose Bowl (1936), What Becomes of the Children? (1936), We Who Are About to Die (1937), WomanWise (1937), The Great O’Malley (1937), Murder Goes to College (1937), Lost Horizon (1937), Michael O’Halloran (1937), Cash and Carry (1937), My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937), Love Is on the Air (1937) with Ronald Reagan in his first film role, Love on Toast (1937), Missing Witnesses (1937), Hollywood Hotel (1937), Swing Your Lady (1938), Hunted Men (1938), Penrod’s Double Trouble (1938), Men in Fright (1938), The Storm (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Risky Business (1939), Boy Trouble (1939), Sudden Money (1939), Fixer Dugan (1939), On Borrowed Time (1939), Feathered Pests (1939), the 1939 Hopalong Cassidy film The Renegade Trail with William Boyd, When Tomorrow Comes (1939), The Day of Rest (1939), No Place to Go (1939), Emergency Squad (1940), Parole Fixer (1940), I Take This Woman (1940), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) as Willie Lincoln, Little Orvie (1940), Half a Sin-

BURGWITZ, HANNA German actress Hanna Burgwitz died in Inzlingen, German, on April 14, 2007. She was 87. Burgwitz was born in Berlin, Germany, on May 18, 1919. She was a leading stage actress who also appeared frequently on television from the 1960s. She was featured in productions of A Christmas Carol in Prose, or, A Ghost Story of Christmas (1960) as Mother Cratchit, Hauptgewinn: 6 (1962), Die Feuertreppe (1962), Ostwind (1967), Die Hellseherin (1976), Zeit der Empfindsamkeit (1977), Nur fur eine Nacht (1997), Blutiger Ernst (1998), and Bis dass dein Tod uns Scheidet (2002). She also appeared in episodes of Der Kommissar, Tatort, Lindenstrasse, and Die Verbrechen des Professor Capellari. Burgwitz was also seen in several films during her career including O.K. (1970) and A Woman with Responsibilities (1978).

Hanna Burgwitz

Sonny Bupp

BURMESTER, LEO Character actor Leo Burmester died from complications from brain surgery and leukemia in New York City on June 28, 2007. He was 63. Burmester was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 1, 1944. He appeared on stage in Louisville and in productions of Marsha Norman’s Getting Out and James McLure’s Lone Star. He continued with the plays when they were produced in New York, becoming Burmester’s Off-Broadway and Broadway debuts, respectively. He was best known on stage for his roles in Les Miserables and Buried Child. He made his film debut in a small role in William Friedkin’s 1980 film Cruising. He also appeared in the films Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), Daniel (1983), The House of God (1984), Odd Jobs (1986),

53 Sweet Liberty (1986), Broadcast News (1987) as the father of Holly Hunter’s character, Big Business (1988), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) as the Apostle Nathaniel, James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) as decompression expert Catfish DeVries, Article 99 (1992), John Sayles’ Passion Fish (1992), Innocent Blood (1992), Fly by Night (1993), A Perfect World (1993), The Neon Bible (1995), Lone Star (1996), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Switchback (1997), The Farmhouse (1998), River Red (1998), Dumbarton Bridge (1999), Getting to Know You (1999), Saturn (1999), Limbo (1999), The End of the Bar (2002), City by the Sea (2002), Out of These Rooms (2002), Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002), Red Betsy (2003), Glengarry, Bob Ross (2003), American Brown (2004), Batch (2005), The Legend of Zorro (2005), The Partner (2006), Mercy (2007), and Aftermath (2007). He also appeared frequently on television, with roles in the tele-films Precious Blood (1982), Rattlesnake in a Cooler (1982), Sidney Sheldon’s Rage of Angels (1983), Chiefs (1983), George Washington (1984), George Washington 2: The Forging of a Nation (1986), True Blue (1989), Hamlet (1990), Hale the Hero (1992), Alex Hailey’s Queen (1993), The Great Elephant Escape (1995), Truman (1995), Mistrial (1996), William Faulkner’s Old Man (1997), ...First Do No Harm (1997), LIBERTY! The American Revolution (1997) as Gen. Nathaniel Greene, Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999), Monday Night Mayhem (2002), and Carry Me Home (2004). His other television credits include episodes of Nurse, The Young Riders, Walker, Texas Ranger, Chicago Hope, You’re the One, Trinity, Baywatch, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, 100 Centre Street, Law and Order, and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

2007 • Obituaries Goodyear Television Playhouse, Suspense, Kraft Television Theatre, Letter to Loretta, Medic, The Millionaire, Climax!, Dragnet, General Electric Theater, Matinee Theatre, Official Detective, Wire Service, Navy Log, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Zane Grey Theater, The Walter Winchell File, M Squad, Frontier Justice, 77 Sunset Strip, State Trooper, One Step Beyond, Perry Mason, The Untouchables, The Man from Blackhawk, The Rebel, Wanted: Dead or Alive, COronado 9, Surfside 6, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Going My Way, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, The Great Adventure, McHale’s Navy, Convoy, The Loner, The F.B.I., Laredo, The Iron Horse The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Run for Your Life, Dragnet, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Daniel Boone, McCloud, The Smith Family, Banacek, Kojak, Kung Fu, Baretta, The Rockford Files, and Lou Grant. He was also featured in the tele-films Sole Survivor (1970), Do You Take This Stranger? (1971), Earth II (1971), The Snoop Sisters (1972), Columbo: Requiem for a Falling Star (1973), In Tandem (1974), Columbo: Playback (1975), The Blue Knight (1975), Helter Skelter (1976), Scott Free (1976), The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) as Robert Maheu, and The Triangle Factor Fire Scandal (1979). Burns was also seen in numerous films during his career including Between Heaven and Hell (1956), Fear Strikes Out (1957) as Joe Cronin, Tall Story (1960), Seven Days in May (1964), Number One (1969), There Was a Crooked Man... (1970), The Iceman Cometh (1973), The Nickel Ride (1974), Seed of Innocence (1980), Frances (1982), Money to Burn (1983), Legal Eagles (1986), and Fear (1988).

Bart Burns Leo Burmester

BURNS, BART Character actor Bart Burns died at his home in West Hills, California, on July 11, 2007. He was 89. Burns was born George Joseph Burns in New York City on March 13, 1918. He served in the Marines during World War II and earned a Silver Star for heroism in the Pacific. He began his acting career after the war in 1947, and was a familiar face on television from the 1950s. Burns starred as Juror #6 in the Studio One production of Twelve Angry Men in 1954, and was Captain Pat Chambers on Mike Hammer from 1957 to 1959. He was also featured in episodes of Man Again Crime,

BURNS, FRED Comedian Fred Burns, who was born with spina bifida, died in his sleep while aboard the cruise ship Infinity in Puget Sound, near Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, on May 11, 2007. He was 49. He was born Frederick William Burns in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on June 23, 1957. He moved to the United States and embarked upon a career in comedy, performing worldwide. Burns was a manager at the Comedy Store in La Jolla, California, for over a decade. He was seen in the 2003 film Stuck on You portraying a street comic and had a role in Fred, a documentary about his life, which was directed by Ron Ward. The film earned international acclaim and awards.

Obituaries • 2007

54 Compact, Undermind, The Power Game, The Baron, Mystery and Imagination, The Prisoner, The Saint, Spy Trap, The New Avengers, Secret Army, Play for Today, Cribb, Bergerac, Remington Steele, and Heartbeat. Burns’ final role was as the new bishop in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust.

Fred Burns

BURNS, MARK Veteran British character actor Mark Burns died in England of cancer on May 7, 2007. He was 71. Burns was born in Worchestershire, England, on March 30, 1936. He made his film debut in 1960 in a small role in Tunes of Glory. He was also seen in the films A Prize of Arms (1962), Take Me Over (1963), The Day and the Hour (1963), The System (1964), Death Is a Woman (1966), It! (1966), The Jokers (1967), I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname (1967), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), Roman Polanski’s A Day at the Beach (1970) starring as Bernie, The Adventures of Gerard (1970), The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), A Time for Loving (1971), Death in Venice (1971), Ludwig (1972), House of the Living Dead (1973), Revolt of the City (1973), The Maids (1974), Juggernaut (1974), Rosebud (1974), A Long Return (1975), The Stud (1978), The Bitch (1979), Home Before Midnight (1979), Eyewitness (1981), The Wicked Lady (1983), Champions (1984), The Surrogate (1984), Keeping Track (1985), Destroying Angel (1988), Bullseye! (1990), Dirty Weekend (1993), Savage Hearts (1997), and The Clandestine Marriage (1999). Burns also appeared frequently on television, with roles in such productions as The Secret of the Nubian Tomb (1961), Saki (1962), Rupert of Hentzau (1964), Count Dracula (1977) as John Seward to Louis Jourdan’s vampire count, By the Sword Divided (1983), Wagner (1983), Passport to Murder (1993), and Sharpe’s Honour (1994). His other television credits include episodes of One Step Beyond, Studio Four, Z Cars,

Mark Burns

BURNS, RONNIE Ronnie Burns, the adopted son of comedy legends George Burns and Gracie Allen, died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, on November 14, 2007. He was 72. He was born in Evanton, Illinois, on July 9, 1935, and was adopted when he was three months old. He joined his parents on numerous episodes of their popular television series The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show during the 1950s. He also appeared on television in episodes of Shower of Stars, The Honeymooners, Front Row Center, Playhouse 90, Panic!, The Jack Benny Program, Bachelor Father, The Steve Allen Show, General Electric Theater, The Millionaire, The Deputy, and Happy. Burns was also featured in the 1957 film Bernardine, and starred in the 1961 horror film Anatomy of a Psycho. He left acting in the early 1960s, but worked as a producer on his father’s 1964 television sit-com Wendy and Me. He was later a successful real estate investor.

Ronnie Burns

BURRUS, BOB Character actor Bob Burrus died in his Oklahoma home on January 3, 2007. He was

Bob Burrus

55 68. Burrus was born on September 14, 1938. He was featured in a small role in the film Southern Comfort (1981), and starred in the 2000 independent film Tully. He also appeared on television in the soap operas The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow. Burrus also performed frequently on the local stage in Louisville, Kentucky.

BURTON, DONALD British actor Donald Burton died at of emphysema his home in Cathedral City, California, on December 8, 2007. He was 73. Burton was born in Norwich, England, in 1934, and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1960s, with roles in productions of Hamlet, The War of the Roses, and Henry IV Part 1. He was a popular performer on British television from the early 1960s, appearing in the recurring role of Detective Constable Little in Z Cars. He was Julius Karekin in the drama series Upstairs, Downstairs in 1973, and was Cmdr. Mark Nialls in the series Warship from 1973 to 1976, and was Augustus Trotter in The Duchess of Duke Street in 1976. Burton starred in the recurring role of Richard Kellie in Crown Court from 1975 to 1977, and was Harry Blaney in the science fiction series 1990 in 1978. His other television credits include episodes of Dixon of Dock Green, Big Breadwinner Hog, Roads to Freedom, Fraud Squad, Play for Today, The Adventurer, Jason King, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Softly Softly, The Protectors, Arthur of the Britons, Public Eye, Van der Valk, The Wilde Alliance, The Doombolt Chase, The Sweeney, Minder, The Sponge Man, The Onedin Line, Nanny, The Consultant, Jemima Shore Investigates, Bergerac, Storyboard, Jake and the Fatman, Perfect Strangers, and Murder, She Wrote. He also appeared in television productions of Man Who Hunting Himself (1972), War & Peace (1972), Silver Blaze (1977), The Talisman (1980), Sleeping Murder (1987), At Bertram’s Hotel (1987), and Shattered Image (1994). Burton was also featured in a handful of films during his career including Mohammed, Messenger of God (1976), Blue Chill (1989), Feminine Chemistry (1990), Hudson Hawk (1991) as Alfred. Burton was married to actress Carroll Baker for nearly 30 years.

2007 • Obituaries the name Frank Butcher, died in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on August 22, 2007. He was 84. Garcia was born in Monterrey, Mexico, on February 12, 1923. He competed in the ring throughout Mexico and Spain during the 1940s and 1950s. He was also featured in the 1953 Mexican wrestling film Huracan Ramirez. Garcia moved to Canada in the early 1970s where he became a top competitor in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling. He continued as a wrestler until 1977, though he remained active in the ring as a referee over the next decade.

Frank Butcher

BUTLER, KEN Actor Ken Butler died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on July 22, 2007. He was 55. Butler was born in New York City on August 18, 1951. He was featured in such films as King of the Gypsies (1978), Fast Break (1979), Voices (1979), Firepower (1979), All That Jazz (1979), Night of the Juggler (1980), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), The Orkly Kid (1985), The Beaver Trilog y (2001), Everest (2003), Mulberry Park (2005), Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (2005) also serving as associate producer, and Ken (2006). He was also seen in the television productions of The Nightmare Years (1989) and Prison Stories: Women on the Inside (1991), and episodes of Designing Women, WIOU, and Dark Justice. Butler produced the short-lived Broadway adaptation of Requiem for a Heavyweight, and starred as Maish Resnick in a recent Los Angeles production of Requiem. He is survived by his wife, singer Martha Harrer-Butler.

Donald Burton

BUTCHER, FRANK Mexican wrestler and actor Francisco Garcia, who competed in the ring under

Ken Butler

Obituaries • 2007 BYRD, BOBBY Bobby Byrd, who collaborated with legendary funk musician James Brown, died of cancer at his home in Loganville, Georgia, on September 12, 2007. He was 73. He was born Bobby Day in South Carolina on August 12, 1934. He met James Brown while serving time in a juvenile facility and during the early 1950s, he and his family sponsored James Brown’s parole from prison. Byrd formed the Gospel Starlighters in the late 1950s, and played with James Brown and Johnny Terry with the Gospel group the 3 Swanees. He and Earl Nelson recorded under the name Bob and Earl before disbanding to form the Avons, which later accepted James Brown into the group after he was released from prison. During the 1960s, the Avons underwent several name changes, first becoming The Flames, which soon became James Brown and the Famous Flames. Byrd earned his first hit in a duet with Anna King with “Baby Baby Baby” in 1964. He also released the songs “We Are in Love” and “I Need Help (I Can’t Do It Alone), which rose to the Top 20 and was heard on James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine).” His most recognized song, “I Know You Got Soul,” produced by James Brown, was released in 1971 and later became a popular single for the hip hop artists Eric B and Rakim in 1987. He released “If You Got a Love You Better Hang On to It” in 1972, and “Baby, I Love You.” Byrd left the James Brown line-up in 1973, though still performed regularly in Europe and the United States. In recent years, he toured with his wife and children, releasing the 1994 album On the Move. Byrd made his final performance at the Supernatural Festival in Holland in July of 2005. He is survived by his wife, Vicki Anderson, who was also a member of the James Brown band, and daughter, R & B singer Bonnie Byrd.

Bobby Byrd

CABOT, CHUCK Charles W. Cascales, who led an orchestra as Chuck Cabot in the 1940s and 1950s, died in Santa Monica, California, on December 27, 2007. He was 92. Cabot’s orchestra made its debut on The Fitch Bandwagon radio program in 1940. The band, which featured Beth Harmon on vocals, was popular in ballrooms from coast to coast. In the 1960s, Cascales worked as a booker for such musical acts as the Drifters, the Coasters, and the Shirelles.

56

Chuck Cabot (right, with his band and singer Jean Harmon)

CALLAHAN, JAMES T. Character actor James T. Callahan, who starred as Grandfather Walter Powell in the television sitcom Charles in Charge in the late 1980s, died of esophageal cancer at his home in Fallbrook, California, on August 3, 2007. He was 76. Callahan was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 4, 1930. He served in the U.S. Army in West Germany in the early 1950s and studied drama at the University of Washington later in the decade. He appeared in numerous films and television productions over the next 48 years. Callahan’s film credits include The Walking Target (1960), Experiment in Terror (1962), A Man Called Gannon (1968), Tropic of Cancer (1970), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Outlaw Blues (1977), Cloud Dancers (1980), Inchon (1981), Hero (1992), Return of the Living Dead III (1993) as Colonel Peck, May Jean (1994), Midnight Man (1995), Return to Two Moon Junction (1995), Every Dog Has Its Day (1997), Extreme Honor (2001), The Standard (2006), and the 2007 horror film Born. He was also featured in such tele-films as Travis Logan, D.A. (1971), She Waits (1972), Mystery in Dracula’s Castle (1973), The Missiles of October (1974), McNaughton’s Daughter (1976), Studs Lonigan (1979), But Mother! (1979), Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze (1979), The Haunting of Harrington House (1981), Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess (1983), Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983), The Juggler of Notre Dame (1984), The Burning Bed (1984), A Bunny’s Tale (1985), Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story (1985), Barry Manilow’s Copacabana (1985), The Christmas Gift (1986), Prison for Children (1987), Plymouth (1991), The Last Chance Detectives: Mystery Lights of Navajo Mesa (1994) as Pop Fowler, A Part of the Family (1994), The Last Chance Detectives: Legend of the Desert Bigfoot (1995), The Last Chance Detectives: Escape from Fire Lake (1996), and Wild Hearts (2006). Callahan starred as George Callison in the television sit-com The Governor & J.J. from 1969 to 1970. He was cranky grandfather Walter Powell on Charles in Charge with Scott Baio from 1987 through 1990. The prolific performer also guest-starred in episodes of such series as The Californians, Dennis the Menace, Two Faces West, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Perry Mason, Route 66, Have Gun —Will Travel, General Electric Theater, Stoney Burke, Combat!, Empire, The Eleventh Hour,

57 Grindl, The Richard Boone Show, The Twilight Zone, The Great Adventure, Dr. Kildare in the recurring role of Dr. Yates Atkinson, Ben Casey, My Favorite Martian, Wendy and Me, Convoy, Twelve O’Clock High, Time Tunnel, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, The Invaders, The F.B.I., Adam-12, Cade’s County, Longstreet, Marcus Welby, M.D, M*A*S*H, Love, American Style, Barnaby Jones, Doctors’ Hospital, Cannon, Police Story, Holmes and Yo-Yo, The Rockford Files, ABC Weekend Specials, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The Runaways, The Ropers, Bosom Buddies, Lou Grant, Benson, Alice, Simon & Simon, Quincy, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Remington Steele, Little House on the Prairie, Fame, Automan, The A-Team, Knight Rider, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Newhart, Highway to Heaven, The New Lassie, Dougie Howser, M.D., The Golden Girls, Picket Fences, Hope & Gloria, Caroline in the City, Cybill, Promised Land, The Practice, Chicken Soup for the Soul, ER, Body & Soul, and Medium.

2007 • Obituaries

Edith Campion

CANDEIAS, OSUALDO RIBEIRO Brazilian filmmaker Osualdo Ribeiro Candeias died of respiratory failure in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 8, 2007. He was 84. Candeias was born in Cajubi, Brazil on November 5, 1922. He served in the military and worked as a truck driver before embarking on a career in films in the 1950s. He was best known for making the 1967 film The Margin. He also wrote and directed a segment of Jose Mojica Marins’ 1968 horror film Trilog y of Terror. He also worked with Majins on the 1969 film Ritual of the Sadists. Candeias’ other film credits include A Heranca (1970), Zezero (1974), Cacada Sangrenta (1974), Women of the Violent Sex (1976), A Opcao (1981), Manelao, o Cacador de Orelhas (1982), A Freira e a Tortura (1983), As Belas da Billings (1987), and O Vigilante (1992).

James Callahan

CAMPBELL, GAR Actor and stage director Gar Campbell died of cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on December 20, 2007. He was 64. Campbell was born in Los Angeles in 1943. He began performing on stage while a student at the University of Southern California and was co-founder of the small Company Theater in 1967. He performed on stage and frequently directed productions there and at the Pacific Resident Theatre, which he joined in 1985. Campbell also appeared in small roles in several films including Glass Houses (1972), Dream On! (1981), Fright Night Part 2 (1988), and Joseph’s Reunion (1995). CAMPION, EDITH New Zealand writer and actress Edith Campion died at her home in Otaki, New Zealand, on September 16, 2007. She was 83. Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on December 13, 1923. She was a leading stage actress in New Zealand in the 1950s. She was also the author of the book A Place to Pass Through and Other Stories (1977), and the novel The Chain (1979). She was featured in a small role in the 1989 film The Audition, directed by her daughter Anna Campion. She also made a cameo appearance in Angel at My Table, the first New Zealand film directed by daughter Jane Campion in 1990.

Osualdo Ribeiro Candeias

CANTER, STANLEY Film producer Stanley Canter died of complications from heart disease in Santa Monica, California, on October 12, 2007. He was 75. Canter was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on July 15, 1932. He graduated from UCLA and began working in television as a studio page at CBS. He produced his first film, Hornets’ Nest starring Rock Hudson, in 1970. He also produced the 1974 film W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, starring Burt Reynolds and the private eye thriller St. Ives (1976), with Charles Bronson. Canter was best known as producer of the 1984 film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, starring Christopher

Obituaries • 2007 Lambert. He also directed the 1998 sequel Tarzan and the Lost City, starring Casper Van Diem as the jungle hero.

CAPRA, FRANK, JR. Film executive Frank Capra, Jr., died of prostate cancer in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hospital on December 19, 2007. He was 73. He was born on March 20, 1934, the son of acclaimed director Frank Capra and his second wife, the former Lucille Rayburn Warner. He attended the California Institute of Technology and Pomona College, and worked at Hughes Tool Co. making film documentaries of the government research programs conducted there. He subsequently joined the U.S. Army, serving in the Signal Corps’ film unit. Capra worked as an assistant director for his father’s 1961 film Pocketful of Miracles. He also worked in television on such series as Dennis the Menace, Hazel, Zane Grey Theater, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, and Gunsmoke. Capra was associated producer for the 1969 space film Marooned, and three Planet of the Apes sequels —Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). He was also associate producer for Woody Allen’s 1972 film Play It Again, Sam and the 1973 musical adaptation of Tom Sawyer. He also served as president of Avco-Embassy Pictures in the 1970s. Capra produced the tele-film Trapped Beneath the Sea (1974), and the features Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977), Born Again (1978), The Black Marble (1980), An Eye for an Eye (1981), Vice Squad (1982), The Seduction (1982), Firestarter (1984), Marie (1985), and Death Before Dishonor (1987). Capra became president of the North Carolina based studio EUE/Screen Gems in 1997. Such features as The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and 28 Days were filmed at the studio. Capra was also executive producer of the films Waterproof (1999), Queen City Blowout (2004), and Two Headed Cow (2006).

Frank Capra, Jr.

CARDOSO, YOLANDA Brazilian actress Yolanda Cardoso died of complications from pneumonia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 10, 2007. She was 78. Cardoso was born in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, on September 18, 1928. She was a popular performer in films and television in Brazil from the late 1950s. Her film credits include Uma Certa Lucrecia (1957), Crime no

58 Sacopa (1963), Paraiba, Vida e Morte de um Bandido (1966), Engracadinha Depois dos Trinta (1966), Adoravel Trapalhao (1967), Copacabana Fools Me (1968), How Are You? Well? (1969), Elas Sao do Baralho (1977), A Arvore dos Sexos (1977), A Noite dos Duros (1978), Mulheres do Cais (1979), Os Rapazes da Dificil Vida Facil (1980), Pedro Mico (1985), and Subway to the Stars (1987). Cardoso also starred in numerous television series including Anastacia, A Mulher Sem Destino (1967), Algemas de Ouro (1969), As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor (1970), Na Idade do Lobo (1972), A Volta de Beto Rockfeller (1973), Divanas & Maravilhosas (1973), A Barba-Azul (1974), O Sheik de Ipanema (1975), A Viagem (1975), Papai Coracao (1976), Tchan! A Grande Sacada (1976), O Profeta (1977), Coracao Alado (1980), O Amor E Nosso (1981), Setimo Sentido (1982), Bandidos da Falange (1983), Transas e Caretas (1984), Direito de Amar (1987), Decadencia (1995), and Sai de Baixo (1998).

Yolanda Cardoso

CAREY, RON Comic actor Ron Carey, who was best known as Officer Carl Levitt in the television sit-com Barney Miller, died of a stroke at a hospital in Los Angeles on January 16, 2007. He was 71. Carey was born Ronald Cicenia in Newark, New Jersey, on December 11, 1935. He began his career as a stand-up comic in New York, and gained recognition by his appearances on The Merv Griffin Show in 1966. The short, round-faced comedian was also seen on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Jackie Gleason Show. He made his film debut as a cabbie in the 1970 version of Neil Simon’s The Out of Towners. He also appeared in the films Who Killed Mary What’s ’Er Name? (1971), Made for Each Other (1971), Dynamite Chicken (19720, Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977) as the chauffeur Brophy, Fatso (1980), History of the World: Part 1 (1981), Johnny Dangerously (1984), The Night Before Christmas (1994), The Good Bad Guy (1997), and Food for Thought (1999). Carey appeared regularly on the 1972 variety series The Melba Moore–Clifton Davis Show, and starred as Frank Montesfusco in the 1975 comedy series The Montefuscos. He was seen on a regular basis as Officer Carl Levitt in the popular series Barney Miller from 1976 to 1982. He also starred as Father Vincent Paglia in the short-lived comedy series Have Faith in 1989, and was Joe Dalton in Lucky Luke in 1991. Carey’s other tel-

59 evision credits include episodes of Alice, Benson, and New Love, American Style.

Ron Carey

CARGILL, HENSON Country singer Henson Cargill, who had a popular hit with his 1968 recording of “Skip a Rope,” died of complications from surgery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 27, 2007. He was 66. Cargill was born in Oklahoma City on February 5, 1941. He began performing in Oklahoma in the 1960s, and also recorded the country hits “None of My Business” and “The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I’ve Ever Heard.” He also performed on television in episodes of The Porter Wagoner Show and The Johnny Cash Show in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A CD collection of his recordings, A Very Well Traveled Man, was released in 2005.

2007 • Obituaries Vanities. She also appeared in the films She Loves Me Not (1934) and Here Is My Heart (1934), both opposite Bing Crosby. She starred as Rosa Castaldi with the Marx Brothers comedy classic A Night at the Opera (1935). She also appeared in the films Larceny with Music (1943) and Hollywood Canteen (1944), and performed often on the Broadway stage from her debut in Champagne Sec. Carlisle married Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Moss Hart, who’s works included You Can’t Take It with You and The Man Who Came to Dinner. She began a lengthy career as a panelist on the hit CBS game show To Tell the Truth in 1956. She was a frequent panelist throughout its network run in 1967 and in later syndicated versions of the show. She was also a guest panelist on the quiz shows I’ve Got a Secret, The Eyes Have It, What’s Going On?, Password, and What’s My Line? After Hart’s death in 1961, she continued to appeared in Broadway productions and made her operatic debut in the Metropolitan Opera production of The Fledermaus in 1967. Carlisle also starred in the title role of in the U.S.A. debut of Benjamin Britten Rape of Lucretia. In later years, she appeared in cameo roles in the films Radio Days (1987) and Catch Me if You Can (2002) and was featured as Mrs. Bannister in Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Carlisle was also a leading figure in New York’s social scene, serving on the New York State Council on the Arts from 1971 to 1996. She remained active until December of 2006 when she contracted pneumonia. Her survivors included her son, writer and director Christopher Hart, and daughter, Dr. Catherine Hart.

Kitty Carlisle

Henson Cargill

CARLISLE, KITTY Kitty Carlisle Hart, whose lengthy career spanned the Broadway stage, the Marx Brothers classic film A Night at the Opera, and the television quiz show To Tell the Truth, died at her New York home from complications of pneumonia on April 17, 2007. She was 96. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 3, 1910. She was educated at such prestigious institutions as the Sorbonne in Paris and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She made her film debut in the 1934 feature Murder at the

CARLSON, JIM Television writer Jim Carlson died of complications from heart problems at his home on August 25, 2007. He was 74. Carlson was born on August 29, 1932. He began working in television in the late 1960s writing comedy material for Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. He also scripted episodes of such series as Emergency!, Gemini Man, The Love Boat, CHiPs, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I., and Riptide. Carlson served as story editor for the 1978 science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, also writing several episodes. He also wrote frequently for ABC Weekend Specials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Carlson wrote the animated features Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz (1987) and Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw (1988), and an episode of television’s X-Men in 1992.

Obituaries • 2007 CARMEN, JEANNE Jeanne Carmen, a pin-up girl and actress from the 1950s who claimed to be Marilyn Monroe’s closest friend, died of lymphoma at her home in Irvine, California, on December 20, 2007. She was 77. Carmen was born in Paragould, Arkansas, on August 4, 1930. She ran away from home at the age of 13 and headed to New York where she danced in burlesque shows while still a teenager. She worked as a pin-up model and appeared on television in Broadway Open House, Mike and Buff, and The Colgate Comedy Hour. She also began a career as a trick golfer, hustling money on the links with unusual golf shots. Carmen was soon in Hollywood appearing in a string of B-movies, including Striporama (1953), The Three Outlaws (1956), War Drums (1957), A Merry Mix-Up (1957), Untamed Youth (1957), Portland Expose (1957), I Married a Woman (1958), Too Much, Too Soon (1958), Born Reckless (1958), the cult horror film The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959), and The Devil’s Hand (1962). Carmen also guest-starred in such television series as Riverboat, Have Gun —Will Travel, Tightrope, and The Dick Powell Show. She retired from the screen in the early 1960s. She embarked upon another career in the late 1980s, with her claims to have been an intimate friend of legendary actress Marilyn Monroe. Over the next 20 years she was a frequent guest on various programs and documentaries recounting her exploits with Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Kennedys. Despite allegations that not all of her revelations were accurate, her shocking exposés and still glamorous beauty made her a popular figure on television and at nostalgia conventions.

60 (1980) starring John Ritter, and The Secret of My Succe$s (1987) starring Michael J. Fox. Carothers also wrote the tele-films Goldilocks (1971), Miss Stewart, Sir (1972), Topper Returns (1973), Forever (1978), The Thief of Baghdad (1978), Summer Girl (1983), and Making of a Male Model (1983), and episodes of Nanny and the Professor and Goodbye, Beantown. Carothers also wrote speeches for such political figures as Nancy Reagan, and wrote the book for the 1996 stage musical Busker Alley.

CARRAS, ANTHONY Film editor Anthony “Tony” Carras died in California on August 15, 2007. He was 86. Carras was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 23, 1920. He served as a bomber pilot during World War II. After the war, he attended the Pasadena Playhouse and began working in films as a sound editor in the 1950s. He was sound editor on the films Man with the Gun (1955), Runaway Daughters (1956), Flesh and the Spur (1957), and Hot Rod Gang (1958). He advanced to film editor later in the decade, working often for Roger Corman at American International Pictures in the 1960s. He edited such features as A Bucket of Blood (1959), Beast from Haunted Cave (1959), Blood and Steel (1959), Ski Troop Attack (1960), The Fall of the House of Usher (1960), Last Woman on Earth (1960), Master of the World (1961) which he also co-produced, The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), Operation Bikini (1963) which he also directed, X —The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), The Comedy of Terrors (1964) which he also produced, and Tarzan and the Great River (1967). Carras was best known for his role as a producer of many AIP’s Beach Party films in the 1960s. He was producer for Bikini Beach (1964) which he also served as second unit director on Pajama Party (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Sergeant Deadhead (1965), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). He also produced, directed, and scripted the 1971 film Rancho del Miedo (aka The Fearmaker).

Jeanne Carmen

CAROTHERS, A.J. Screenwriter A.J. Carothers died of cancer in Los Angeles on April 9, 2007. He was 75. Carothers was born in Houston, Texas, on October 22, 1931. He began his career in television as a story editor for the CBS series Studio One, and served as an associate producer for the series Playhouse 90 and G.E. Theater. He also scripted episodes of the series The Third Man, Bourbon Street Beat, My Three Sons, and The Dupont Show with June Allyson. He worked frequently for Disney in the 1960s, writing the films Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), Emil and the Detectives (1964), and The Happiest Millionaire (1967). He also scripted the films Never a Dull Moment (1968), Hero at Large

Anthony Carras

CARROLL, BOB, JR. Television writer Bob Carroll, Jr., who was co-creator of the legendary 1950s sit-com I Love Lucy, died in Los Angeles after a brief illness on January 27, 2007. He was 87. Carroll was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on August 12, 1919, and was

61 raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, from an early age. He began writing while in his teens, and moved to Los Angeles to work for the CBS radio affiliate KNX. He began writing for CBS Radio in 1943, scripting such series as The Steve Allen Show and Hollywood Showcase with Hedda Hopper. He began teaming with Madelyn Pugh Davis in 1946, and first worked with Lucille Ball and producer Jess Oppenheimer for the CBS radio show My Favorite Husband in 1948. They worked together to create I Love Lucy as a comedy vehicle for Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, in 1951. Carroll and Pugh co-wrote all 180 episodes of the series through 1957. Carroll and Davis continued to work with Ball on such subsequent series as The Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Show, The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy. He also wrote the 1968 feature film Yours, Mine and Ours for Lucille Ball. His other television credits include the series Those Whiting Girls, The Tom Ewell Show, The Mothers-in-Law, The Paul Lynde Show, Alice, Dorothy, Mr. T and Tina, and Private Benjamin.

2007 • Obituaries He became a leading author on horseracing, writing such works as Ainslie’s Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing, The Compleat Horseplayer, and Ainslie’s Encyclopedia of Thoroughbred Handicapping under the pseudonym Tom Ainslie. He also authored a biography of polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, Breakthrough, and co-wrote baseball player Curt Flood’s memoir, The Way It Is.

CARVALHINHO Brazilian comic actor Carvalhinho died of heart failure in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 1, 2007. He was 79. Rodolfo Carvalho was born in Recife, Brazil, on May 24, 1927. He was a popular performer on the Brazilian stage, films and television from the 1940s. He was featured in such films as Caidos do Ceu (1946), Entrei de Gaiato (1959), Dona Xepa (1959), Essa Gatinha e Minha (1966), Chegou a Hora, Camaradas! (1969), O Ladrao de Quem se Fala (1969), Uma Garota em Maus Lencois (1970), Amante Muito Louca (1973), Robin Hood, O Trapalhao da Floresta (1974), Ela, Ela, Quem? (1977), A Virgem Camuflada (1979), O Cinderelo Trapalhao (1979), Quanto Mais Pelada ... Melhor (1979), Vamos Cantar Disco Baby (1979), Bububu no Bobobo (1980), A Boca do Prazer (1984), and Irma Vap—O Retorno (2006). Carvalhinho also appeared in television productions of Deus Nos Acuda (1992), Agosto (1993), Torre de Babel (1998), and Da Cor do Pecado (2004).

Bob Carroll, Jr. (with Lucille Ball)

CARROLL, FRANCINE Television writer Francine Carroll, who created the series Amy Prentiss, died in Tarzana, California, on November 9, 2007. She was 83. She was born Francine Epstein in New York City in 1924. She began her career writing detective fiction for such publications as Black Mask. She worked frequently in television from the 1960s, scripting episodes of The Virginian and Ironside. She wrote the pilot episode for Amy Prentiss, a detective series starring Jessica Walter, in 1974. Carroll was nominated for a Writer’s Guild award for writing segments of the Showtime series Rescuers: Stories of Courage in 1998. She was married for 52 years to producer Cy Chermak, who survived her. CARTER, RICHARD Author and horse racing expert Richard Carter died in New York City on September 2, 2007. He was 89. Carter was born on January 24, 1918. He began his career as a journalist and earned a George Polk Award for a series of articles he wrote about corruption and racketeering on the New York waterfront for The New York Compass. He co-authored the memoirs of Manhattan assistant district attorney William Keating for a book entitled The Man Who Rocked the Boat, which was adapted for the 1957 film Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.

Carvalhinho

CASARES, ANA Leading Argentine actress Ana Casares died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 13, 2007. She was 77. She was born Ana Urman in Stanislawow, Poland (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine) in 1929, and fled with her family to Argentina during World War II. She began her career on stage in the early 1950s, performing in a production of La Tia de Carlos in 1952. She made her film debut in a small role in 1951’s El Complejo de Felipe, and starred in Lucas Demare’s El Ultimo Perro in 1956. She continued her film career in such features as El Tango en Paris (1956), The Model (1958), The Boss (1958), Campo Virgen (1959), Aguello que Amamos (1959), Dos Tipos con Suerte (1960), and Viva Quien sabe Querer! (1960). Casares moved to Spain in the early 1960s where she continued her career in European films. She was featured in Top Secret— C’est pas Tojours de Caviar (1961), Buscando a Monica (1962), Three Fables of Love

Obituaries • 2007 (1962), El Diablo en Vacaciones (1963), El Juego de la Verdad (1963), Beach of Formentor (1964), Two Gangsters in the Wild West (1965), El Marques (1965), Up the MacGregors (1967), A Thousand and One Nights (1968), Red Lips (1969), Adios Cordera (1969), and Kiss Me, Monster (1969). She returned to Argentina by the end of the decade, where she appeared in the films La Vida Continua (1969) and Kid Head (1975). She also appeared in the television productions Una Luz en la Ciudad (1971) and Trampa Para un Sonador (1980) before retiring from the screen.

Ana Casares

CASE, E. THOMAS Film makeup artist E. Thomas Case died on August 10, 2007. He was 80. Case was born on April 3, 1927. He began working in films in the 1950s on Around the World in Eighty Days (1956). He also worked in television from the 1960s on the series Ben Casey and That Girl, and the tele-films No Place to Run (1972), Free to Be ... You and Me (1974), Just Me and You (1978), Nobody’s Child (1986), Ultimate Betrayal (1994), Reunion (1994), and Two Against Time (2002). He worked frequently with actresses Marlo Thomas, Kathleen Turner, and Goldie Hawn during his career. His other film credits include Jenny (1970), Brute Corps (1972), Shampoo (1975), Thieves (1977), Foul Play (1978), Promises in the Dark (1979), Chapter Two (1979), Private Benjamin (1980), Seems Like Old Times (1980), Only When I Laugh (1981), Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982),

E. Thomas Case

62 Best Friends (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), Swing Shift (1984), The Karate Kid (1984), Prizzi’s Honor (1985), Pegg y Sue Got Married (1986), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Overboard (1987), Everybody’s All-American (1988), The Doors (1991), Career Opportunities (1991), W.I. Warshawski (1991), HouseSitter (1992), Death Becomes Her (1992), Undercover Blues (1993), Serial Mom (1994), The First Wives Club (1996), and Playing Mona Lisa (2000).

CASSEL, JEAN-PIERRE French actor JeanPierre Cassel died in Paris after a long illness on April 19, 2007. He was 74. Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris on October 27, 1932. He began his career in films in the early 1950s, appearing in small roles in The Road to Happiness (1953), Act of Love (1953), The Happy Road (1957), La Peau de l’Ours (1957), On Foot, on Horse, and on Wheels (1957), Crazy in the Noodle (1957), Les Surmenes (1958), The Night Affair (1958), Sacree Jeunesse (1958), Love Is My Profession (1958), and La Marraine de Charley (1959). He gained fame from his starring roles in several comedy films by director Philippe de Broca including The Joker (1960) and The Game of Love (1960). Cassel continued to appear in over 100 films over the next five decades including Candide (1960), Napoleon II, l’Aiglon (1961), Five Day Lover (1961), Goodbye Again (1961), The Dance (1962), The Seven Deadly Sins (1962), The Elusive Corporal (1962), Arsene Lupin vs. Arsene Lupin (1962), Nothing Ever Happens (1963), High Infidelity (1964), The Beautiful Swindlers (1964), Cyrano and d’Artagnan (1964) as d’Artagnan, Male Companion (1964), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), The Lace Wars (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966), The Killing Game (1967), Anyone Can Play (1968), The Bear and the Doll (1969), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Army in the Shadows (1969), The Break Up (1970), Malepertuis (1971), The Boat on the Grass (1971), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) as Senechal, Il Magnate (19873), Baxter! (1973), Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974) as King Louis XIII, Love at the Top (1974), Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974), No Time for Breakfast (1975), That Lucky Torch (1975), Scrambled Eggs (1976), The Twist (1976), Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), The Meetings of Anna (1978), From Hell to Victory (1979), Grandison (1979), I’ve Got You, You’ve Got Me by the Chin Hairs (1979), La Ville des Silences (1979), Face to the Sun (1980), 5% de Risques (1980), Superman II (1980), Portrait of a Woman, Nude (1981), La Vie Continue (1981), Alice (1982), Ehrengard (1982), La Guerillera (1982), The Trout (1982), Vive la Sociale! (1983), Slices of Life (1985), Vado a Riprendermi il Gatto (1987), Mangeclous (1988), Chouans! (1988), Young Toscanini (1988), The Return of the Musketeers (1989) as Cyrano de Bergerac, Mister Frost (1990), Vincent and Theo (1990), The Maid (1991), The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991), Between Heaven and Earth (1992), Coup de Jeune (1993), Petain (1993), Cha Forte com Limao (1993), L’Oeil Escarlate (1993), Love and Tiny Toes (1993), Cafe au Lait (1993), Hell (1994), Blue Helmet (1994), Robert Altman’s Pret-a-Porter (1994), Valse Nocturne (1995), A Judgment in Stone (1995), Amores que Matan (1996), Les Bidochon

63 (1996), The Ice Rink (1998), Influence Peddling (1999), The Happiest Place on Earth (1999), Sade (2000), The Crimson Rivers (2000), The Woode Camera (2003), Michel Vaillant (2003), Narco (2004), Dans tes Reves (2005), Virgil (2005), Bunker Paradise (2005), Judas (2006), Congorama (2006), Call Me Agostino (2006), Fair Play (2006), Bad Faith (2006), Gone for a Dance (2007), Counter Investigation (2007), Acteur (2007), J’ai Plein de Projets (2007), and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). Cassel also appeared on television in productions of La Nuit de Tom Brown (1959), The Marriage of Figaro (1961), La Double Inconstance (1968), L’Oeil de l’Autre (1977), The Green Jacket (1979), Love in a Cold Climate (1980), Il Caso Graziosi (1982), Dernier Banco (1984), Nel Gorgo del Peccato (1986), L’Ete 36 (1986), La Methode Rose (1986), Emma, Quattro Storie di Donne (1987), A Matter of Convenience (1987), Sentimental Journey (1987), The Secret of the Sahara (1987), Casanova (1987) as King Louis XV, La Chaine (1988), La Misere des Riches (1989), Piege Infernal (1989), Disperatamente Giulia (1989), The Phantom of the Opera (1990) as Inspector Ledoux, The Fatal Image (1990), Mountain of Diamonds (1991), Cave of the Golden Rose (1991), Blood and Dust (1992), Notorious (1992), Lieutenant Lorena (1992), Warburg: A Man of Influence (1992), Deshabilles Fatals (1992), Le Secret d’Elissa Rhais (1993), The Secret of Coach 13 (1993), Le Coeur Etincelant (1995), Le Fils de Paul (1995), L’Embellie (1996), Flairs Ennemis (1996), Le President et la Garde-Barriere (1997), Heart and Sword (1998), Mai con i Quadri (1999), Les Montagnes Bleues (1999), Le Coup du Lapin (2000), Rastignac ou les Ambitieux (2001), Double Emploi (2001), Mediterranee (2001), La Memoria e il Perdono (2001), Un Citronnier pour Deux (2001), La Chanson du Macon (2002), La Fauxs (2003), The House by the Canal (2003), Une Deuxierne Chance (2003), Menteur! Menteuse! (2004), La Femme Coquelicot (2005), and Le Vrai Coupable (2007). Cassel was also featured on television in episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Alice Nevers: Le Juge est une Femme, Tatort, Les Cordier, Juge et Flic, Crimes en Serie, and Fabien Cosma.

2007 • Obituaries red light. He was 28. Fellow film executive Rhiannon Meier, who was a passenger in Cassel’s car, was also killed in the crash. Cassel was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 21, 1979. He began working with Scott Rudin in 2001 and served as an assistant chief executive officer before advancing to vice president. He worked with Rudin on such recent films as The Queen, The Hours, Team America, Notes on a Scandal, and No Country for Old Men.

Sam Cassel

CASSETTI, ERICA Animation artist and modeler Erica Cassetti died in Chandler, Arizona, on April 21, 2007. She was 35. Cassetti was born in Houston, Texas, on November 18, 1971. She began her career working on the polar bear Coca Cola commercials as a computer animator. She also worked as a modeler on several Disney films including The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999), and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and Dreamworks Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003).

Erica Cassetti Jean-Pierre Cassel

CASSEL, SAM Film executive Sam Cassel, a vice president with Scott Rudin Productions, was killed in Hollywood in the early hours of December 8, 2007, when his car was struck by another vehicle which ran a

CASSINGHAM, J. LAWRENCE J. Lawrence Cassingham, a radiation expert who lent his expertise to science fiction films in the 1950s, died in Northern California, on December 23, 2007. He was 89. Cassingham was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, on December 22, 1918. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a mete-

Obituaries • 2007 orologist during World War II. After the war, Cassingham developed and marketed a portable Geiger counter called the Detectron. During the 1950s, when radiation was a frequent plot device in films and television productions, Cassingham served as technical advisor. He worked on the films Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), The Magnetic Monster (1953), The Atomic Kid (1954), and The Brain from Planet Arous (1957). Though he retired in the late 1960s, Cassingham later served as a consultant on the manufacturing of computer chips.

J. Lawrence Cassingham

CATCHING, J.P. “BILL” Stuntman and actor J.P. “Bill” Catching died at his home in Somerton, Arizona, on August 24, 2007. He was 81. Catching was born in Bexar County, Texas, on June 16, 1926. He worked in films from the late 1940s, performing stunt work for the 1948 western The Man from Colorado. Catching was Leo Carillo’s stunt double for the 1950s television series The Cisco Kid. He also performed stunt work and performed in small roles for such series as Highway Patrol, Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, Sky King, The Roy Rogers Show, Brave Eagle, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, Zane Grey Theater, Tales of Wells Fargo, Jefferson Drum, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Rifleman, Mackenzie’s Raiders, The Rough Riders, Northwest Passage, Laramie, Johnny Ringo, The Untouchables, Law of the Plainsman, Wichita Town, The Brothers Brannagan, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, Sea Hunt, Bonanza, Whispering Smith, The Outer Limits, The Virginian, Burke’s Law, The Andy Griffith Show, Honey West, Branded, The Big Valley, Wild Wild West, The Name of the Game, The F.B.I., Star Trek, Apple’s Way, Kung Fu, McCloud, Wonder Woman, The Quest, and The Fall Guy. Catching also worked on numerous films including The Nebraskan (1953), War Paint (1953), They Rode West (1954), 5 Against the House (1955), The Man from Laramie (1955), The Beast from Hollow Mountain (1956), Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), Spartacus (1960), Sergeants 3 (1962), Six Black Horses (1962), Ride the High Country (1962), Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963), 4 for Texas (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), Major Dundee (1965), Operation C.I.A. (1965), The Great Race (1965), Return of the Seven (1966), Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966), A Time for

64 Killing (1967), The Last Challenge (1967), Day of the Evil Gun (1968), Guns for San Sebastian (1968), Support Your Local Sheriff ! (1969), Impasse (1969), Run, Angel, Run (1969), Heaven with a Gun (1969), The Great Bank Robbery (1969), Macho Callahan (1970), The Phynx (1970), Flap (1970), The Cowboys (1972), The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid (1972), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Mean Streets (1973), Westworld (1973), Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), Earthquake (1974), The Hindenburg (1975), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Avalanche (1978), Mean Dog Blues (1978), The Man with Bogart’s Face (1980), Motel Hell (1980), Timerider (1982), Salvador (1986), and Moon Over Parador (1988). He also worked on the telefilms Ordeal (1973), The Hanged Man (1974), Fer-deLance (1974), Sky Heist (1975), Mayday at 40,000 Feet! (1976), The Hostage Heart (1977), and Stagecoach (1986). He largely retired from films in the late 1980s.

CATHCART, DARRELL Cinematographer Darrell Cathcart died of cancer in Greensboro, North Carolina, on October 21, 2007. He was 72. Cathcart was born in High Point, North Carolina, on July 14, 1935. He began his career as a cinematographer and made his film debut in 1972 with the film The Marshal of Windy Hollow. His other film credits include Spook! (1972), Seabo (1978), Wolfman (1979), The Last Game (1980), Lady Grey (1980), Living Legend: The King of Rock and Roll (1980), Carnival Magic (1981), Final Exam (1981), Death Screams (1982) and A Rare Breed (1984). Cathcart also appeared in small roles in the films Dark Sunday (1978) and Trucker’s Woman (1975), on which he was also cinematographer.

Darrell Cathcart (right, with Jerry Whittington)

CAVANDOLI, OSVALDO Italian animator Osvaldo Cavandoli died in Milan, Italy, on March 3, 2007. He was 87. Cavandoli was born in Maderno, Italy, on January 1, 1920. He was best known as the creator of the animated character La Linea, which starred in a popular television series in the early 1970s. (See photograph on page 65.) CELE, HENRY South African actor Henry Cele, who starred as Shaka in the 1986 television miniseries Shaka Zulu, died of complications from a chest infection in a Durban, South Africa, hospital on November 2, 2007. He was 58. Cele was born in Durban in

65

Osvaldo Cavandoli

1949. He was a professional soccer player known as the Black Cat before becoming an actor. He made his screen debut as Shaka in the television mini-series and the 1987 film version. He also appeared in such films as Rage to Kill (1987), Blind Justice (1988), Mercenary Fighters (1988), Light in the Jungle: The Story of Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1990), The Rutanga Tapes (1990), The Last Samurai (1990), In the Name of Blood (1990), Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (1991), Point of Impact (1993), and The Ghost and the Darkness (1996).

Henry Cele (as Shaka Zulu)

CHAPMAN, LONNY Stage and screen actor Lonny Chapman died of heart disease in a North Hollywood hospital on October 12, 2007. He was 87. Chapman was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on October 1, 1920. He served in the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II, and studied drama at the University of Oklahoma after the war. He graduated in 1947 and hitchhiked to New York with his college friend, actor Dennis Weaver. He began his career on the New York stage and made his Broadway debut in a small role in The Closing Guard in 1949. He was featured as Turk in the Broadway production of William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba in 1950. He continued to perform frequently on the New York stage during the 1950s, appearing in such productions as The Ladies of the Corridor, Marathon ’33, and Horton Foote’s The Chase. He also appeared in episodes of such early television series as Starlight The-

2007 • Obituaries atre, Danger, Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Philco Television Playhouse, Robert Montgomery Presents, Studio One, Harbourmaster, and The Investigator. He made his film debut in 1954’s Young at Heart, and appeared in a small role in East of Eden in 1955. He was also featured as Rock in Baby Doll in 1956. Chapman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he helped form a branch of the Actors Studio. He became a founding member and artistic director of a theatre company known as the Group, which later took his name as the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre. He also continued his career in film and television, appearing in episodes of One Step Beyond, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, The Americans, Outlaws, Everglades, Naked City, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Nurses, The DuPont Show of the Week, The Rifleman, The Wide Country, The Lloyd Bridges Show, Ben Casey, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Perry Mason, Brenner, The Defenders, For the People, Slattery’s People, Laredo, The Loner, The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, Hawk, The Road West, Death Valley Days, The Iron Horse, Dundee and the Culhane, The Big Valley, The Mod Squad, The Guns of Will Sonnett, Judd for the Defense, The Name of the Game, The Outcasts, The Virginian, Bonanza, Storefront Lawyers, The Young Lawyers, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, The Interns, Mission: Impossible, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Longstreet, Cade’s County, Mannix, Doc Elliot, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Kodiak, Planet of the Apes, Lucas Tanner, Ironside, The Rookies, The Family Holvak, several episodes of McCloud with his old friend Dennis Weaver, The Streets of San Francisco, Medical Center, Medical Story, Kojak, Bronk, The Blue Knight, Nashville 99, The Oregon Trail, Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, Police Story, The Runaways, The American Girls, Charlie’s Angels, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, The Incredible Hulk, Vega$, Simon & Simon, Quincy, Knight Rider, Trapper John, M.D., The Yellow Rose, Matt Houston, Hotel, The Fall Guy, Riptide, The A-Team, Stingray, Jake and the Fatman, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Doctors, and NYPD Blue. Chapman was featured as Deke Carter, the diner cook, in Alfred Hitchcock’s film classic The Birds in 1963. He was also seen in such films as A Covenant with Death (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967) as Turkey Creek Johnson, The Stalking Moon (1968), Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run (1969), The Reivers (1969), I Walk the Line (1970), The Cowboys (1972) with John Wayne, Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1972), Run, Cougar, Run (1972), Cotter (1973), Running Wild (1973), Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) as the Sheriff, Earthquake (1974), the psychological thriller The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976), Moving Violation (1976), The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), Norma Rae (1979), Running Scared (1980), When Time Ran Out (1980), The Border (1982), 52 Pick-Up (1986), Nightwatch (1997), Reindeer Games (2000), and The Hunted (2003). Chapman also appeared in such tele-films and mini-series as The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones (1967), Marriage: Year One (1971), The Screaming Woman (1972), Visions... (1972), Hunter (1973), The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974), Big Rose: Double Trouble (1974), Hurricane (1974), Return of the Big Cat (1974), The Last Survivors (1975), Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977), Black Beauty (1978),

Obituaries • 2007 King (1978) as Memphis Fire Chief Frank Holloman, Terror Out of the Sky (1978), Hanging by a Thread (1979), Blind Ambition (1979) as F.B.I. Director L. Patrick Gray, Lawman Without a Gun (1979), The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid (1981), The Rainmaker (1982), Who Will Love My Children? (1983), Cave-In! (1983), Baby M (1988), The China Lake Murders (1990), and The Rape of Doctor Willis (1991). Chapman’s survivors include his wife of 65 years, Erma Dean, and their son Wyley Dean Chapman.

66 CHATURVEDI, SHAIL Indian character actor Shail Chaturvedi died of complications from renal failure at his home in Mumbai, India, on October 29, 2007. He was 71. He was a leading Hindi poet and humorist who taught at Allahabad University. He also appeared in character roles in numerous films from the 1970s including Uphar (1971), My Brother (1972), Honeymoon (1973), Heart Stealer (1976), Naiyya (1979), The Tinkling of Anklets (1980), Jazbaat (1980), Without You (1982), Sun Sajna (1982), Chameli’s Marriage (1986), Narasimha (1991), Dhanwaan (1993), Paappi Devataa (1995), Kareeb (1998), and Jahan Turn Le Chalo (1999).

Lonny Chapman

CHATTERJEE, SUBHENDU

Indian Bengali actor Subhendu Chatterjee died of complications from heart and lung disease in a Kolkata, India, hospital on July 5, 2007. He was 71. Chatterjee began his film career in the mid–1960s, and was best known for his roles in several films by director Satyajit Ray. He graduated to character roles later in his career. Chatterjee was seen in such films as Up on the Clouds (1965), The Zoo (1967), Hangsa-Mithun (19680, Chowringhee (1968), Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), Disguised (1971), Anindita (1972), Chorus (1974), An Enemy of the People (1989), Red Door (1997), Crossfire (1997), Desh (2002), and In the Forest ... Again (2003). Chatterjee was also a successful stage actor, appearing in the play Bilkish Begum in the 1980s. He was also a doctor, and his son, Saswata Chatterjee, also appeared in films.

Subhendu Chatterjee

Shail Chaturvedi

CHEF TELL Friedman Paul Earhardt, a German born cook and restaurateur known to television audiences as Chef Tell, died of heart failure and complications from diabetes at his home in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania, on October 26, 2007. He was 63. Earhardt was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on November 5, 1943, and trained as a master chef in Europe. After a successful career, dazzling diners with his culinary acumen in Europe he came to the United States in the early 1970s. He served as head chef at the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia and became a popular local television personality with a cooking spot on Evening Magazine. Known as Chef Tell, a nickname he earned as a youth while playing William Tell in a school play, he soon became a national celebrity with appearances on such programs as

Chef Tell

67 Regis and Kathy Lee. His gregarious personality and thick German accent also led to skits on Saturday Night Live as well as immortality as the inspiration for the Muppet’s Swedish chef.

CHEGWIDDEN, ANN British film and television editor Ann Chegwidden died in England on September 6, 2007. She was 86. Chegwidden was born in Hampstead, north London, on April 27, 1921. She broke into films as an assistant sound editor for the 1949 film The Perfect Woman. She was an assistant editor for the films Seven Days to Noon (1950) and Innocents in Paris (1953). Chegwidden advanced to editor for various television productions including the series The Scarlet Pimpernel, The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, and The Veil. She served as supervising editor for the late 1960s hit espionage series The Avengers and for Dick Tupin from 1979 to 1982. Chegwidden’s numerous film credits as editor include Kill Me Tomorrow (1957), The Tommy Steele Story (1957), Petticoat Pirates (1961), The Dock Brief (1962), The Home-Made Car (1963), Roger Corman’s 1964 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death, Crooks in Cloisters (1964), the 1966 Doctor Who film Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., Two a Penny (1967), Rocket to the Moon (1967), And Soon the Darkness (1970), The Last Grenade (1970), Wuthering Heights (1970), Black Beauty (1971), The Hiding Place (1975), and Bloody Ivory (1978). Chegwidden also edited the 1973 television production Jane Goodall and the World of Animal Behavior: The Wild Dogs of Africa.

2007 • Obituaries Gold Diggers (1965), A Pink Dream (1965), Romantic World (1965), The Jade Bow (1966), Ying Ku (1967), Spring Thunder (1967), Stormy Pearls (1968), Love Song of Twins (1968), The Love Tide (1968), Unicorn Fortress (1968), Redress (1969), The Filial Girl at the Icy Valley (1970), I Don’t Want to Divorce (1970), and The Ghost’s Revenge (1971). She largely retired from the screen in the early 1970s, but made a brief comeback in the 1980 feature The Warrant of Assassination.

CHEN XIAOXU Chinese actress Chen Xiaoxu died of breast cancer in Shenzhen, China, on May 13, 2007. She was 41. Chen was born in Anshanb, Liaoning, China, in October of 1965. She was a popular performer on Chinese television, starring as Lin Daiyu in the 1987 series Dreams of the Red Chamber. Chen later retired from acting to become a Buddhist nun.

CHEN, SISI Hong Kong actress Sisi Chen died of pancreatic cancer in a Shanghai, China, hospital on October 7, 2007. She was 69. Chen was born in Shanghai in 1938. She was a popular performer in Hong Kong cinema from the 1950s, with such film credits as She Swallowed Her Sorrows (1956), Suspicion (1957), The Lone Woman (1957), The Brigade (1957), Ming Feng (1957), The Shadow (1957), Miss Fragrance (1958), The Nature of Spring (1958), Affairs of Kitty (1958), The Outsider (1958), The Golden Beauty (1959), Wonderful Thoughts (1959), Love Affairs of a Confirmed Bachelor (1959), Girl on the Front Page (1960), Come on, Everybody! (1960), A Dazzling Trap (1961), The Lady Racketeer (1961), Red Bat Apartment (1962), Treasure Island (1964), the acclaimed San Xiao (aka Three Charming Smiles) (1964) as Qiu Xiang,

CHIMARAS, YANIS Venezuelan television actor Yanis Chimaras was stabbed to death in Caracas, Venezuela, on April 24, 2007, when he interrupted a robbery at the home of his daughter’s friend. He was 51. Chimaras was born in Caracas on August 1, 1955. He was a popular performer in telenovelas in Venezuela from the early 1980s, with such credits as Elizabeth (1980), Rosa Campos, Provinciana (1980), Marielena (1981), Kapricho S.A. (1982), Bienvenida Esperanza (1983), Azucena (1984), La Salvaje (1984), Mi Amada Beatriz (1987),

Sisi Chen

Yanis Chimaras

Chen Xiaoxu

Obituaries • 2007

68

La Revancha (1989), Piel (1992), Sol de Tantacion (1996), El Perdon de los Pecados (1996), Contra Viento y Marea (1997), El Pais de las Mujeres (1998), Toda Mujer (1999), Amantes de Luna Llena (2000), Mas Que Amor, Frenesi (2001), Mambo y Canela (2002), Lejana Como el Viento (2002), Las Gonzalez (2002), Enganada (2003), Cosita Rica (2003), and El Amor las Vuelve Locas (2005). He also appeared in several films during his career including Homicidio Culposo (1983), Reten de Catia (1984), Colt Comando 5.56 (1986), Rosa de Francia (1995), Sucre (1996), Amanecio de Golpe (1998), and El Caracazo (2005).

CHINNOCK, BILL Instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Bill Chinnock, who was an original member of the band that evolved into Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, committed suicide at his home in Yarmouth, Maine, on March 7, 2007. He had been suffering from Lyme disease. He was 59. Chinnock was born in Newark, New Jersey, on November 12, 1947. He led a band that included many musicians that later played with Springsteen including Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, and Garry Tallent. He moved to Maine in the early 1970s and recorded 13 albums on such labels as Paramount, Atlantic, and Backstreet, and well as his own independent label. His albums include Badlands, Alive at the Loft, Dime Store Heroes, Livin’ in the Promised Land, and Out on the Borderline. Chinnock also composed music for film and television, earning an Emmy Award in 1987 for musical direction and composition for the theme song for the daytime soap opera The Edge of Night. He later recorded a duet with Roberta Flack of the theme song for The Guiding Light soap opera.

Bill Chinnock

CHMIELNIK, JACEK Polish actor Jacek Chmielnik died in Poland of an accidental electrocution on August 22, 2007. He was 54. Chmielnik was born in Lodz, Poland, on January 31, 1953. He appeared in several films from the 1980s including Hit the Bank (1981), Point of No Return (1985), The Invitation (1986), On the Banks of the Niemen (1987), Between (1987), King Size (1988), The Colors of Loving (1988), and Close Encounters with the Jolly Devil (1989). He also performed frequently on stage and television, with recent appearances in such series as Na Dobre i na Zie, Warto Kochac, and Lokatorzy.

Jacek Chmielnik

CHONG, PHILIP Stuntman and actor Philip Chong died of a heart attack on March 3, 2007. He was 70. Chong was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 29, 1936. He moved to California in 1969 and his friend, actor Kenny Endoso, helped him get his start in films. Chong was an expert horseman and made his film debut as a Mongolian rider in the 1973 remake of The Lost Horizon. He became the first Asian-American to become a member of the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures. Chong performed stunts and appeared in small roles in numerous film and television productions. His film credits include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Go Tell the Spartans (1978), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), The In-Laws (1979), The Exterminator (1980), Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981), Bustin’ Loose (1981), Inchon (1981), Force: Five (1981), I, the Jury (1982), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1992), Hysterical (1993), Breathless (1983), Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), The Man Who Wasn’t There (1983), Get Crazy (1983), Girls of the White Orchid (1983), Uncommon Valor (1983), Code Name: Zebra (1984), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Bachelor Party (1984), The Wild Life (1984), Avenging Angel (1985), Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Firewalker (1986), The Golden Child (1986), Nightforce (1987), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987), Fatal Beauty (1987), The Hanoi Hilton (1987), Extreme Prejudice (1987), The Running Man (1987), The Presidio (1988), Waxwork (1988), Caddyshack (1988), They Life (1988), Criminal Act (1989), Black Rain (1989), W.B., Blue and the Bean (1989), DMZ (1990), Vietnam, Texas (1990), Loose Cannons (1990), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), RoboCop 2 (1990), Come See the Paradise (1990), Death Warrant (1990), Predator 2 (1990), The Rookie (1990), Wishman (1991), Flight of the Intruder (1991), The Perfect Weapon (1991), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), The Naked Gun 21 ⁄ 2: The Smell of Fear (1991), Past Midnight (1992), Deep Cover (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), Rapid Fire (1992), Live Wire (1992), Candyman (1992), Leather Jackets (1992), Sidekicks (1992), Nemesis (1993), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Freaked (1993), American Yakuza (1993), On Deadly Ground (1994), In

69 the Army Now (1994), Color of Night (1994), The Glass Shield (1994), Double Dragon (1994), Drop Zone (1994), Top Dog (1995), A Walk in the Clouds (1995), Batman Forever (1995), Mallrats (1995), Dog Watch (1996), For Better or Worse (1996), Escape from L.A. (1996), High School High (1996), Set It Off (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), Dante’s Peak (1997), National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation (1997), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Game (1997), Red Corner (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Overnight Delivery (1998), Godzilla (1998), Blade (1998), Durango Kids (1999), Inspector Gadget (1999), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Bedazzled (2000), Traffic (2000), Swordfish (2001), Joy Ride (2001), The Wedding Planner (2001), Slackers (2002), Clockstoppers (2002), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Daredevil (2003), The Italian Job (2003), The Last Samurai (2003), Criminal (2004), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). Chong also worked on the tele-films and mini-series War and Remembrance (1988), El Diablo (1990), The O.J. Simpson Story (1995), Here Come the Munsters (1995), and The Cherokee Kid (1996), and the television series Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O, Bring ’Em Back Alive, The Fall Guy, Fortune Dane, Hooperman, Tour of Duty, Nash Bridges, and She Spies.

2007 • Obituaries rect, and often write, such films as Hammer or Anvil (1972), The Last Summer (1974), A Tree Without Roots (1974), Cyclops (1976), Against the Wind (1977), The Barrier (1979), The Truck (1980), A Woman at Thirty-Three (1982), Question of Time (1984), Reference (1985), Test ’88 (1989), Dum Spiro Spero (1995), and Sulamit (1997). He also worked in television, directing Megapolis (1982), Kendzo Tange (1982), Hovanshtina (1989), Don Carlos (1989), Attila (1989), and 9: Figure of the Cobra (1989). Christov was the chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Film Workers from 1974 to 1982.

Christo Christov

Philip Chong

CHOWDHURY, ANJAN Indian film director Anjan Chowdhury died of complications from heart bypass surgery in a Kolkata, India, hospital on February 21, 2007. He was 63. Members of Chowdhury’s family and fellow Bengali film celebrities accused the private hospital of negligence in regard to the director’s death. Chowdhury was noted as the director for the Bengali-language films Shatru, Guru Dakshina, and Mejo Bou in the 1980s. CHRISTOV, CHRISTO Bulgarian film director Christo Christov died in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 16, 2007. He was 81. Christov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on April 11, 1926. He studied medicine, earning a degree in 1952. He subsequently attended the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts in Sofia. He worked as a stage director and designer at the Povdiv Theater from 1958 to 1966 before serving a year as an apprentice director at Mosfilm Studios. He made his film debut as a director with 1969’s The Altarpiece Maker. He continued to di-

CHURCHILL, ARABELLA Arabella SpencerChurchill, the iconoclastic granddaughter of British statesman Winston Churchill and a founder of the Glastonbury Rock Festival, died of pancreatic cancer at her home in Glastonbury, England, on December 20, 2007. She was 58. She was born in London on October 31, 1949, the daughter of Sir Winston’s son Randolph. Arabella was a debutante in 1967, but was soon alienating the more staid members of her family by adapting a hippie lifestyle and espousing leftist causes. After a brief stint working as a model, she married professional juggler, Ian “Haggis” McCloud. She and her husband’s carnival friends became involved in creating a festival celebrating the summer solstice in the small country town of Glastonbury in the early 1970s. The initial attempt was a failure but later in the decade she teamed with local farmer,

Arabella Churchill

Obituaries • 2007 Michael Eavis, to organize what became known as the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Arts. The festival was attracting over half a million people by the 1990s, and became known as Britain’s Woodstock. Arabella was also involved in the charity foundation for disabled children, Children’s World.

CLARE, NATALIA American ballet dancer Natalia Clare, who performed with the Ballet Russes during the 1940s and 1950s, died of a stroke in Redondo Beach, California, on April 8, 2007. She was 87. Born in Los Angeles, California, on September 3, 1919, she often performed under her maiden name, Natalia Conlon. Her father, Paul H. “Scoop” Conlon, was a prominent publicist and reporter for the Los Angeles Times. She studied dance under the tutelage of the noted choreographer Bronislava Nijinska and made her debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 1940. Clare made her international debut performing with Col. W. de Basil’s Ballets Russes from 1942 until returning to America in 1947 to perform with the Markova-Dolin Ballet. In 1949 Clare joined the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo and remained with the troupe until 1952. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where she opened her own studio and founded the Ballet la Jeunsse in 1958. Her husband, composer and pianist Michael Liotweizen, died in 1995.

70 of his films, was killed along with his father in an automobile crash in Pacific Palisades, California, on April 4, 2007. He was 22. The younger Clark was born in Monterey County, California, on November 23, 1984. He appeared as a child in several films directed by his father including It Runs in the Family (1994), I’ll Remember April (1999), and Baby Geniuses (1999).

CLARK, ARIEL Ariel Clark, the son of film director Bob Clark who appeared in small roles in several

CLARK, BOB Film director Bob Clark, who directed the teen sex comedy Porky’s and the modern Christmas classic A Christmas Story, was killed in Pacific Palisades, California, when his car collided head-on with another vehicle on April 4, 2007. He was 67. Clark’s 22year-old son Ariel Hanrath-Clark, also died in the crash. The driver of the other vehicles, which reportedly was traveling in the wrong lane, was charged with driving without a license and driving while intoxicated. Clark was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 5, 1939. He began working in films in the mid–1960s, serving as assistant director on the 1967 exploitation film Shanty Tramp, and directing and writing She Male (1967). Clark was involved in the production of several cult horror films in the 1970s, producing, directing, and scripting Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things in 1972, and producing Deranged in 1974. He also produced and directed Dead of Night (aka Deathdream) (1974), the holiday horror classic Black Christmas (aka Silent Night, Evil Night) (1974), and Murder by Decree (1979) starring Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes, squaring off against Jack the Ripper. He also produced and directed the 1976 thriller Breaking Point and directed the drama Tribute (1980). Clark scored a major success with the 1982 comedy Porky’s, and the 1983 sequel, Porky’s II: The Next Day, which he produced, directed and scripted. He also adapted Jean Shepherd’s childhood memoir A Christmas Story to film in 1983. The tale of young Ralphie, whose desire for a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas is met with the constant rebuke from adults that “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid,” became a seasonal classic. Peter Billingsley starred as Ralphie, and Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon were featured as his parents. A later sequel, It Runs in the Family (1994), proved less successful. Clark also directed the films Rhinestone (1984) starring Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton, Turk 182! (1985), From the Hip (1987), Loose Cannons (1990), I’ll Remember April (1999), Baby Geniuses (1999), Now and Forever

Ariel Clark

Bob Clark

Natalia Clare (with Oleg Tupine)

71 (2002), The Karate Dog (2004), and SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004). He also directed the tele-films Arthur Miler’s The American Clock (1993), Fudge-A-Mania (1995), Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden (1996), The Ransom of Red Chief (1998), Catch a Falling Star (2000), and Maniac Magee (2003). He also helmed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s television series Amazing Stories in 1985. Clark appeared in cameo roles in several of his films including roles as Officer Ted in Dead of Night (1974), the creepy phone voice in Black Christmas (1974), and Swede in A Christmas Story (1983). Clark also produced the 1991 horror film Popcorn, and was executive producer of the 2000 tele-film The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood. He was also executive producer of the 2006 remake of Black Christmas, and was involved in pre-production for a remake of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things at the time of his death.

CLARK, JOHN British film art director John Clark died of heart failure in London on December 12, 2007. He was 73. Clark was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on September 3, 1934. He was trained as an architect before working in films as a set designer in the mid–1960s. He was soon working as art director or production designer for the film Secret Ceremony (1968), Performance (1970), The Railway Children (1970), A Severed Head (1970), The Offence (1972), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Inserts (1974), Callan (1974), and Ken Russell’s film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy (1975). Clark also was production designer for the telefilms Mrs. Wilson’s Diary (1969) and Catholics (1973).

2007 • Obituaries married and divorce twice, to big band singer Imogene Lynn and Kathy Lennon of the Lennon Sisters.

Mahlon Clark

CLARK, MILTON, JR. Actor and singer Milton Clark, Jr., died of a heart attack in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hospital on May 31, 2007. He was 48. Clark was active on the local stage in Pennsylvania before moving to Los Angeles in the early 1980s. He was featured as Miles on the cable children’s television show Gerbert. He also appeared in several films including Hairspray (1988), The Prince of Tides (1991), and Younger and Younger (1993).

Milton Clark, Jr. John Clark

CLARK, MAHLON

Musician Mahlon Clark, who played the clarinet with Lawrence Welk’s band during the 1960s, died on September 20, 2007. He was 84. Clark was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on March 7, 1923. He began performing in vaudeville as a child and later worked as a musician for big bands led by Ray McKinley, Dean Hudson, and Will Bradley. After serving in the armed forces during World War II, Clark worked as a studio musician at Paramount. He worked on many film soundtracks and was featured onscreen in the 1960 film The Rat Race. He joined Welk’s Music Makers in 1962 and played the clarinet, saxophone, and flute on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1968. Clark was

CLAY, PHILIPPE French actor and singer Philippe Clay died of heart failure in Paris on December 13, 2007. He was 80. Clay was born Philippe Mathevet in Paris on March 7, 1927. He began his career on stage in 1945, appearing in a production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. He became a popular singer and actor in the early 1950s, appearing in such films as Le Crime du Bouif (1952), French Cancan (1954), Life Is Beautiful (1956), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956) as Clopin Trouillefou, Nathalie (aka The Foxiest Girl in Paris) (1957), Toto in Paris (1958), En Bordee (1958), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), The Road to Shame (1959), The Bureaucrats (1959), La Nuit des Traques (1959), Musketeers of the Sea (1960), Riff-Raff (1960), Lay Off Blondes (1960),

Obituaries • 2007 Dans l’Eau qui Fait des Bulles (1961), Man from Cocody (1965), Next Time I’ll Kill You (1966), The Hotheads (1969), Pour un Sourire (1970), Not Dumb, the Bird (1972), Les Joyeux Lurons (1972), Deadly Sting (1973), Shanks (1974) with Marcel Marceau, The Three Musketeers (1974) as the voice of Cardinal Richelieu, Quarter to Two Before Jesus Christ (1982), Un Bon Petit Diable (1983), Die Wildnis (1993), Krim (1995), The Freelancers (1998), Toulouse-Lautrec (1998), Tuvalu (1999), and Above the Clouds (2003). Clay starred as Father Christmas in the 1971 tele-film La Pere Noel est en Prison, and was featured in television productions of La Sainte Farce (1972), La Canne (1972), L’Affaire Miller (1977), La Marechale d’Ancre (1979), Novgorod (1981), Ubu Cocu ou l’Archeopteryx (1981), Febre Martin (1981), Au Bon Beurre (1981), La Nuit du General Boulanger (1982), Marianne, Une Etoile pour Napoeon (1983), L’Herbe Rouge (1985), Catherine (1986), Le Gerfaut (1987), Le Chevalier de Pardaillan (1988), L’Homme a Tout Faire (1988), Anges et Loups (1988), Le Ravissement de Scapin (1988), La Comtesse de Charny (1989), Le Gang des Tractions (1991), Un Flic Pourri (1992), Le Gourou Occidental (1993), Mort d’un Gardien de la Paix (1994), La Riviere Esperance (1995), Pasteur, Cinq Annees de Rage (1995), Les Anneaux de la Gloire (1996), Les Allumettes Suedoises (1996), La Guerre des Moutons (1996), La Parenthese (1997), La Cite des Alouettes (1997), La Grande Beke (1998), Marceeel!!! (1998), Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1998), La Maison d’Alexina (1999), Le Bimillionnaire (2000), Le Causse d’Aspignac (2000), Des Croix sur la Mer (2001), Amour, Embrouille et Balade (2002), and Dombais et Fils (2007).

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Gilles Cloutier

2007. He was 84. Clymer was born in Davenport, Iowa, on December 29, 1922. He began working as a production designer for television in the 1950s. He received an Emmy nomination in 1957 for his work on the program Frontiers of Faith, and won Emmys for Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1964 and The Holy Terror in 1965. His other television credits include productions of Kiss Me, Kate (1958), The Turn of the Screw (1959), The Labyrinth (1962), Pygmalion (1963), Barefoot in Athens (1966), Lamp at Midnight (1966), Gideon (1971), F. Scott Fitzgerald & The Last of the Belles (1974), The People vs. Jean Harris (1981), and Stone Pillow (1985). He also designed sets for the gameshows Jackpot (1974) and Blankety Blanks (1975), and the 1974 adaptation of Carl Sandburg’s Lincoln. Clymer also worked on several films during his career including Alice’s Restaurant (1969), Where’s Poppa (1970), A New Leaf (1971), Rivals (1972), and The Godfather (1972).

Philippe Clay

CLOUTIER, GILLES Canadian comedian and actor Gilles Cloutier died of cancer in Varennes, Quebec, Canada, on July 6, 2007. He was 63. Cloutier starred as Vincent Gilbert in the Scoop television series from 1992 to 1995. He was also seen in the television productions Le Paradis Terrestre (1968), Une Vie (1982) as Marc Grenier, and Lance et Compte 4 (2002) as Sarrazin. Cloutier also appeared in several films including Souvenirs Intimes (1999), The Orphan Muses (2000), and Father and Sons (2003). CLYMER, WARREN Emmy Award–winning television art director Warren Clymer died on July 16,

Warren Clymer

COAN, OLAIR Brazilian television actor Olair Coan was killed in an automobile accident on a Brazilian highway en route to Porto Feliz on December 30, 2007. He was 48. Coan was born in Porto Feliz on January 7, 1959. He began his career on stage in the 1980s. He acted and directed numerous theatrical productions. He was featured as Padre Emilio in the television series As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor in 1995. Coan was also seen in the films Satanic Attraction (1990) and Desmundo

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2007 • Obituaries

(2002). He starred in a radio adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 2007.

the syndicated talk shows Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and Live with Regis and Kelly.

Olair Coan

Claudia Cohen

COBDEN, RYAN

Filmmaker Ryan Cobden died of undisclosed causes on January 2, 2007. He was 32. Cobden was born on September 25, 1974. He worked in production in 2001 on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s political documentary Last Party 2000, and on the films Poster Boy and Mind the Gap, in which he was also seen on-screen as a rapist. Cobden also worked as a second unit director on the science fiction short 30:13 in 2003.

COHEN, HARVEY R. Emmy Award–winning composer and orchestrator Harvey R. Cohen died of a heart attack en route to a hospital in Agoura Hills, California, on January 14, 2007. He was 55. Cohen was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on September 13, 1951. A pianist and composer, he began working in films as an orchestrator in the late 1980s. His film credits include In the Mood (1987), DeepStar Six (1989), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), Hudson Hawk (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Naked Gun 331 ⁄ 3: The Final Insult (1994), The Return of Jafar (1994), Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994), Forget Paris (1995), Doug’s 1st Movie (1999), Bicentennial Man (1989), South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999), Diamonds (1999), The Kid (2000), The Patriot (2000), Little Nicky (2000), The Animal (2001), Murder by the Numbers (2002), The Master of Disguise (2002), Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights (2002), Envy (2004), Team America: World Police (2004), Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005), Rumor Has It... (2005), The Shagg y Dog (2006), and Mission: Impossible III (2006). Cohen earned Emmy Awards for his work as a composer for the animated television series The Adventures of Batman and Robin and Disney’s Aladdin. He also composed music for the cartoon series Casper, Superman: The Animated Series, and The New Batman Adven-

Ryan Cobden

COHEN, CLAUDIA Celebrity gossip columnist Claudia Cohen died of ovarian cancer in Manhattan, New York, on June 15, 2007. She was 56. Cohen was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on December 16, 1950. She began her career in journalism, working with the progressive journal More in 1972. She worked as a reporter for the New York Post column “Page Six” from 1977 and was its editor from 1978 to 1980. She began writing the gossip column “I, Claudia” for New York’s The Daily News in the early 1980s. Cohen’s marriage to billionaire businessman Ronald Perelman in 1985 and subsequent divorce in 1994 made her the subject of many other gossip columns. In recent years Cohen was entertainment reporter for WABC’s The Morning Show, and

Harvey Cohen

Obituaries • 2007 tures, and the animated features Santa vs. the Snowman (1997) and Belle’s Magical World (1998).

COIMBRA, CARLOS Brazilian film director Carlos Coimbra died of an aortic aneurysm in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 14, 2007. He was 81. Coimbra was born in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1925. He began working in films as an extra in the 1940s. He made his directoral debut with 1955’s Armas da Vinganca, which he also scripted. He continued to direct and write such films as Dioguinho (1957), Crepusculo de Odios (1958), The End of the Cancageiros (1961), Lampiao, O Rei do Cangaco (1964), O Santo Milagroso (1966), Cangaceiros de Lampiao (1967), A Madona de Cedro (1968), Coirisco, O Diabo Loiro (1969), Se Meu Dolar Falasse (1970), Independencia ou Morte (1972) about Brazil’s first emperor Pedro I, O Signo de Escorpiao (1974), O Homem de Papel (1976), Iracema, a Virgem dos Labios de Mel (1979), and Os Campeoes (1982). After over a decade in retirement he returned to directed the remake of Os Campeoes in 1997, but poor health forced him off the project.

74 role of the 1977 film John Hus. He was also seen in the films The Gumball Rally (1976), A Change of Season (1980), Yes, Giorgio (1982), Frances (1982), Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie (1984), and Torchlight (1985). Colbin was also featured in the tele-films To Kill a Cop (1978), Anatomy of a Seduction (1979), Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case (1980), Ghost Dancing (1983), and Little House The Last Farewell (1984). His other television credits include episodes of Sanford and Son, Marcus Welby, M.D., Matt Helm, The Invisible Man, Harry O, The Jeffersons, Alice, The Ropers in the recurring role of Hubert Armbrewster, Quincy, Harper Valley P.T.A., Flo, Sanford, Three’s Company, The Greatest American Hero, Barney Miller, Remington Steele, Hardcastle and McCormick, The A-Team, Gimme a Break!, and the new Twilight Zone.

COLEMAN, ABE Professional wrestler Abe Coleman, who was a leading ring competitor from the 1930s, died of kidney failure in a Queens, New York, nursing home on March 28, 2007. He was 101. He was born Abba Kelmer in Zychlin, Poland, on September 20, 1905. He came to the United States in 1925 and began wresting professionally later in the decade. He was of diminutive height at 5'4", but of stocky build at over 200 pounds, and was known in the ring as the Jewish Tarzan and the Hebrew Hercules. He was known in the ring as “the Kangaroo” for his “kangaroo dropkick” maneuver, and competed against such opponents as Man Mountain Dean, Jim Londos, and George Temple, brother of screen star Shirley Temple. He also worked as a promoter and referee in the 1950s, and appeared twice on television’s The Jackie Gleason Show.

Carlos Coimbra

COLBIN, ROD Actor and fencing master Rod Colbin died of complications from a series of strokes in Denver, Colorado, on February 4, 2007. He was 83. Colbin was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 23, 1923. A leading fencer, he was a founding member of the Society of American Fight Directors, and trained such stars as Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Jimmy Durante in the use of a sword for their acting roles. Colbin also worked as an actor, starring in the title Abe Coleman

Rod Colbin

COLEMAN, CHRISTINE D. Character actress Christine D. Coleman died at her home in Los Angeles on October 2, 2007. She was 93. Coleman was born in Crawford County, Kansas, on September 5, 1914. She worked in the Los Angeles City Clerk’s Office for over thirty years before retiring in 1980. She subsequently embarked on an acting career, appearing in commercials and music videos for such artists as Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Marilyn Manson. She was also seen in the films Being John Malkovich (1999) and Meet the Fockers (2004), and in such television series as Seinfeld, Will and Grace, and Grey’s Anatomy.

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Christine D. Coleman

COLEMAN, LEROY Film set designer and art director Leroy Coleman died in Oceanside, California, on June 2, 2007. He was 92. Coleman was born in Chappell, Nebraska, on May 7, 1915. He apprenticed at an architectural firm before joining MGM as a set designer in 1938. He moved to television in the 1950s, where he served as art director such series as Philip Marlowe, Matinee Theater, The Thin Man, and Please Don’t Eat the Daisies. He was also art director on the Sam Peckinpah films Ride the High Country (1962) and The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970). His other film credits include The Venetian Affair (1967), For Singles Only (1968), Speedway (1968), A Time to Sing (1968), and Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). He joined R. Duell and Associates as a theme park designer in 1970, and became the company’s president in 1973. Coleman was lead designer for Nashville’s Opryland before retiring in 1980.

2007 • Obituaries hicans (1971), The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1972), Clouds of Witness (1972), The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs (1974), Days of Hope (1975), Churchill and the Generals (1979), Kim (1984), and Bermuda Grace (1994). His other television credits include episodes of such series as Lux Video Theatre, Emergency —Ward 10, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Buccaneers, Captain Pugwash, Invisible Man, ITV Play of the Week, Z Cars, The Big Pull, No Hiding Place, Man of the World, Suspense, Dixon of Dock Green, The Spies, The Revenue Men, The Avengers, Virgin of the Secret Service, Doctor Who as General Smyth in “The War Games” episode, Play for Today, Doctor at Large, Sykes, Emmerdale Farm, The Adventures of Black Beauty, The Regiment, Happy Ever After, The Duchess of Duke Street, Mind Your Language, Terry and June, Fairly Secret Army, The Monocled Mutineer, The New Statesman, Red Dwarf, Chancer, Land of Hope and Gloria, Lovejoy, and The Detectives.

COLEMAN, NOEL British character actor Noel Coleman died in England on October 12, 2007. He was 87. Coleman was born in Leicester, England, on November 26, 1919. He was a frequent performer on stage, film, and television from the 1950s. He was featured in such films as You Can’t Escape (1956), Now and Forever (1956), The Silken Affair (1956), Our Miss Fred (1972), Burke and Hare (1972), Edge of Sanity (1989), and Under Suspicion (1991). Coleman was also seen in such television productions as Ivanhoe (1970), The Last of the Mo-

COLL, JOSE LUIS Spanish comedian Jose Luis Coll died of multiple organ failure in a Madrid, Spain, hospital on March 6, 2007. He was 75. Coll was born in Cuence, Spain, on May 23, 1931. He began his career as a writer and host of television and radio productions. He formed a partnership with fellow comic Luis Sanchez Pollack in the 1960s, and the duo were known as Tip y Coll. The two wore noted for the stage attire, with Coll sporting a bowler hat and Sanchez Pollack wearing a top hat. Their absurdist humor was on view in numerous film and television productions in Spain. Coll’s film credits include La Corista (1960), The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus (1962), Not on Your Life (1963), Operacion Plus Ultra (1966), Monica Stop (1967), Los Chicos con las Chicas (1967), Operation Mata Hari (1968), A Devil Under the Pillow (1968), We’re Not Made of Stone (1968), Why Does Your Husband Deceive You? (1969), Carola de Dia, Carola de Noche (1969), Cuatro Noches de Boda (1969), Johnny Raton (1969), Los Siete Vidas del Gato (1970), En un Lugar de la Manga (1970), El Astronauta (1970), Las Casa de los Martinez (1971), La Garbanza Negra, que en paz Descanse... (1972), Love Doll (1974), The Adulteress (1975), El Chiste (1976), Tales of the White Sheets (1977), Pepito Piscina (1978), ...And the Third Year, He Resuscitated (1980), A Tope (1984), and Moors and Christians (1987). Coll and Sanchez Pollack continued to work to-

Noel Coleman

Jose Luis Coll

Obituaries • 2007 gether until the latter’s death in 1999. Coll continued to perform on stage and television, and appeared in the films Isi & Disi — Amor a lo Bestia (2004) and Isi & Disi, Alto Voltaje (2006)

76 two other sons, saxophonist Oran Coltrane, and drummer John Coltrane, Jr., who died in an automobile accident in 1982.

COLTON, RITA Actress and model Rita Colton died of lung cancer in Chicago, Illinois, on August 28, 2007. She was 79. Colton was born in New York City on October 23, 1927. She began working as a model in the mid–1940s, and was soon acting in film and television productions. She was featured on the cover of a 1948 Life magazine as a Hollywood starlet, and appeared in the 1949 film Project X. She also appeared in a 1950 television production of Richard III, and was featured in episodes of Men Against Crime, General Electric Theater, and The Honeymooners, before abandoning her acting career in the mid–1950s. Alice Coltrane

Rita Colton

COLTRANE, ALICE Jazz pianist, organist and composer Alice Coltrane, who was the widow of legendary saxophonist John Coltrane, died of respiratory failure at a West Hills hospital in Los Angeles, California, on January 12, 2007. She was 69. She was born Alice McLeod in Detroit, Michigan, on August 27, 1937, and began studying classical piano at the age of seven. She began her professional career playing jazz with her own trio in Detroit before moving to New York and joining with bandleader Terry Gibbs in the early 1960s. She became the pianist for jazz superstar John Coltrane and his band in 1965, and the two wed the following year. Alice played with the Coltrane band until her husband’s death in 1967, and recorded for Impulse! Records from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, with albums such as A Monastic Trio and Ptah and the El Daoud. She continued to perform with her own groups, specializing in meditational music and converting to Hinduism. Coltrane moved to California in 1972 and established the Vedantic Center in 1975. She changed her name to Turiyasangitananda in the late 1970s and was later named spiritual director of the Veldantic’s Malibu, California, Center. Her work saw a renewed interest in the 1990s and she released the compilation Astral Meditations and a 2004 comeback album, Translinear Light. In 2006, she joined with her son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, for a concert in San Francisco, California. She and John Coltrane had

COMENCINI, LUIGI Italian film director Luigi Comencini died in Rome after a long illness on April 6, 2007. He was 90. Comencini was born in Salo, Lombardy, Italy, on June 8, 1916. He worked as a film critic before making his debut as a director with the 1946 documentary film Children in the City. He directed, and often scripted, numerous films over the next fifty years. Comencini’s film credits include Guaglio (1948), The Emperor of Capri (1949), Behind Closed Shutters (1950), Heidi (1952), Girls Marked Danger (1953), Bread, Love and Dreams (1953), Frisky (1954), The Belle of Rome (1955), The Window to Luna Park (1956), Husbands in the City (1957), Surprise of Love (1959), And That on Monday Morning (1959), Everybody Go Home (1960), Jail Break (1961), The Police Commissioner (1962), Bebo’s Girl (1963), Three Nights of Love (1964), The Dolls (1965), Six Days a Week (1965), Don Camillo in Moscow (1965), Misunderstood (1966), Italian Secret Service (1968), Giacomo Casanova: Childhood and Adolescence (1969), The Adventures of Pinocchio (1972), The Scientific Cardplayer (1972), How Long Can You Fall? (1974), Somewhere Beyond Love (1974), Strange Occasion (1976), The Sunday Woman (1976), The Cat (1978), Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen (1978), Traffic Jam (1979), Eugenio (1980), Looking

Luigi Comencini

77 for Jesus (1982), The Boy from Calabria (1987), La Boheme (1988), Merry Christmas ... Happy New Year (1989), and Miracle of Marcellino (1991). He also directed the acclaimed 1972 television mini-series adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio, and the tele-films Catherine’s Wedding (1982), Heart (1985), History (1986), and The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988).

COMPTON, RICHARD Actor turned director Richard Compton, who helmed such cult classic films as Macon County Line, died on August 11, 2007. He was 69. Compton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 1938. He began his career as an actor in the mid–1960s, appearing in episodes of Felony Squad and the original Star Trek. He also appeared in several films including Wanda, the Sadistic Hypnotist (1969) under the pseudonym Dick Dangerfield, Run, Angel, Run (1969) which he also scripted, The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago (1969), and Diamond Stud (1970). He wrote and produced the 1968 film Like Mother Like Daughter, and directed and appeared in a small role in the 1970 biker flick Angels Die Hard. He directed 1972’s Welcome Home, Soldier Boys, and directed and co-wrote with Max Baer, Jr., the 1974 cult classic Macon County Line. He also directed the 1975 sequel Return to Macon County, and helmed the films Maniac! (aka The Ransom) (1977), and Ravagers (1979). He began working primarily in television from the late 1970s, directing the tele-films Deadman’s Curve (1978) about rock ’n’ rollers Jan and Dean, Wild Times (1980), Desperado: Avalanche at Devil’s Ridge (1988), Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1989), Kojak: It’s Always Something (1990), The Keys (1992), and Home for the Holidays (2005). He directed numerous episodes of such television series as T.J. Hooker, Hotel, Hill Street Blues, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Street Hawk, Otherworld, The Equalizer, Kay O’Brien, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Baywatch, Miami Vice, Super Force, Over My Dead Body, Home Improvement, The Commish, L.A. Law, Babylon 5 which he also co-produced, M.A.N.T.I.S., Hawkeye, Diagnosis Murder, Pointman, The Burning Zone, Soldier of Fortune, Inc., Players, The Sentinel, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Profiler, Sliders, Get Real, Charmed, The Fugitive, The District, The X Files, The Lone Gunmen, Peacemakers, and JAG. Compton was the husband of actress Veronica Cartwright.

2007 • Obituaries CONLEY, DARLENE Actress Darlene Conley, who starred as the larger-than-life fashion house owner Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful soap opera, died of stomach cancer at her home in Los Angeles on January 14, 2007. She was 72. Conley was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 18, 1934. She began her career on stage in a touring company production of The Heiress at the age of 15. She continued to appear in numerous theatrical productions including the revival of Night of the Iguana and David Merrick’s musical The Baker’s Wife on Broadway. She made her film debut as a waitress in Alfred Hitchcock’s horror classic The Birds. She also appeared in the films Valley of the Dolls (1967), Faces (1968), Captain Milkshake (1970), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Play It as It Lays (1972), Gentle Savage (1973), and Tough Guys (1986). She appeared frequently on television from the 1970s, guest-starring in episodes of Ironside, The Name of the Game, The Bill Cosby Show, Gunsmoke, Longstreet, Ghost Story, Mary Tyler Moore, The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie, Cagney & Lacey, Murder, She Wrote, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Highway to Heaven. She was also featured in the television productions The President’s Plane Is Missing (1973), Get Christie Love! (1974), Return Engagement (1978), the animated The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) as the voice of Mrs. Cratchit, the animated Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) as the voice of Mrs. Santa Claus, The Choice (1981), The Nashville Grab (1981), The Fighter (1983), I Want to Live (1983), and Robert Kennedy & His Times (1985). Conley was best known for her roles as colorful dames in television soap operas. She starred as the conniving Rose DeVille on The Young and the Restless from 1979 to 1980, and again from 1986 to 1987. She was Edith Baker in Days of Our Lives in 1983, Trixie Monahan in General Hospital in 1984, and Louise in Capitol in 1984. She began playing Sally Spectra, the head of Spectra Fashions, on The Bold and the Beautiful in 1988. She was twice nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards for her performance, and continued in the role of Sally Spectra until her death.

Darlene Conley

Richard Compton

CONNOLLY, MARK Stuntman Mark Connolly died of pancreatic cancer in Sydney, Australia, on December 14, 2007. He was 45. He began working in films as a stuntman in the late 1990s, with such credits

Obituaries • 2007 as Doom Runners (1997) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998). Connolly worked as a stunt extra for the film Mission Impossible II. As gate guard #1, he was seriously injured in Sydney, Australia, in June of 1999 when a motorcycle jumping over him in an action sequence for the film crashed into him. Connolly broke his forearm and collarbone, and restricted movement ended his stunt career. He sued Billy Burton, the Paramount Pictures second unit director in charge of the action sequence, and won a judgment of over $1 million in a negligence case. Connolly died within hours of learning of his victory.

Mark Connolly

CONWAY, SHIRL Actress Shirl Conway, who starred as head nurse Liz Thorpe on the television drama The Nurses in the mid–1960s, died in Shelton, Washington, on May 7, 2007. She was 90. She was born in Franklinville, New York, on June 13, 1916. Conway began her career as a model with the John Robert Powers Agency and performed a singer in nightclubs. She also appeared in several films in the late 1940s including Helter Skelter (1949) and You Can’t Fool an Irishman (1949). She also appeared on Broadway in productions of Banjo Eyes with Eddie Cantor, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Plain and Fancy. Conway starred as Dolly Armstrong in the 1955 television series Joe and Mabel. She also appeared in episodes of Ceasar’s Hour, The Ed Sullivan Show, Route 66, The Defenders and Naked City. She starred in The Nurses from 1962 to 1965 and was nomi-

78 nated for an Emmy for her performance. She moved to Washington state in the early 1970s, where she continued to perform on stage in local productions.

COPELAND, JACK L. Filmmaker Jack L. Copeland died at his home in Northridge, California, on October 7, 2007. He was 80. Copeland was born Hollywood, California, on September 8, 1927. He served in the U.S. Army as a combat photographer toward the end of World War II. He formed Jack Copeland Productions in the early 1950s and wrote, produced and directed the 1958 film Hell’s Five Hours, starring Vic Morroh. He also produced the documentary Decision at Delano about the California grape pickers strike in the 1960s. He created National Education Media, Inc., in 1966, where he produced over a 100 industrial training films. COREN, ALAN British humorist and writer Alan Coren died of cancer at his home in London on October 18, 2007. He was 69. Coren was born in London on June 27, 1938. He began his career as a journalist, writing articles for Punch magazine. He became literary editor at Punch in 1966, and served as editor from 1978 to 1987. Coren also wrote television reviews and humor columns for other publications. He became a regular panelist on the BBC radio comedy quiz show The News Quiz, remaining on the program until his death. He was a regular participant on the Call My Bluff television show from 1996 to 2005. He was also featured in such series as Through the Keyhole, Masterchef, Have I Got News for You, TV on Trial, and Grumpy Old Men. He also wrote numerous books including The Dog It Was That Died (1965), The Sanity Inspector (1974), The Lady from Stalingrad Mansions (1978), Rhinestone as Big as the Ritz (1979), A Year in Crickelwood (1991), A Bit on the Side (1995), The Cricklewood Dome (1998), and 69 for One (2007).

Alan Coren

Shirl Conway (with Richard Derr)

CORFMAN, CARIS Stage and film actress Caris Corfman, who created a one-woman show, Caris’s Peace, about her struggles with short-term memory loss, died of a stroke at her apartment in Rockville, Maryland, on January 13, 2007. She was 51. Corfman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 18, 1955. She studied drama at Yale and embarked on an acting career on the

79 New York stage in the 1980s. She was featured on Broadway in the original production of Amadeus and in numerous Off-Broadway plays. She also appeared in several films including DreamChild (1985), No Mercy (1986), Funny Farm (1988), and The Pickle (1993), and was featured on television in an episode of Tales from the Darkside. She underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor in 1993 that resulted in damage to the short-term memory center of her brain. After years of rehabilitation, medication, and additional surgeries, Corfman created a onewoman show about her experiences. She was able to remember lines from plays she had learned decades earlier, but was unable to recall events from one hour to the next.

2007 • Obituaries COTTON, PAMELA Television producer Pamela Cotton died of a heart attack aboard a flight from Los Angeles to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on June 23, 2007. She was 52. She was born on February 21, 1955, and raised in Fort Walton Beach. She began working in television for Spelling Productions in the late 1980s. She worked on such series as The Love Boat, Savannah, Safe Harbor, Beverly Hills 90210, and Charmed. In recent years, Cotton served as producer for the television series 7th Heaven. COWBOY LANG Harry “Cowboy” Lang, a leading midget wrestling star from the 1970s, died in Portland, Oregon, on January 4, 2007. He was 56. Lang was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1950. He began training as a wrestler from Lord Littlebrook while in his teens. He began a popular ring performer throughout Canada, the United States, and the world for nearly 30 years. He also competed in tag team action with such partners as Little Eagle, the Haiti Kid, and Coconut Willie. Lang was also featured in the 1977 film Black Samurai. He largely retired from the ring in the late 1980s. Lang had fallen on hard times during the decade before his death, living on the streets and in homeless shelters.

Caris Corfman

COSTIGAN, JAMES Television writer James Costigan was found dead at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, on December 19, 2007. He was 81. Costigan was born in Los Angeles on March 31, 1926. He began his career appearing in small roles on the New York stage. He was also seen on television in episodes of Kraft Television Theatre, The Web, and Campbell Playhouse in the early 1950s. He was soon writing for television in the 1950s, penning episodes of Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, The United States Steel Hour, and General Electric Theater. He also wrote such television productions as A Wind from the South (1955), Anne of Green Gables (1956), The Lark (1957), Withering Heights (1958), A Doll’s House (1959), and The Turn of the Screw (1959). Costigan won an Emmy Award for his 1958 original teleplay Little Moon of Alban, which was adapted for a Broadway play in 1960. His other Broadway credits include the 1963 musical The Beast in Me and the 1964 comedy Baby Want a Kiss. He also scripted a handful of tele-film in the 1970s including A War of Children (1972), F. Scott Fitzgerald and ‘the Last of the Belles’ (1974), In the House of Brede (1975), Love Among the Ruins (1975), Eleanor and Franklin (1976) which earned him a second Emmy Award, F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1976), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, and S.O.S. Titanic (1979). Costigan also wrote the screenplays for the feature films The Hunger (1983), King David (1985), and Mr. North (1988). He subsequently retired to Bainbridge Island, where he lived a reclusive life until he died.

Cowboy Lang

COX, FRANK Frank Cox, who with his identical twin brother Fred, was a leading entertainer in England for decades, died in England on November 10, 2007. He was 86. Cox was born in Cardiff, Wales, on December 4, 1920. The Cox Twins began touring as specialty clog dancers with a boys’ choir at the age of 12. They later performed in a variety act with singer Dorothy Squires. Noted for their frizzy black hair and colorful attire, they entertained the troops while serving in the Royal Air Force. After the war, they returned to the stage, singing, dancing and performing acrobatic routines. The two were wed on the same day to Estelle and Pauline Miles, another set of identical twins, who often joined them on stage. The duo also appeared in several films during their careers, including the 1965 comedy Up Jumped a Swagman and Francois Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. They were also seen as Tweedledee and Tweedledum in 1972’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and appeared with Jerry Lewis

Obituaries • 2007 in the comedy Funny Bones in 1995. Frank’s wife, Estelle, died in 1984 and they continued their stage act as the Cox Twins and Pauline for the remained of their careers.

80 tations of Carmen, Tosca, and Sieglinde and Brunnhilde in Wagner’s Die Walkure. She made several classic operatic recordings including Georg Solti’s recording of Der Rosenkavalier and Die Walkure for Decca. She performed on television in two episodes of The Bell Telephone Hour in the mid–1960s, and starred in a 1980 French television production of La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein in 1980. She retired from the stage in 1989, but remained active as a teacher. Her memoirs, On Stage, Off Stage: A Memoire, was published in French in 1982, with an expanded English version released in 1997.

Frank Cox (with twin brother Fred)

CRAIN, GENE Theatrical director Gene Crain died in a Memphis, Tennessee, nursing facility after a long illness on January 21, 2007. He was 79. Crain was born on December 20, 1927. He was a drama teacher and director at White Station High School for many years, where he trained such students as Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates and Rhodes College drama professor Julia “Cookie” Ewing. He also directed numerous productions at local community theaters and at Circuit Playhouse. He was a founder of the theatrical company Playwrights Forum.

Regine Crespin

CRICHTON, JUDY Network television news producer Judy Crichton, who won national acclaim for the PBS history series American Experience, died of complications from leukemia in Manhattan, New York, on October 14, 2007. She was 77. Crichton was born in Manhattan on November 25, 1929, and had graduated from high school by the age of 15. She began her career working on the CBS game show I’ve Got a Secret as writer and producer in the 1950s. She began working for CBS’s documentary unit in 1974, producing such series as Caution: Drinking Water May Be Dangerous to Your Health and wrote, directed and produced The Nuclear Battlefield, which won three Emmys in 1981. Crichton became the executive producer of the PBS history television series, American Experience, in 1988 and oversaw the production of over 100 documentaries. During her lengthy career

Gene Crain

CRESPIN, REGINE French operatic soprano Regine Crespin died of liver cancer in Paris on July 5, 2007. She was 80. Crespin was born in Marseilles, France, on February 23, 1927. She studied voice at the Paris Conservatory and made her operatic debut in a production of Wagner’s Lohengrin for a regional opera company in Mulhouse, France, in 1950. She performed frequently with the Paris Opera over the next six years. She achieved international acclaim for her performance as Kundry in Wagner’s Parsifal at the 1958 Bayreuth Festival. She performed at leading opera houses around the world and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Der Rosenkavlier in 1962. She was also noted for her interpre-

Judy Crichton

81 with the series it was awarded seven Emmys, six Peabody Awards, five Writers Guild Awards, and two Alfred I. duPont–Columbia Journalism Awards. Some of her other documentaries include Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo, who researched historical evidence that proved that Indian tribes had been robbed of their land, Midnight Ramble, which was an examination of Hollywood’s stereotypical role of blacks in film, and 1994’s America and the Holocaust, that presented evidence that the U.S. State Department had knowledge of the Nazi persecution of Jews. She continued to produce series for American Experience until 1998, and was executive producer of the television series New York: A Documentary Film, in 1999. President Bill Clinton awarded Crichton the National Humanities Medal in 2006.

CROPPER, ANNA British actress Anna Cropper died in Tangmere, West Sussex, England, on January 22, 2007. She was 68. Cropper was born in Brierfield, Lancashire, England, on May 13, 1938. She began her career on stage in the 1950s and made her television debut in a production of Josef and Karel Capek’s “The Insect Play” for Twentieth Century Theatre. She continued to perform frequently on British television for the next four decades. Cropper was seen in productions of The Birth of a Private Man (1963), Silas Marner (1964), In Two Minds (1967) as a young schizophrenic, Angel Pavement (1967), Pere Goriot (1968), Imperial Palace (1969), Before the Party (1969), Robin Redbreast (1970), Gun Play (1971), Dead of Night: The Exorcism (1972), Lord Peter Wimsey: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1972), The Moonstone (1972), Schmoedipus (1974), J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys (1978), Praying Mantis (1982), Where Is Betty Buchus? (1982), The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Ann of the Five Towns (1985), Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987), Nativity Blues (1989), A Day in Summer (1989), Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989), Ruth Rendell Mysteries: A New Lease of Death (1991), Memento Mori (1992), The Old Devils (1992), The Marshal (1993), Midnight Movie (1994), Prisoners in Time (1995), Castles (1995), The Affair (1995), and September (1996). Her other television credits include episodes of Coronation Street, The Odd Man, Sherlock Holmes, The Troubleshooters, The Spies, The First Lady, Z Cars, Country Matters, Spy Trap, Dial

2007 • Obituaries M for Murder, Softly Softly, Emmerdale Farm as Nan Wheeler, 1990, Shoestring, Maybury, Nanny in the recurring role of Antonia Rudd, Call Me Mister, Worlds Beyond, Chancer, Boon, Van der Valk, Casualty, Moon and Son, Poirot, Alleyn Mysteries, Heartbeat, Kavanagh QC, and Midsomer Murders. Cropper also appeared in several films during her career including All Neat in Black Stockings (1968), Footsteps (1974), Nanou (1986), and The Child Eater (1989).

CURIE, EVE Writer Eve Curie Labouisse, who was best known for penning the biography of her mother, scientist Marie Curie, died at her home in Manhattan, New York, on October 22, 2007. She was 102. Curie was born in Paris on December 6, 1904. Her father, Pierre Curie, was killed two years after her birth when he fell under the wheels of a horse-drawn wagon in 1906. Her father and mother had both earned the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903, and her mother earned a second Nobel in chemistry in 1911 for the discovery of the radioactive elements radium and polonium. Eve helped nurse her mother through her final bout with leukemia that ended her life in 1934. She authored the 1937 biography of her mother, Madame Curie, which was adapted for film in 1943, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon as her parents. Eve Curie went to England and later the United States during World War II, where she was strong supporter of the Free French against the Nazis. A noted lecturer, she also authored a 1943 book about her wartime travels, Journey Among Warriors. She married American diplomat Henry Labouisse in 1954 and the couple remained wed until his death in 1987. Labouisse was the executive director of UNICEF and had accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for the organization in 1965. Eve’s older sister, Irene Joliot-Curie, and her husband, Fredric Joliot, had also been Nobel laureates, earning the award for chemistry in 1935. Irene, like her mother before her, died of leukemia, likely caused by her exposure to radioactive materials, in 1956. Despite her own laurels, Eve Curie often joked of being the only member of her family not to have received a Nobel Prize.

Eve Curie

Anna Cropper

CURNOCK, RICHARD Actor Richard Curnock died in a Stratford, Ontario, Canada, hospital on February 6, 2007. He was 84. Curnock was born in Lon-

Obituaries • 2007 don, England, on May 9, 1922. He began his stage career as a child, appearing in productions in London’s West End for over twenty years. He came to the New York stage with the play Oh, What a Lovely War! in the late 1960s, and toured in productions throughout North America. He joined the Stratford Shakespearean Festival in Canada in 1970, and performed with them for the next two decades. He made his final bow there in a production of The Winter’s Tale in 1998. Curnock also appeared in several films including Dublin Nightmare (1958), Paradise (1982), and The Wars (1983), and the television productions Much Ado About Nothing (1987) and The Return of Eliot Ness (1991). He appeared on television in England in the 1960 mini-series The Days of Vengeance, and in episodes of Z Cars, Moonstrike, Armchair Theatre, Public Eye, Haunted, and The Avengers. After relocating to Canada he continued to perform on television in such series as Street Legal, TekWar, Peter Benchley’s Amazon, and Relic Hunter.

82 Warrior (1999). Curtis was also featured in the tele-films Hands of a Stranger (1987), The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989), Sky High (1990), Payoff (1991), Moment of Truth: To Walk Again (1994), Y2K (1999), and Voyage of the Unicorn (2001). His other television credits include episodes of Danger Bay, The Hitchhiker, Neon Rider, Wiseguy, MacGyver, Street Justice, Cobra, M.A.N.T.I.S., Lonesome Dove: The Series, Madison, Stargate SG-1, The Net, Dead Man’s Gun, Viper, The Outer Limits, The Collector, Cold Squad, and Masters of Horror.

CUTLER, BUNTY Actress Bunty Cutler died in Newport Beach, California, on March 12, 2007. She was 87. Cutler was born in New York City on September 17, 1919. She appeared in a handful of films in the 1940s including New Moon (1940), This Time for Keeps (1942), Possessed (1947), The Unsuspected (1947), The Voice of the Turtle (1947), and It’s a Great Feeling (1949) before retiring later in the decade. CUTTER, NATHAN Nathan Thomas Cutter, who was a contestant on television reality series Paradise Hotel 2 scheduled for airing in February of 2008, died of injuries he received in a climbing accident in Amarillo, Texas, on October 12, 2007. He was 26. Clutter was one of the participants of the steamy reality series for MyNetworkTV and Fox Reality Channel. He died several weeks after completing production of the series.

Richard Curnock

CURTIS, JOHN BEAR Actor John Bear Curtis died after a long illness on December 18, 2007. He was 59. Curtis was born on April 28, 1948. He was active in films and television from the late 1970s. His film credits include Up River (1979), Showdown at Williams Creek (1991), Leaving Normal (1992), Stay Tuned (1992), North of Pittsburgh (1992), Arctic Blue (1993), Crackerjack (1994), The NeverEnding Story III (1994), and The 13th

John Bear Curtis

Nathan Cutter

D’AMICO, LUIGI FILIPPO Italian film director Luigi Filippo D’Amico died in Rome on April 28, 2007. He was 82. D’Amico was born in Rome on October 9, 1924. He began working in films in Italy as an assistant director after World War II, sometimes billed as Filippo Mercati. He worked on such films as Flesh Will Surrender (1947), Crossroads of Passion (1948), Father’s Dilemma (1950), Marriage (1954) and House of Ricordi (1954) both of which he also scripted, and Native Drums (1955). D’Amico also wrote the films Times Gone By (1952), Eager to Live (1953), and Bravissimo (1955). He began directing films in the early 1960s, helming Akiko (1961), Mariti a Congresso (1961), Desert War (1962), Complexes (1965), I Nostri Mariti (1966), Il Presidente del Borogorsso Football Club (1970), Amore e Ginnastica (1973), Football Crazy (1974), Il Domestico (1974), and Sex for Sale (1976). He worked primarily in television from

83 the early 1980s, directing such productions as Vestire gli Ignudi (1980) and In Silenzio (1981). D’Amico also wrote and appeared in the 1999 documentary Luchino Visconti about the famed director.

DANIEL, FRED Gospel singer Fred Daniel, who performed with the Sunshine Boys, died of heart failure in Conyers, Georgia, on November 6, 2007. He was 82. Daniel served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and began his singing career after his discharge. He joined the Sunshine Boys in 1949, and performed with the group when they backed Red Foley on his hit song “Peace in the Valley” in 1951. The Sunshine Boys were featured in a handful of B-western films from the 1940s with Eddie Dean, Charles Starrett, and Lash LaRue. Daniel appeared with the group as a singing cowhand in 1951’s Durango Kid feature Prairie Roundup. Daniel later performed with such groups as the Happy Four, the Harmoneers, and the Blue Ridge Quartet.

2007 • Obituaries Awards during his career, and received six additional nominations.

Stan Daniels

DARNELL, BILLY Billy Darnell, a leading professional wrestler in the 1940s and 1950s, died in New Jersey on September 6, 2007. He was 81. Darnell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1926. He began wrestling in the early 1940s, often wearing a leopard skin into the ring. He engaged in a notable match against Buddy Rogers in 1947 and remained a popular wrestler in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also billed as being the brother of Buddy Rogers, but the two grapplers were actually only friends. Darnell teamed with Bill Melby to hold the World Tag Team Title in Chicago in 1954. He retired from the ring shortly after earning his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1961. Fred Daniel

DANIELS, STAN Emmy Award–winning television writer and producer Stan Daniels, who worked on such landmark series as Taxi and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died of heart failure in Encino, California, on April 6, 2007. He was 72. Daniels was born in Toronto, Canada, on July 31, 1934. He studied at Oxford in England, where he began writing for television. He returned to Canada where he wrote sketches for the CBC comedy series This Hour Has Seven Days in the 1960s. He was soon writing for such shows as The Dean Martin Show and The Bill Cosby Show. He was a writer and producer for the hit show The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s. He was also co-creator and writer of the spinoff series Phyllis series starring Cloris Leachman. Daniels also wrote the tele-films Lily (1974) and Cindy (1978), and co-created the popular series Taxi in 1978. He wrote, produced and directed the series during its five seasons. He also wrote and produced the series The Associates in 1979, and the tele-films Glory! Glory (1989), Getting There (1990), For Richer, for Poorer (1992), The Substitute Wife (1994), and The Kid (2001). Daniels wrote the 1984 feature film The Lonely Guy, and directed episodes of such television series as Best of the West, Mr. Smith, Dear John, Flying Blind, Partners, Almost Perfect, High Society, Sparks, and The Good News. He earned eight Emmy

Billy Darnell

DARROW, HARRY Film and television art director Harry Darrow died of lung cancer at his home in Pelham, New York, on December 30, 2007. He was 57. He was born Harry Silverglat in Dallas, Texas, on July 20, 1950. He began his career as a scenic designer for theatrical productions, including such Broadway shows as Les Miserables, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera. He began working in films in the mid–1990s, serving as art director for Heavy Weights (1995), The Big Green (1995), D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996), Meet the Deedles (1998), En-

Obituaries • 2007 tropy (1999), and Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000). He was also art director for the 1995 Stephen King tele-film The Langoliers, and for such series as The Sopranos and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

DARVAS, IVAN Hungarian actor Ivan Darvas died in Hungary on June 3, 2007. He was 87. Darvas was born in Belye, Hungary, on May 24, 1920. A leading performer on stage and screen from the 1940s, he was featured in such films as Forro Mezok (1949), Diszmagyar (1949), Erkel (1952), The Rising Sea (1953), Fourteen Lives (1954), Rokonok (1954), Gazolas (1955), Ward No. 9 (1955), Dollarpapa (1956), A Sunday Romance (1957), Drama of the Lark (1963), Yes (1964), New Gilgames (1964), Why Hungarian Films Are Bad (1964), The Golden Head (1964), The Corporal and Others (1965), Cold Days (1966), Karpathy Zoltan (1966), The Widow and the Police Officer (1967), Boys in the Street (1967), Frozen Flashes (1967), Three Nights of Love (1967), Windows of Time (1969), Adrift (1969), You Were a Prophet, My Dear (1969), Az Orokos (1969), The Toth Family (1969), Love (1971), Hold on to the Clouds (1971), Napraforgo (1974), Szines Tintakrol Almodorn (1980), Death in Shallow Water (1994), The Last Days of Switzerland (1999), Jakob the Liar (1999), Film (2000), The Bridgeman (2002), Szent Ivan Napja (2003), and A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda (2003). Darvas also appeared on television in productions of Vivat, Benovsky! (1975), Sakt, Kempelen Ur! (1976), Vendegseg (1980), Ha Mar Itt a Tel (1991), Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999), Hoeses a Vizivarosban (2004), and Micimacko (2005).

84 numerous science fiction cons for many years. He was a close friend of Forrest J Ackerman, the founder and editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and took numerous photographs the appeared within its pages. Daugherty also held a doctorate in anthropology and was an expert on King Tut, giving lectures on the subject at museums, schools, and organizations.

Walter Daugherty

DAUMAN, PASCALE French film producer Pascale Dauman died in Paris on March 18, 2007. She was 70. She began her career as an actress, appearing in several films including Stolen Kisses (1968), Merry-GoRound (1981), and Hotel du Paradis (1986). She was married to producer Anatole Dauman, and served as an associate producer for the 1984 film Paris, Texas. Dauman continued to work in films, producing Empty Quarter: A Woman in Africa (1985), The Sky Above Berlin (1987), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Captive of the Desert (1990), Falstaff on the Moon (1993), Caught in the Acts (1994), and Paris (1998). DAVIDSON, JENNIFER Jennifer Davidson, the Cartoon Network’s senior vice-president of programming, died of a sudden illness in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 1, 2007. She was 38. Davidson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1969. She began working with the Cartoon Network at the time of its launch in 1992. She served as vice-president of marketing and was

Ivan Darvas

DAUGHERTY, WALTER Walter “Doc” Daugherty, a pioneering member of science fiction fandom, died at his home in Santa Maria, California, on June 14, 2007. He was 90. Daugherty was born in Oklahoma City on December 18, 1916. During his life he worked at numerous occupations including private detective, photographer, museum curator, and film standin and stuntman for such stars as Red Skelton, Robert Hutton, and Cary Grant. An avid science fiction fan, Daugherty was a founding member of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. He was chairman of the Pacificon World Science Fiction Convention in 1946. He published fanzines and was a guest of honor and emcee and

Jennifer Davidson

85 instrumental in the establishment of the network’s Adult Swim program block in September 2001. She was promoted to senior vice-president of programming in September 2007.

2007 • Obituaries Doody and his fellow marionettes in 1948 and maintained them throughout the popular children’s television show’s run.

DAWSON, VELMA WAYNE Velma Wayne Dawson, who created The Howdy Doody Show marionettes, was found dead at her home in Palm Desert, California, on September 26, 2007. She was 95. Dawson was born on May 30, 1912. She created Howdy

DAY, LARAINE Actress Laraine Day, who starred as Nurse Mary Lamont in the Dr. Kildare film series, died at her daughter’s home in Utah on November 10, 2007. She was 87. She was born Laraine Johnson to a leading Mormon family in Roosevelt, Utah, on October 13, 1920. She began her film career in the late 1930s and made her debut in a small role in 1937’s Stella Dallas. She also appeared in the films Scandal Street (1938), Border G-Men (1938), Painted Desert (1938), and Arizona Legion (1939) before changing her screen name to Laraine Day. She starred as Nurse Mary Lamont opposite Lew Ayres in the 1939 film Calling Dr. Kildare, and continued in the role in the sequels The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939), Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case (1940), Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940), Dr Kildare’s Crisis (1940), and The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941), before her character was killed off in an automobile accident in Dr. Kildare’s Wedding Day (1941). Day also appeared in the films Sergeant Madden (1939), Tarzan Finds a Son (1939), Think First (1939), I Take This Woman (1940), My Son, My Son! (1940), And One Was Beautiful (1940), Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (1940) opposite Joel McCrea, The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941), The Bad Man (1941), Unholy Partners (1941), Kathleen (1941), A Yank on the Burma Road (1942), Fingers at the Window (1942), Journey for Margaret (1942), Mr. Lucky (1943), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Bride by Mistake (1944), Keep Your Powder Dry (1945), Those Endearing Young Charms (1945), The Locket (1946), Tycoon (1947), My Dear Secretary (1949), I Married a Communist (1949), Without Honor (1949), The High and the Mighty (1954), The Toy Tiger (1956), and Three for Jamie Dawn (1956). Day was married to baseball manager Leo Durocher from 1947 until their divorce in 1960. She also began appearing frequently on television in the 1950s, hosting one of the early talk shows, The Laraine Day Show. She also appeared in episodes of Nash Airflyte Theatre, Your Show of Shows, General Electric Theater, Double Play, The Jack Benny Program, Screen Directors Playhouse, Celebrity Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre, The Ford Television Theatre, Climax!, Schlitz Playhouse of the Stars, The Loretta Young

Velma Wayne Dawson

Laraine Day (as Nurse Lamont from Dr. Kildare)

DAVIS, JAMES B., SR.

James B. Davis, Sr., who founded the gospel band the Dixie Hummingbirds, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 17, 2007. He was 90. Davis was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on June 6, 1916. He founded the Dixie Hummingbirds at the age of 12 and the group had their first record release in 1939. The group moved to Philadelphia in 1942, where they had a daily radio show and briefly changed their name to the Jericho Quintet. They played alongside such legendary musicians as Billie Holliday, Paul Robeson, and the Golden Gate Quartet. In 1973, the Dixie Hummingbirds collaborated with singer Paul Simon on “Love Me (Like a Rock)” and won a Grammy Award for their rendition of the song. The Hummingbirds continued to tour for many years, influencing such singer as Jackie Wilson and Stevie Wonder.

James B. Davis (top right, with The Dixie Hummingbirds)

Obituaries • 2007 Show, Pursuit, Playhouse 90, Checkmate, Follow the Sun, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Burke’s Law, Wagon Train, The Name of the Game, The F.B.I., The Sixth Sense, Medical Center, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Lou Grant, Airwolf, and Hotel. She was also featured in the tele-films Murder on Flight 502 (1975) and Return to Fantasy Island (1978). Day made her final television appearance in a two-part episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1986. She was married to producer Michel Grillkhes from 1960 until his death earlier in 2007.

DAYDODGE, BILLY Native America actor William “Billy” Daydodge died of bone cancer in a Loma Linda, California, hospital on December 20, 2007. He was 78. A member of the Ojibwa Tribe, Daydodge was born in Twin Lakes, Minnesota, on September 18, 1929. He worked as a mechanical engineer in Hemet, California, before his retirement in 1991. He was also a noted artist and served as a consultant for Hemet’s Ramona Pageant from the mid–1990s. He provided voice-overs for various Indian chiefs for the Arts & Entertainment Network’s Real West series. Daydodge was also seen in such films as North (1994), Wagons East (1994), Navajo Blues (1996), Almost Heroes (1998), Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain (1999), Pennyman (2002), Nate and the Colonel (2003), The Reawakening (2004), and 3:52 (2005). He was featured in the tele-films My Indian Summer (1995) and Santa and Pete (1999), and guest starred in episodes of Mr. Show with Bob and David and Son of the Beach. He also appeared in the recurring role of an Arapaho Elder in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1996 to 1997.

Billy Daydodge

DE ARMOND, CHARLOTTE Charlotte De Armond, an advocate for adoption who earned an Academy Award for producing a short film on the subject in 1979, died of complications from surgery in a Los Angeles hospital on January 31, 2007. She was 87. De Armond was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 25, 1919. A community activist who was instrumental in protecting Griffith Park from commercial development, she also worked with the private adoption agency, Children’s Home Society, for three decades. De Armond produced Taylor Hackford’s live action short film Teenage Father, which received an Academy Award in 1979. She was also

86 the author of the 1984 text The Changing Picture of Adoption.

Charlotte De Armond

DECARLO, YVONNE Yvonne DeCarlo, the dark-haired leading lady who starred as exotic beauties in films of the 1940s and 1950s, but became best known for her role as Lily Munster in the ghoulish television sit-com The Munsters in the 1960s, died of heart failure at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on January 8, 2007. She was 84. DeCarlo was born Peggy Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on September 1, 1922. She began her career on stage as a dancer in nightclubs while in her teens. She made her film debut in the early 1940s, appearing in small roles in such films as Harvard, Here I Come! (1941), The Kink of the Campus (1941), This Gun for Hire (1942), Road to Morocco (1942), Youth on Parade (1942), Rhythm Parade (1942), Lucky Jordan (1942), The Crystal Ball (1943), Salute for Three (1943), So Proudly We Hail! (1943), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Let’s Face It (1943), Deerslayer (1943), True to Life (1943), Standing Room Only (1944), Kismet (1944), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Rainbow Island (1944), Practically Yours (1944), Here Come the Waves (1944), and Bring on the Girls (1945). She starred in the title role in the 1945 film Salome, Where She Danced and, often playing exotic characters, continued to appear in such films as Frontier Gal (1945), Song of Scheherazade (1947), Brute Force (1947), Slave Girl (1947), Black Bart (1948), Casbah (1948), River Lady (1948), Criss Cross (1949), Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), The Gal Who Took the West (1949), Buccaneer’s Girl (1950), The Desert Hawk (1950), Tomahawk (1951), Hotel Sahara (1951), Silver City (1951), The San Francisco Story (1952), Scarlet Angel (1952), Hurricane Smith (1952), Sea Devils (1953), The Captain’s Paradise (1953), Sombrero (1953), Fort Algiers (1953), Borer River (1954), Happy Ever After (1954), Passion (1954), The Contessa’s Secret (1954), Shotgun (1955), Flame of the Islands (1955), Raw Edge (1956), Magic Fire (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), Death of a Scoundrel (1956), Band of Angels (1957), The Sword and the Cross (1958), Timbuktu (1959), McLintock (1963), A Global Affair (1964), and Law of the Lawless (1964). DeCarlo starred as Lily Munster in the horror sit-com The Munsters on television from 1964 to 1966. Co-star-

87

2007 • Obituaries Broadway in the musical Follies in 1971. DeCarlo married stuntman and actor Robert Morgan in 1955, and they had two sons. Morgan lost a leg when he was crushed under a train while filming How the West Was Won in 1962. She and Morgan’s sometimes turbulent marriage ended in divorce in 1974. Her autobiography, Yvonne, was published in 1987. DeCarlo’s son Michael died in 1997, and she suffered a stroke the following year. She is survived by her other son, Bruce.

Yvonne DeCarlo (as Lily Munster)

ring with Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, DeCarlo also played the vampiric matriarch in the 1966 feature film Munster, Go Home. She continued to appear in such films over the next three decades, often lending class to low-budget efforts. Her later film credits include Hostile Guns (1967), George Pal’s The Power (1968), Arizona Bushwhackers (1968), The Seven Minutes (1971), The Delta Factor (1971), Blazing Stewardesses (1975), It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975), Black Fire (1975), Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), House of Shadows (1976), Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977), Nocturna (1979), Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1980), Silent Scream (1980), The Man with Bogart’s Face (1980), Liar’s Moon (1981), National Lampoon’s Class Reunion (1982), Vultures (1983), Play Dead (1985), Flesh and Bullets (1985), Cellar Dweller (1988), American Gothic (1988), Mirror, Mirror (1990), Oscar (1991), The Naked Truth (1992), Desert Kickboxer (1992), and The Sorority House Murders (1993). She was also featured in the tele-films The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974), The Mark of Zorro (1974), The Munsters’ Revenge (1981) reprising her role as Lily Munster, and A Masterpiece of Murder (1986). DeCarlo’s television credits also include guest roles in episodes of such series as Lights Out, Screen Directors Playhouse, Bonanza, Adventures in Paradise, Death Valley Days, The Virginian, Burke’s Law, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Custer, The Name of the Game, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, Dream On, and Tales from the Crypt. She also starred on

Yvonne DeCarlo

DEE, TOMMY Country music promoter and producer Tommy Donaldson, who produced a tribute song to Buddy Holly under the name Tommy Dee, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 26, 2007. He was 73. Donaldson was born on July 15, 1933. A disc jockey with KXFM in San Bernadino, California, he became best known for his 1959 tribute song to legendary rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper shortly after their fatal plane crash. Teaming with Carol Kay and the Teen-Aires, Tommy Dee provided a narrative voice-over for the song, “Three Stars,” which hit the charts at #11 in May 1959. He subsequently worked as a country music producer and promoter for three decades.

Tommy Dee

DEFOREST, CALVERT Comic actor Calvert DeForest, who was known for his frequent appearances as Larry “Bud” Melman on David Letterman’s late night television shows, died in a Long Island, New York, hospital after a long illness on March 19, 2007. He was 85. DeForest was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 23, 1921. A short, balding performer with thick blackrimmed glasses, he worked on stage and in independent films in New York in the 1970s. He was featured in the films While the Cat’s Away (1972), Apple Pie (1976), Blond Poison (1979), and Waitress! (1982). He was the first face seen when Letterman’s show premiered on NBC on February 1, 1982. Under the nom-de-plum of Larry “Bud” Melman he became a familiar and popular presence on the show, often adding a surreal effect by his mere appearance. DeForest parlayed his popularity into cameo roles in such films as The First Time (1983), Nothing Last Forever (1984), Heaven Help Us (1985), Leader of the Band (1987), My Demon Lover (1987), Identity Crisis (1989), Freaked (1993), Mr. Write (1994), and Encino Woman

Obituaries • 2007 (1996). He also appeared on television in episodes of Saturday Night Live, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and Wings. When Letterman left NBC for CBS in 1994, DeForest remained with the show, but could no longer use the Larry “Bud” Melman name due to an intellectual property dispute with the network. He made his final appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on his 81st birthday in 2002.

88 (1978), The Journalist (1979), The Highest Honor (1982), Undercover (1983), Molly (1983), Kokoda Crescent (1989), and Dead Sleep (1990). De Grey was featured as the Minister in the 2001 film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, and was the older John “Curley” Foster in the 2001 television mini-series Changi.

DE GRUYTER, DOMIEN Belgian actor Domien De Gruyter died in Wommelgem, Flanders, Belgium, on August 16, 2007. He was 86. De Gruyter was born in Antwerpen, Flanders, Belgium, on August 3, 1921. He made his debut on stage in 1943 in Antwerp, and was a popular performer and director until his retirement in 1986. He also appeared frequently in Belgian television productions from the 1950s including Muiterij op de Caine (1957), Een Stok in Het Wiel (1960), Het Proces van Andersonville (1962), Noah (1964), Willem van Saeftinghe (1964), De Moordenaar Gods (1965), De Midvoor (1966), Lieutenant Tenant (1968), One Night ... a Train (1968), Six Characters in Search of an Author (1971), Play Strindberg (1973), and Rubens, Schilder en Diplomaat (1977). He was also featured as Professor Neys in the 1972 series De Vorstinnen van Brugge, and was Oskar Dias in De Kat in 1973.

Calvert DeForest (Larry “Bud” Melman)

DE GREY, SLIM Australian actor and comedian Slim de Grey died of complications of a heart condition in a Gold Coast, Australia, hospital on May 20, 2007. He was 88. De Grey was born in Lytham, England, in 1919. He was a popular stand-up comedian in Australia, and appeared frequently on television from the 1960s. He starred as Mick “Patto” Patterson in the 1967 television series You Can’t See ’Round Corners and the 1969 feature film version of the same name. He was also featured in television productions of Love and War (1967), Scales of Justice (1983), Shout! The Story of Johnny O’Keefe (1985), and I Own the Racecourse (1986), and appeared in episodes of Skippy, Woobinda, Animal Doctor, The Rovers, Homicide, Dead Men Running, The Spoiler, Boney, Silent Number, Matlock Police, Chopper Squad, Young Ramsay, and Bellamy. De Grey also appeared in a handful of films during his career including They’re a Weird Mob (1966), Age of Consent (1969), Demonstrator (1971), Wake in Fright (1971), Stone (1974), Newsfront

DE HARTOGH, LEO Dutch actor Leo de Hartogh died in The Hague, The Netherlands, on October 5, 2007. He was 91. De Hartogh was born in Rot-

Slim DeGrey (right, with Eddie Hepple from Skippy)

Leo de Hartogh (with Tilly Perin-Bouwmeester)

Domien de Gruyter

89 terdam, The Netherlands, on June 2, 1916. He was a leading performer on the Dutch stage and in films from the 1930s. De Hartogh appeared in several films in the 1930s including Zomerzotheid (1936), Young Hearts (1936), Rubber (1936), Klokslag Twaalf (1936), and De Man Zonder Hart (1937). He was a popular performer on Dutch television from the 1960s, appearing in such productions as Suiker (1960), Arme Bitos (1962), Het Diplomat (1963), Bloemen voor de President (1963), De Vlucht van de Duif (1964), Dit is Het Einde (1965), De Arme Dieven (1966), Een Beeld van een Meisje (1966), Lucelle (1968), Een Mens van Goede Wil (1973), De Receptie (1974), Hof van Holland (1976), and Mata Hari (1981). He also appeared in the 1978 film Meneer Klomp.

DE HETRE, KATHERINE Actress Katherine De Hetre died of injuries she received in an automobile accident in Compton, California, on December 29, 2007. She was 61. De Hetre was born in Compton on September 18, 1946. She began her career on stage and appeared on Broadway in the short-lived production of The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks in 1972. She was an understudy for the 1975 revival of Death of a Salesman. De Hetre was featured in several films in the late 1970s and early 1980s including The Promise (1979), the allstar disaster epic Meteor (1979), Being There (1979) with Peter Sellers, Joni (1980) and Looker (1981). She also appeared in the tele-films Callie & Son (1981) and M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (1983), and in episodes of Quincy, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Murder, She Wrote.

2007 • Obituaries de Dios (1987), Attack at Dawn (1988), Mascaro, Hunter of the Americas (1992), Banderas, the Tyrant (1993), Vertical Love (1997), Mambi (1998), The Sea Wolf (2001), and Hijo de Tigre (2004). He also starred in such television productions as Cabinda (1987) and Avanti (1994).

Rene de la Cruz

DELAHOUSSAYE, MIKE Cameraman and cinematographer Mike Delahoussaye died of multiple myeloma in Los Angeles on November 8, 2007. He was 58. Delahoussaye was born in Houston, Texas, on October 20, 1949. He began working as a cameraman at KPRC-TV in Texas in the 1970s. He was soon shooting commercials and independent films in the area. He served as cinematographer for the features Murder Rap (1987) and They Still Call Me Bruce (1987). He was involved in filming numerous Playboy videos during the 1990s, including the 1993 spotlight on Anna Nichole Smith. He also served as cameraman or cinematographer for such films as Chill Factor (1990), Across the Tracks (1991), Inner Sanctum (1991), Indecent Behavior (1993), Dunston Checks In (1996), Midnight Blue (1997), U.S. Marshals (1998), and Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo (1990), and the tele-films Hardtime: Hostage Hotel (1999) and Secret Santa (2003).

Katherine De Hetre (crushed under rubble in Meteor) DE LA CRUZ, RENE Cuban actor and Rene de la Cruz Solares died in Havana, Cuba, on June 26, 2007. He was 76. De la Cruz was born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, on January 3, 1931. He began working as an actor on Cuban radio in the 1950s, and soon moved into television and films. He made his film debut in Carol Reed’s 1959 adaptation of Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana. He was also featured in the films Realengo 18 (1961), Transito (1964), La Decision (1964), Papeles son Papeles (1966), La Odisea del General Jose (1968), Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), Mella (1976), The Teacher (1977), That Long Night (1979), Leyenda (1982), Mr. President (1983), Wild Dogs (1984), Baragua (1985), El Socio

Mike Delahoussaye

DELANY, PAULINE Irish actress Pauline Delany died in London on January 15, 2007. She was 81. De-

Obituaries • 2007 lany was born in Dublin, Ireland, on June 8, 1925. She began her acting career on the stage there in the 1950s, performing with the Globe Theatre Company. She made her film debut in the late 1950s, appearing in such films as Rooney (1958), Innocent Sinners (1958), A Question of Suspense (1961), Ambush in Leopard Street (1962), The Quare Fellow (1962), Nothing but the Best (1964), Young Cassidy (1965), Percy (1971), The Love Ban (1973), Brannigan (1975), Trenchcoat (1983), and Circle of Friends (1995). She also was seen frequently on British television appearing in the 1974 production of The Playboy of the Western World, and starring as Mrs. Mortimer in the series Public Eye in the early 1970s. She also appeared in such series as The Villains, Theatre 625, The Wednesday Play, The Avengers, Softly Softly, Dixon of Dock Green, New Scotland Yard, Z Cars, Shoestring, Maybury, Bergerac, The Bill, Bluebirds, Rumpole of the Bailey, and Casualty. Delany was featured in the Hammer House of Horror production of The Two Faces of Evil in 1980, and the 1988 mini-series A Taste for Death.

90 Vicio do Dr. Cornelio (1975), Elke Maravilha Contra o Homem Atomico (1978), As Taradas Atacam (1978), As 1001 Posicoes do Amor (1979), Bonitas e Gostosas (1979), Padre Pedro E a Revolta das Criancas (1984) which he also produced and wrote, As Aventuras de Sergio Malandro (1985), A Mafia Sexual (1986), and Amocoes Sexuais de Um Cavalo (1986).

DELGADO, LUIS MARIA Spanish film director Luis Maria Delgado died in Celorio, Asturias, Spain, on June 11, 2007. He was 80. He was born in Madrid, Spain, on September 12, 1926, the son of director Fernando Delgado. He began working in films as an assistant director in the early 1940s and directed his first feature, Love and Desire, in 1952. Delgado also helmed such films as That Man from Tangier (1953), Manicomio (1954), La Estrella del Rey (1957), The Italians They Are Crazy (1958), Diferente (1962), Monica Stop (1967), Hamelin (1969), Dele Color al Difunto (1970), Aventura en las Islas Cies (1972), Onofre (1974), Un Curita Canon (1974), Las Obsesiones de Amando (1974), Senoritas de Uniforme (1976), Los Hijos de... (1976), Suave, Canno, Muy Suave (1978), Pepito Piscina (1978), El Nino de su Mama (1980), El Alcalde y la Politica (1980), Mirame con Ojos Pornograficos (1980), La Tia de Carlos (1981), Profesor Eroticus (1981), Onofre el Virgo (1982), Loca por el Circo (1982), Cuando Almanzor Perdio el Tambor (1984), and Ni se te Ocurra... (1990).

Pauline Delany DE LARA, PEDRO Brazilian television and radio humorist Pedro de Lara died of prostate cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 13, 2007. He was 82. De Lara was born in Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil, on February 25, 1925. He was best known as the star of the television programs Show de Calouros and Gente que Britha. De Lara was also seen in such films as O Estranho

Pedro de Lara

Luis Maria Delgado

DELP, BRAD American musician Brad Delp, who was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Boston, committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on March 9, 2007. The official cause of death was determined to be carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 55. Delp was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1951, and began playing the guitar and performing with bands while in high school. He auditioned for fellow guitarist, Tom Scholz, and the two formed the American rock band Boston in 1969. They spent several years performing in clubs and making basement recordings before releasing their self-titled debut album, Boston, in 1976. Guitarist Barry Goudreau, bassist Fred Sheehan, and drummer Sib Hashian, soon joined the duo to produce the 1978 album, Don’t Look Back. The band had a unique sound, with multi-layered tracks

91 and overdubbed group harmonies that can be heard on such singles as “More Than a Feeling” and “Let Me Take You Home Tonight.” Delp left Boston in the early 1980s, working with Hashian, to lend lead vocals to Goudreau’s self-titled solo debut album the following year. He and Goudreau performed together and released the album Orion the Hunter in 1984. Delp rejoined Boston to release Third Stage in 1986. During the early 1990s Mr. Cosmo replaced him as the lead singer for Boston, while Delp and Goudreau formed RTZ, and released the album Return to Zero in 1991. Delp once again returned to Boston in 1994, and shared vocals with Cosmo for their 1997 release Greatest Hits (Boston). He remained with the band thereafter, touring and performing lead vocals on their 2002 release, Corporate America. From 1995 until 2007 Delp also played in a Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice and performed with Goudreau on an album release in 2006, titled Delp and Goudreau. On October 16, 2007, Barry Goudreau released one final song with Delp on vocals entitled “Rockin’ Away.” Recorded in the summer of 2006, it is an autobiography of Delp’s music career.

Brad Delp

DELPORTE, YVAN

Belgian comic writer and editor Yvan Delporte, who wrote some of the early adventures of The Smurfs, died in Brussels, Belgium, on March 5, 2007. He was 78. Delporte was born in Brussels on June 24, 1928. He began working for the weekly

Yvan Delporte

2007 • Obituaries comic magazine Spirou after World War I, and rose to become editor in 1956. He was instrumental in persuading Smurf artist Peyo to continue the adventures of the characters after they were created for a one-shot in 1958. The on-going strip debuted the following year with Delporte contributing scripts for their adventures. He also created the character of Smurfette, and was involved in writing the animated films The Adventures of the Smurfs (1965) and The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (1976). He also collaborated with Jean Roba on Boule et Bill and Andre Franquin with Gaston Lagaffe. He stepped down as editor of Spirou in 1968, but continued to write comic scripts for numerous artists. Delporte became editor of the magazine Schtroumpf in 1990.

DEMAREST, JIM Jim Demarest, who starred as Mr. Checkers on Hawaii’s Checkers and Pogo television series in the 1970s, died in Chicago, Illinois, after a long illness on June 12, 2007. He was 80. Demarest was born on June 20, 1926. He starred in Checkers and Pogo from 1968 to 1979. He was also seen in several episodes of Hawaii Five-O and Magnum, P.I., and in the films Bullitt (1968) and Hawaiian Dream (1987).

Jim Demarest (left, as Mr. Checkers, with Morgan White as Pogo chatting with a young fan)

DEMING, LAWSON Lawson Deming, who hosted horror films on Detroit television as the comic vampire Sir Graves Ghastly, died at his home in Ohio

Lawson Deming (as Sir Graves Ghastly)

Obituaries • 2007 on April 24, 2007. He was 94. Deming was born on April 23, 1913. He began his career in radio in Cleveland, Ohio, in the early 1930s. He later worked as a puppeteer on the Cleveland children’s television program Woodrow the Woodsman, which brought him to Detroit in the mid–1960s. He was asked to host the local horror film showcase there in 1967, which became known as Sir Graves Big Show, with Deming decked out in ghoulish attire and makeup. He also played the other characters that would sometimes join the show including Reel McCoy, who would unearth the old films to be shown, the Glob, an upside down mouth that would sing in the corner of the screen, and the off beat Tillie Trollhouse. Deming became a popular fixture on the local scene, making numerous personal appearances while his program ran on station WJBK through 1983.

DEMPSEY, JACK British wrestler Thomas Moore, who competed in the ring as Jack Dempsey, died in a Poolstock, England, nursing home on November 20, 2007. He was 87. He was born in Newtown, England, in 1920, and began training at Riley’s Gym in Scholes while working as a coal miner. He began wrestling professionally in 1937. He became a popular ring competitor under the name of Jack Dempsey, and defeated Tony Lawrence for the British Welterweight Championship in 1953. He held the title for several years before losing it to Mick McManus in 1957. He again captured the belt in a rematch the following year. He competed frequently in televised matches during the early 1960s, feuding with Jackie Pallo, Jon Cortez, and Vic Faulkner. He was forced to retired from wrestling and vacate the championship because of poor health in October of 1966. During the 1970s he worked as an instructor and trainer at Riley’s Gym. He was the subject of a television documentary in 1995.

92 He also appeared in several films including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), The Manhattan Project (1986), and Last Ball (2001). Dempster directed many of the plays produced at the Ensemble Studio Theater, and was also author of several of them.

Curt Demster DE POMES, ISABEL Spanish actress Isabel de Pomes died in Barcelona, Spain, on May 31, 2007. She was 83. De Pomes was born in Barcelona on April 10, 1924, the daughter of actor Felix de Pomes. She began her career on stage in the late 1930s, and made her film debut in the early 1940s. She was seen in such films as Los Millones de Polichinela (1941), La Madre Guapa (1941), La Culpa del Otro (1942), Simepre Mujeres (1942), A Sight of Light (1943), Mi Vida en tus Manos (1943), Noche Fantastica (1943), El Abanderado (1943), I Want You for Myself (1944), La Torre de los Siete Jorobados (1944), The Black Siren (1947), La Muralla Feliz (1947), Luis Candelas, el Ladron de Madrid (1947), Crossroads (1948), Boton de Ancla (1948), El Centauro (1948), Las Casa de las Sonrisas (1948), Poker de Ases (1948), El Correo del Rey (1951), Luna de Sangre (1952), Vida en Sombras (1952), El Alcalde de Zalamea (1954), North Wind (1954), The Miracle of Marcelino (1955), Los Ojos en las Manos (1956), Nunca es Demasiado Tarde (1956), Thunderstorm (1956), L’Amore piu Bello (1957), Whom God Forgives (1957), The Man Who Wagged His Tail (aka An Angel Over Brooklyn) (1957), La Noche y el Alba (1958), Leap to Fame (1959),

Jack Dempsey

DEMPSTER, CURT Theatrical director and actor Curt Dempster died at his home in New York City on January 19, 2007. He was 71. Dempster was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 1, 1935. He was best known as the co-founder of New York’s Ensemble Studio Theater in 1971, that showcased new plays and playwrights. Dempster was an actor in the Off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge.

Isabel de Pomes

93 Poison at 2:30 (1959), Ama Rosa (1960), El Secreto de los Hombres Azules (1961), Story of a Night (1963), and El Puente de la Ilusion (1965).

DESIO, ALFRED Broadway dancer and choreographer Alfred Desio, who invented a form of electronically enhanced tap dancing called Tap-Tronics, died of complications from bladder cancer at a Los Angeles hospital on February 14, 2007. He was 74. Desio was born in Geneva, New York, on August 29, 1932, and began performing at an early age. He performed on Broadway in such hit productions as West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, and Man of La Mancha. He worked with Katharine Hepburn on the musical Coco and relocated to California while on tour with the production. In the 1980s Desio created Tap-Tronics, a musical concept in which microphones embedded in a dancer’s shoes relay sounds to various electronic equipment. This form of electronic tap was featured in the 1989 film Tap, starring Gregory Hines. In recent years Desio directed a tapdancing program for children and worked with his wife in operating the Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers Dance Company.

2007 • Obituaries British television from the 1970s, with roles in productions of Through the Night (1975), Bill Brand (1976), Ladies (1980), The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980), The Haunting of Cassie Palmer (1982), and The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988). She also guest-starred in such series as Softly Softly, The Professionals, Oh Happy Band Nanny, Juliet Bravo, Angels, Three Up, Two Down, Just Good Friends, and One Foot in the Grave. Devenish also appeared in several films during her career including Time Bandits (1981), Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983), Runners (1983), Tug of Love (1983), Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985), and Return to Waterloo (1985).

DEVON, LAURA Actress Laura Devon died of heart failure at her home in Beverly Hills, California, on July 19, 2007. She was 76. Devon was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 23, 1931. She began her career as a nightclub singer before moving to California in the early 1960s. She was active in film and television throughout the decade. She was a regular member of the ensemble cast for the anthology television series The Richard Boone Show from 1963 to 1964. She also appeared in the recurring role of Sister Benjamin in the medical drama Dr. Kildare in 1965. Devon’s other television credits include episodes of The New Breed, The Wide Country, Route 66, The Gallant Men, The Twilight Zone, Stoney Burke, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Rawhide, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Rogues, Bonanza, I Spy, The Fugitive, T.H.E. Cat, The Big Valley, and The Invaders. She made her film debut in director Vincente Minnelli’s 1964 comedy Goodbye Charlie. She was also seen in the films Red Line 7000 (1965), Chamber of Horror (1967), A Covenant with Death (1967), and Gunn (1967) with Craig Stevens as detective Peter Gunn. Devon was briefly married to actor Brian Kelly in the early 1960s. She married film composer Maurice Jarre later in the decade and retired from the screen. Her survivors include their son, screenwriter Kevin Jarre.

Alfred Desio (left, with Fayard Nicholas)

DEVENISH, MYRTLE British character actress Myrtle Devenish died in Paignton, Devon, England, on January 21, 2007. She was 93. Devenish was born in Ebbw Vale, Wales, in 1913. She appeared frequently on

Laura Devon

Myrtle Devenish

DIAK, RODNEY British actor Rodney Diak died of cancer in London on October 6, 2007. He was 83. He was born David Rodney Jones in Harrow, England, on June 15, 1924. Diak began his career on stage in the early 1940s and made his West End debut in a

Obituaries • 2007 production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost, with the Old Vic company. He remained with the Old Vic in the early 1950s, before making his film debut in the science fiction flick Fire Maidens From Outer Space in 1956. He also appeared in the films Carry On Admiral (1957), Dunkirk (1958), Mr. Topaze (1961), and The Flesh and Blood Show (1972). He also appeared on television in such series as The Makepeace Story, The Troubleshooters, Z Cars, People Like Us, and Barlow at Large. Diak remained a popular performer on stage with long runs in such West End hits as Goodnight Mrs. Puffin and Busybody.

DIBDEN, MICHAEL British mystery writer Michael Dibden died in Seattle, Washington, after a brief illness on March 30, 2007. He was 60. Dibden was born in Wolverhampton, England, on March 21, 1947. He began writing mysteries in the late 1970s, pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper in The Last Sherlock Holmes Story in 1978. Poet Robert Browning was the protagonist for his second novel, A Rich Full Death, in 1986. Dibden was best known for creating the character of Italian police detective Aurelio Zen. Zen was featured in 10 novels including Ratking (1988), Vendetta (1990), Cabal (1992), Dead Lagoon (1994), Cosi Fan Tutti (1996), A Long Finish (1998), Blood Rain (1999), And Then You Die (2002), Medusa (2003), Back to Bologna (2005), and End Games (2007). He also wrote a handful of other crime novels including The Tryst (1989), Dirty Tricks (1991), The Dying of the Light (1993), Dark Spectre (1995), and Thanksgiving (2000).

94 end of World War II. DiLeo performed in several productions with the New London Opera Company in the late 1940s, and sang occasional roles in the 1950s. She was seen onscreen as Jasefa in the 1961 film The Singer Not the Song, and was featured as Senora Zumara in the 1961 Hammer horror film The Curse of the Werewolf starring Oliver Reed. She also appeared in an episode of the British science fiction television series Out of the Unknown in 1965.

Serafino diLeo

DINCEL, SAVAS Turkish actor Savas Dincel died of internal hemorrhaging in Istanbul, Turkey, on December 20, 2007. He was 65. Dincel was born in Istanbul in 1942. A stage, film and television actor from the 1970s, Dincel was best known for his role as Firinci Nusrettin in the television series Ekmek Teknesi from 2002 until his death. He was also featured as Gen. Ismet Pasa in the 1994 mini-series Kurtulus, and played former Turkish president Ismet Inonu in the film Cumhuriyet in 1998. Dincel was also seen in the films Lyckliga vi... (1980), Bye, Crazy Class (1981), Asik Oldum (1985), Cholera Street (1997), Offside (2000), The Fall of Abdulhamit (2003), Home Coming (2006), and There Is Another Possibility (2007). His other television credits include productions of Three Faces of Istanbul (1983), Azmi (1995), Sevda Cicegi (2006), Esir Kalpler (2006), and Can (2007).

Michael Dibdin

DILEO, SERAFINO Opera singer and actress Serafina DiLeo died in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England, on October 23, 2007. She was 95. DiLeo was born in New York City on May 7, 1912, the daughter of Sicilian immigrants. She began studying opera in Italy with the assistance of singer Giovanni Martinelli and his wife in 1927. DiLeo made her operatic debut in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at La Scala in Milan in 1930. She returned to the United States the following year, where she performed with the Chicago Civic Opera. She returned to Italy in 1932, where she continued to perform in such operas as Aida, Tosca, and Cavalleria Rusticana She married British officer Adrian Fitzpatrick Cooke near the

Savas Dincel

95 DI REDA, JOSEPH Character actor Joseph di Reda died in a Worcester, Massachusetts, hospital of cancer on June 16, 2007. He was 78. Di Reda was born in Worcester on September 16, 1928. He moved to New York after briefly serving in the Navy during World War II. He was featured in a touring company production of the play Tea and Sympathy, which brought him to Hollywood in the early 1950s. He began a long career in films and television, appearing in such features as Gaby (1956), Screaming Eagles (1956), Love Me Tender (1956) with Elvis Presley, The True Story of Jesse James (1957), Time Limit (1957), The Enemy Below (1957), Juvenile Jungle (1958), Imitation General (1958), The Black Orchid (1958), In Love and War (1958), The Big Fisherman (1959), Flight from Ashiya (1964), 36 Hours (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966), The Andromeda Strain (1971), Cactus in the Snow (1971), Emperor of the North Pole (1973), The Parallax View (1974), The Hindenberg (1975), and Special Delivery (1976). He was also seen in the tele-films Lock, Stock and Barrel (1971), If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? (1974), Returning Home (1975), The Ordeal of Patty Hearst (1979), Joe Dancer: The Big Trade (1981), and Murder One, Dancer 0 (1983). His other television credits include appearances in episodes of such series as You Are There, Matinee Theatre, Zane Grey Theater, Climax!, M Squad, Navy Log, Mike Hammer, Frontier Justice, Steve Canyon, The Texan, The Ann Sothern Show, Colt .45, The Alaskans, The Man from Blackhawk, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Dan Raven, Bonanza, The Roaring 20’s, Perry Mason, 87th Precinct, The Untouchables, The Dakotas, Combat!, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Andy Griffith Show, Rawhide, Batman, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, Felony Squad, Gunsmoke, The F.B.I., The Rookies, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Streets of San Francisco, M*A*S*H, The Incredible Hulk, The ATeam, and Cagney & Lacey. He was also featured for seven years as Angel Moran in the daytime soap opera General Hospital.

2007 • Obituaries into the hairstyling business, earning her cosmetology license in 1933. She worked as United Artists and Paramount before moving to Universal in the 1940s, where she became head of hairstyling. She worked closely with makeup artist Jack Pierce. Her numerous film credits include The Return of Sophie Lang (1936), Foreign Correspondent (1940), This Love of Ours (1945), House of Dracula (1945), Frontier Gal (1945), Scarlet Street (1945), Terror by Night (1946), Idea Girl (1946), Little Giant (1946), The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946), The Cat Creeps (1946), Dressed to Kill (1946), She Wrote the Book (1946), The Runaround (1946), Her Adventurous Night (1946), Lover Come Back (1946), Danger Woman (1946), Canyon Passage (1946), Black Angel (1946), Wild Beauty (1946), The Time of Their Lives (1946), Lawless Breed (1946), The Killers (1946), Little Miss Big (1946), Rustler’s Round-Up (1946), Gunman’s Code (1946), The Brute Man (1946), Magnificent Doll (1946), I’ll Be Yours (1947), Song of Scheherazade (1947), The Egg and I (1947), Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947), Buck Privates Come Home (1947), Time Out of Mind (1947), The Web (1947), Ivy (1947), Brute Force (1947), Slave Girl (1947), Something in the Wind (1947), Ride the Pink Horse (1947), The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947), The Lost Moment (1947), A Double Life (1947), The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947), Secret Beyond the Door (1948), A Woman’s Vengeance (1948), Black Bart (1948), The Naked City (1948), All My Sons (1948), Are You with It? (1948), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Casbah (1948), Another Part of the Forest (1948), River Lady (1948), Up in Central Park (1948), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Feudin,’ Fussin’ and A-Fightin’ (1948), Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) designing Ann Blyth’s underwater coiffure, Tap Roots (1948), One Touch of Venus (1948), For the Love of Mary (1948), Larceny (1948), Rogues’ Regiment (1948), The Saxon Charm (1948), Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948), The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948), An Act of Murder (1948), Mexican Hayride (1948), The Fighting O’Flynn (1949), Criss Cross (1949), Family Honeymoon (1949), Ma and Pa Kettle (1949), City Across the River (1949), The Life of Riley (1949), Red Canyon (1949), Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949), Arctic Manhunt (1949), The Reckless Moment (1949), Dakota Lil (1950), The Vicious Years (1950), The Iroquois Trail (1950), Two Lost Worlds (1951), Tales of Robin Hood

Joseph di Reda

DIRIGO, CARMEN Film hair stylist Carmen Dirigo died in Van Nuys, California, on July 25, 2007. She was 99. She was born Daisy Obradowits in New York City on December 30, 1907. She moved to Hollywood with her mother in the 1920s, where she began performing on stage as dancer. She followed her mother

Carmen Dirigo (left, with Frances Dee)

Obituaries • 2007

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(1951), The Big Night (1951), Highway Dragnet (1954), The Vampire (1957), I Mobster (1958), The Proud Rebel (1958), Diary of a Madman (1963), and Nightmare in the Sun (1965). Dirigo also worked frequently in television from the 1950s, serving as hairstylist for such series as Schlitz Playhouse of the Stars, You Are There, Screen Directors Playhouse, The Andy Griffith Show, and Petticoat Junction. Her final screen credits were for the 1971 telefilm A Taste of Evil and the 1972 film musical 1776. She subsequently retired to Van Nuys, California.

DISESSO, MOE Moe DiSesso, who was one of Hollywood’s leading animal trainers, died on July 2, 2007. He was 83. DiSesso was born on April 20, 1924. He began his career as a stunt rider, working on the television series The Cisco Kid, and the films The Ten Commandments and The Conqueror. He began training animals for films the early 1960s, supplying the trained raven for Roger Corman’s comedy horror film The Raven. He also trained Arnold Ziffle, the porcine prodigy in the Green Acres television series, and a horde of rats for the films Willard (1971) and Ben (1972). He provided the trained German Shepherds for Wes Craven’s 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes and the title pooch for the 1978 tele-film Devil Dog; The Hound of Hell. DiSesso also trained animals for the films Used Cars (1980), Annie (1982) including the dog Sandy, My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) and Scissors (1991), and such television series as Seinfeld and Will & Grace. He was the recipient of 11 Patsy Awards for his animal training expertise. DiSesso appeared on screen as Mr. Doodles in the 1979 tele-film Fast Friends.

Moe DiSesso (sharing an award with Ben the rat)

DLOUHY, MARY JANE CLARK

Mary Jane Clark Dlouhy, who starred as Miss Mary Jane in the Chicago children’s television series Treetop House, died in a Skokie, Illinois, hospital on March 7, 2007. She was 74. She was born in Chicago on June 30, 1932. She was working as a local model in the Chicago area when she was selected as hostess of WGN’s children’s series Treetop House. As Miss Mary Jane, she and her marionette friend Mr. Widgin entertained Chicago children from 1960 to 1962. She also did several television specials for WGN in the early 1960s. Dlouhy later formed the women’s employment agency, Mademoiselle.

Mary Jane Clark Dlouhy

DOLAN, JOE Irish pop singer Joe Dolan collapsed at his home in Dublin, Ireland, on December 25, 2007, and died in a hospital there the following day. He was 68. Dolan was born in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland, on October 16, 1939. He began performing in the early 1960s in a poplar show band with his brother Ben. His biggest hit was his 1969 recording of “Make Me an Island.” He recorded such other popular songs as “I Love You More and More Every Day” (1965), “The Westmeath Bachelor” (1968), “You’re Such a Good Looking Woman” (1970), “Sister Mary” (1976) a duet with Kelly Marie, and “I Need You” (1977). Dolan continued to tour and record regularly, but had recently canceled a Christmas tour because of exhaustion.

Joe Dolan

DOMMARTIN, SOLVEIG French actress Solveig Dommartin, who starred in Wim Wenders’ 1987 fantasy film Wings of Desire, died of a heart attack in Paris on January 11, 2007. She was 45. Dommartin was born in Paris on May 16, 1961. She began her acting career on stage, and worked in films as an assistant to director Jacques Rozier. She worked as an editor on Wenders’ 1985 documentary Tokyo-Ga. Dommartin made her feature film debut in Wings of Desire as Marian, a lonely circus trapeze artist who becomes the object of affection of an angel played by Bruno Ganz. She also appeared in and co-scripted Wenders’ film Until the End of the World in 1991, and the 1993 sequel to Wings of De-

97 sire, Faraway, So Close! Her other film credits include The Prisoner of St. Petersburg (1989), Je t’ai dans la Peau (1990), No Fear, No Die (1990), I Can’t Sleep (1994), and Eiffel Tower Trilog y: Height, Weight and Gravity (1997). She also directed the 1998 short film It Would Only Take a Bridge.

Solveig Dommartin

DONEV, DONYO Bulgarian cartoonist and animator Donyo Donev died in Sofia, Bulgaria, after a long illness on November 28, 2007. He was 78. Donev was born in Berkovitza, Bulgaria, on June 27, 1929. He was a noted political caricaturist and began drawing for animated films in the early 1960s. He was best known for his cartoon creations The Three Fools, who made their debut in the 1970 cartoon of the same name. They were also stars of the animated productions Three Fools as Hunters (1972), The Three Fools and the Cow (1974), The Three Fools and the Tree (1977), The Three Fools and the Fool Woman (1978), Three Fools as Athletes (1979), Three Fools as Pedagogues (1980), Three Fools as Fishermen (1982), The Three Fools in the Restaurant (1989), and Three Fools Non-Stop (1990). Donev’s other cartoon credits include Circus (1962), Shooters (1967), Cow Which... (1967), The Friends of Gosho Elephant (1968), Happy End (1969), The Little One and the Big One (1970), Adventure in the Woods (1970), Clever Village (1972), De Facto (1973), The Music Tree (1976), We Call Them Montagues and Capulets (1985), Wolf ’s Suite (1988), and Concert at

Donyo Donev

2007 • Obituaries Home (1990). Donev continued to draw his caricatures and was a teacher at the National Academy of Arts in his later years.

DONFELD Film costume designer Donfeld, who earned four Academy Award nominations during his career, died at his brother’s home in Temple City, California, after a brief illness on February 3, 2007. He was 72. He was born Donald Lee Feld in Los Angeles on July 3, 1934. He began his career at Capitol Records designing album covers in the early 1950s. He began designing costumes for film and television later in the decade. One of his earliest assignments was designing wardrobe for production numbers in the Academy Awards shows. He earned his first Oscar nomination early in his career for his work on Days of Wine and Roses in 1962. He also received Academy Award nominations for costume design for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), Tom Sawyer (1973), and Prizzi’s Honor (1985). Donfeld also worked on the films Sanctuary (1961), Return to Peyton Place (1961), Wild in the Country (1961), The Second Time Around (1961), Bachelor Flat (1962), State Fair (1962), Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962), Island of Love (1963), Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963), Dead Ringer (1964), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), The Outrage (1964), Dear Heart (1964), Joy in the Morning (1965), The Great Race (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Chase (1966), Hombre (1967), Double Trouble (1967), Don’t Make Waves (1967), Luv (1967), Fitzwilly (1967), The April Fools (1969), The Phynx (1970), The Grasshopper (1970), Walk in the Spring Rain (1970), the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever designing costumes for Jill St. John, Lady Ice (1973), Huckleberry Finn (1974), Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975), Lipstick (1976), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), One on One (1977), First Love (1977), Rabbit Test (1978), Who’ll Stop the Rain (1978), Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), Ichon (1981), Class (1983), Brainstorm (1983), Spaceballs (1987), Next of Kin (1989), Gladiator (1992), and Father Hood (1993). Donfeld also designed costumes for the Wonder Woman television series in the mid–1970s, and worked on the tele-films Harold Robbins’ The Pirate (1978), The Star Maker (1981), The Cartier Affair (1984), and Choices (1986). DORN, JOEL Record producer Joel Dorn, who worked at Atlantic Records in the 1960s and 1970s, died of a heart attack in New York City on December 17, 2007. He was 65. Dorn was born on April 7, 1942, and was raised in Philadelphia. He began working in radio as a disk jockey in the early 1960s. He joined Atlantic as co-founder Neushi Ertegun’s assistant in 1963 and was soon producing albums. He initially worked primarily with such jazz artists as Herbie Mann, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Eddie Harris. He moved into pop and rock later in the decade, producing hits for Roberta Flack, Bette Midler and the Allman Brothers. He left Atlantic in 1974 but continued to work as an independent producer for artist as Leon Redbone, Don McClean and Lou Rawls. As CDs revolutionized the music industry, Dorn worked as a consultant for such labels as Rhino

Obituaries • 2007 and Columbia and helped create the companies 32 Records and Hyena Records to release albums of historical importance. He remained active until his death, working for Sirius Satellite Radio’s Pure Jazz channel.

98 (1967), Catherine (1969), Castle Keep (1969), Potatoes (1969), Rum Runners (1971), The Day the Clown Cried (1972), The Big Shots (1972), Deadly Sting (1973), The Four Charlots Musketeers (1974), Call Me Savage (1975), Special Section (1975), Black and White in Color (1976), Ham from the Ardennes (1977), Gloria (1977), You Won’t Have Alsace-Lorraine (1977), the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, Malevil (1981), and The Roaring Forties (1982). Douy also designed sets for such television productions as Joseph Balsamo (1973), Speciale Demiere (1982), Le Divan (1982), and Par Ordre du Roy (1983).

Joel Dorn

DOTRICE, KAY British actress Kay Dotrice died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on August 2, 2007. She was 78. She was born Katherine Newman in 1929. She was noted for her roles in plays by William Shakespeare in English repertory productions. She was also featured on the British television series Crossroads as Deborah Crisp in 1964, and appeared in episodes of The Wednesday Play. She was also seen in the 1984 comedy film Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers. She was the wife of actor Roy Dotrice, and mother of actresses Karen, Michele, and Yvette Dotrice. DOUY, MAX French set designer Max Douy died in Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, France, on July 2, 2007. He was 93. Douy was born in Issy-lesMoulineaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, on June 20, 1914. He began his career in films working as an assistant to Meerson Trauner in the 1930s. He soon became a leading film art director and production designer in France. His numerous film credits include The Rules of the Game (1939), Adieu Leonard (1943), Fire Nicolas (1943), The Sky Is Yours (1944), Paris Frills (1945), Ladies of the Park (1945), Petrus (1946), Queen’s Necklace (1946), Devil in the Flesh (1947), Jenny Lamour (1947), The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1949), Keep an Eye on Amelia (1949), Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951), The Red Inn (1951), Matrimonial Agency (1952), Good Lord Without Confession (1953), The Game of Love (1954), On Trial (1954), Scarlet and Black (1954), Only the French Can (1954), Bad Liaisons (1955), Marguerite of the Night (1955), This Is the Dawn (1956), Four Bags Full (1956), He Who Must Die (1957), Tamango (1958), Love Is My Profession (1958), The Gambler (1958), The Chasers (1959), The Green Mare (1959), The Regattas of San Francisco (1960), Thou Shalt Not Kill (1961), The Count of Monte Cristo (1961), Phaedra (1962), The Seven Deadly Sins (1962), Josefa’s Loot (1963), Enough Rope (1963), Friend of the Family (1964), Topkapi (1964), Death Travels Too Much (1965), Fantomas Strikes Back (1965), A New World (1966), The Oldest Profession (1967), Fantomas Against Scotland Yard

Max Douy

DRABBLE, PHIL British television personality Phil Drabble died at his home in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England, on July 29, 2007. He was 93. Drabble was born in Staffordshire on May 13, 1914. He began writing about life in the country in the early 1940s. He was a writer for BBC Midland Radio later in the decade, and began writing for television in 1953. He also wrote over 20 books including My Beloved Wilderness (1971), It’s a Dog’s Life (1983), and his 1991 autobiography, A Voice in the Wilderness. Drabble was best known as the host of the popular television series One Man and His Dog from 1976 to 1994, which depicted sheepdog trials. He also appeared on television in such series as Getaway, Country Game, and In the Country.

Phil Drabble

99 DRAGUN, CHARMINE Australian newscaster Charmine Dragun was found dead in Sydney, Australia, after jumping from a popular tourist spot, The Gap, in an apparent suicide on November 2, 2007. She was 29. Dragun was born in Western Australia in 1978, and began her career in Perth, Australia, as a radio journalist. She joined the news desk of Network Ten in 1999 and became a popular television newscaster.

Charmaine Dragun

DRAKE, ARNOLD Comic book writer Arnold Drake, who was co-creator of The Doom Patrol and Deadman and scripted the 1964 cult classic film The Flesh Eaters, died of pneumonia and septic shock in a New York city hospital on March 12, 2007. He was 83. Drake was born in New York City on March 1, 1924. He began writing comics in the 1940s, and worked for most of the major publishers during his career. Drake co-wrote one of the first graphic novels, It Rhymes with Lust, in 1950. He also wrote The Adventures of Jerry Lewis series for DC. Drake co-created The Doom Patrol, which made its debut in My Greatest Adventure #83 in 1963. He also cocreated Deadman for Strange Adventures, and the Stanley and His Monster humor series. Drake scripted the 1963 nudie film 50,000 B.C. (Before Clothing ) (aka Nudes on the Rocks), and the 1965 thriller Who Killed Teddy Bear. He also wrote and produced the 1964 horror film The Flesh Eaters starring Martin Kosleck.

Arnold Drake

2007 • Obituaries DREW, GEORGE W. Costume designer George W. Drew died of cancer on July 8, 2007. He was 80. Drew was born on February 18, 1927. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his career as an actor. He appeared in a Broadway production of The Relapse in 1950. He also performed with a mime company and an acrobatic trio before he began designing costumes. Drew was wardrobe coordinator for Patty Duke for her television series The Patty Duke Show and her 1965 film Billie. He also designed for the television shows The Trials of O’Brien and Not for Women Only, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live. DUBE, LUCKY South African reggae musician Lucky Philip Dube, who recorded more than 22 albums in English, Zulu, and Afrikaans, was shot to death in a carjacking attempt while dropping his children off at the home of a family member in Rosettenville, a suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa, on October 18, 2007. He was 43. Dube was born in Ermelo, Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 3, 1964, and was given his name due to his fortunate birth. He formed his first band, The Skyway Brothers, while still a child in school and later joined his cousin’s band, The Love Brothers, at the age of 18. Playing a form of Zulu pop music known as mbaqanga, the group went on to produce several albums in the early 1980s under the name Lucky Dube and the Supersoul, though the name was later changed to Lucky Dube. His mbaqanga musical releases include such albums as Lengane Ngeyethu (1981), Kudala Ngikuncenga (1982), Kukuwe (1983), Abathakathi (1984), Ngikwethemba Na? (1985), and Umadakeni (1987). He also released the Afrikaans album Help My Krap in 1986. During the mid–1980s, Dube became increasingly vocal in his opposition to the apartheid government and switched from traditional South African music to Jamaican reggae. He applied reggae’s socio-political messages in his songs as an expression of his anger at the white-minority regime. His first reggae album, Rastas Never Die, was released in 1984 and was banned by the government the following year in an effort to suppress anti-apartheid activism. He received international acclaim with the release of his second album, Think About the Children (1985), and went on to produce the increasingly successful albums Slave (1987) and Together as One (1988). Dube won four OKTV Awards for his 1989 album, Prisoner (1989), another one for Captured Alive (1990), and two more for House of Exile (1991). His 1993 album, Victims, sold over one million copies worldwide and his 1995 release, Trinity, secured him with an international contract with Motown. In 1996, Dube released a compilation album, Serious Reggae Business, marking the 10th anniversary of his career. He won the South African Music Award for his next three albums, Taxman (1997), The Way It Is (1999), and Soul Taker (2001), and released The Other Side in 2003. His final album, Respect, was released earlier in 2007. Throughout his 25 year musical career Dube and his touring band, The Slaves, performed with such artists as Maxi Priest, Sinead O’Connor, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Seal, Ziggy Marley, Celine Dion, and Sting. He also appeared in the feature films Getting Lucky,

Obituaries • 2007

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Lucky Strikes Back and 1990’s Voice in the Dark, starring actor John Savage.

when they reclaimed the Quiet Riot moniker. Their 1983 album, Metal Health, contained their rendition of “Cum on Feel the Noize,” which became a huge hit for the group. They released another album, Condition Critical, in 1984, though sales were disappointing. The band continued to perform and record over the next twenty years with varying line-ups. DuBrow left the group in 2004 to make a solo album, In for the Kill, but soon returned to the group. His final album with Quiet Riot was 2006’s Rehab.

Lucky Dube

DUBOIS, RICHARD Bodybuilder Richard DuBois died in a Santa Monica hospital on September 26, 2007. He was 74. DuBois was born on March 4, 1933. He was a leading bodybuilder and physique model from the 1950s. He was featured under the name Richard Sabre in the 1954 musical comedy film Athena, starring Debbie Reynolds. He also toured with Mae West’s stage act as one of her muscular attendants. DuBois won the Amateur Athletic Union Mr. America bodybuilding contest in 1954 and was named Mr. USA in 1957. He continued to pose for various muscle mags through the 1960s, before becoming an evangelist.

Kevin DuBrow

DUESO, ALBERT Spanish actor Albert Dueso died in Barcelona, Spain, on November 30, 2007. He was 55. He began his career on stage, co-founding a leading theatrical company in Barcelona in 1970. He was also a founder of the Association of Professional Actors and Directors of Catalonia. Dueso made his film debut in the early 1980s, appearing in La Desnuda Chica del Relax (1981), Moon Child (1989), Cena de Asesinos (1989), La Teranyina (1990), Ni un Pam de Net (1993), Tres Dias de Libertad (1996), Platillos Volantes (2003), Lo Mejor que le Puede Pasar a un Cruasan (2003), Unconscious (2004), Centenario (2004), and El Triunfo (2006). He also appeared in television productions of Sara (2003), Amb el 10 a l’Esquena (2003), L’Ombre d’un Crime (2005), Viure de Mentides (2005), and Rumors (2007), and was Senor Molins in the series Abuela de Verano in 2005.

Richard DuBois (with Mae West)

DUBROW, KEVIN Rock singer Kevin DuBrow, who led the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 25, 2007. He was 52. DuBrow was born in Hollywood, California, on October 29, 1955. He was selected by Randy Rhoads, along with bassist Kelly Garni and drummer Drew Forsyth, to form the original lineup of Quiet Riot in the late 1970s. Rhoads left the group to join Ozzy Osbourn’s band in 1979 and DuBrow became the group’s leader. The band’s name was changed to DuBrow for several years until Rhoads’ death in 1982

Albert Dueso

101 DUKE, STAN Los Angeles sportscaster Stan Duke died of a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, on March 14, 2007. He was 70. Duke was born in Portland, Oregon, on May 9, 1936. He began working in radio in Oregon before moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s. He was hired as a sportscaster at KNXT-TV in 1966, becoming one of the first blacks in local television news. He was also seen in cameo roles in the 1968 Disney film The Love Boat, and on television in episodes of Cowboy in Africa, Bracken’s World, and Joe Forrester. Duke’s career came to an end in February of 1971 when he shot his estranged wife’s lover to death. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled in 1974, but was unable to get another job in broadcasting.

Stan Duke

DUKES, DANNY Adult film actor and agent Danny Dukes died of a drug overdose in San Fernando Valley, California, on December 3, 2007. He was 33. Dukes was born Daniel Salas, Jr., on January 28, 1974. He was active in adult films from the early 2000s, with such credits as Pop That Cherry 2 (2003), Pornstar Popstar (2004), Jack’s Playground 18 (2004), and American Sex (2004).

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born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 11, 1936, and raised in Beverly Hills, California. He was active on stage, film, and television from the late 1950s. Duncan was featured in such films as High Time (1960), The Magic Sword (1962) as Sir James of Scotland, Stay Away, Joe (1968) as Elvis Presley’s brother, What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), The Young Runaways (1968), Marlowe (1969), Simon, King of the Witches (1971), Sweet Sugar (1973), How to Seduce a Woman (1974), Half a House (1979, ...And Justice for All (1979), Going Ape! (1981), Separate Ways (1981), Another Chance (1989), Street Crimes (1992), and The Real Howard Spitz (1998). Duncan was also featured in numerous telefilms including Hunters Are for Killing (1970), Savage (1973), Judgment: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1974), The Shaman’s Last Raid (1975), Sex and the Married Woman (1977), Aspen (1977), Waikiki (1980), Fatal Friendship (1991), and Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion (2003). He starred as Dr. Tony Romano in the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1968 to 1969. His many television credits also include guest roles in episodes of such series as Peter Gunn, Men into Space, Wichita Town, The Loretta Young Show, The Twilight Zone, Bewitched, It Takes a Thief, Mission: Impossible, Adam-12, Mary Tyler Moore, McCloud, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Alias Smith and Jones, Medical Center, Love, American Style, Gunsmoke, Barnaby Jones, Baretta, The Streets of San Francisco, The Blue Knight, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Quincy, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, The Feather and Father Gang, The Next Step Beyond, The Incredible Hulk, Hart to Hart, Mork and Mindy, The Phoenix, Dynasty, Hill Street Blues, Airwolf, Hunter, MacGyver, Crazy Like a Fox, Night Court, General Hospital, Starman, Knots Landing, and Family Matters.

Angus Duncan

Danny Dukes

DUNCAN, ANGUS Actor Angus Duncan died of cancer on March 22, 2007. He was 70. Duncan was

DUNCAN, THERESA Video game designer and filmmaker Theresa Duncan committed suicide in the East Village, New York, apartment that she shared with longtime companion and artistic partner Jeremy Blake on July 10, 2007. She died of an overdose of medication and alcohol. She was 40. Duncan was born in Lapeer, Michigan, on October 26, 1966. She began designing video games that targeted the female audience in the late 1990s. The story-based games included Chop

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Suey, Smarty, and Zero and were released as CDROMs. She and Blake teamed together to create the 1999 animated film The History of Glamour, a spoof on the world of fashion. Her suicide was believed to be the catalyst that led to Blake’s subsequent suicide a week later.

Theresa Duncan

DUNCAN, VICTOR Cinematographer Victor Duncan died at his home in Frisco, Texas, on September 18, 2007. He was 82. Duncan was born in Texas on October 5, 1924. He served in the US Navy during World War II. He began working in film as a cameraman on Charles Guggenheim documentaries, including The Monument to a Dream. He served as director of photography for the 1959 feature film The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. Duncan directed the 1966 film Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar and was cinematographer for 1969s Cry for Poor Wally. He was also the owner and operator of a leading motion picture equipment sales and rental company in Dallas.

series as One Step Beyond, Bonanza, Have Gun, Will Travel, Riverboat, The Virginian, Slattery’s People, The Time Tunnel, The Iron Horse, Custer, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, and The Immortal. They also scripted the 1962 film Black Gold, and wrote documentary films and numerous books. The two remained married until Robert Duncan’s death in 1999.

DUSENBERRY, PHILIP Advertising executive Philip Dusenberry, who orchestrated the 1984 Pepsi commercial that accidentally ignited pop icon Michael Jackson’s hair, died of lung cancer at his home in Manhattan, New York, on December 29, 2007. He was 71. Dusenberry was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 28, 1936. He began working in radio as a disk jockey and was soon writing ad copy for the station. He joined the advertising firm of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO) and created a popular ad campaign for Gillette Right Guard in the 1960s. He rose to executive creative director with BBDO in the 1980s. Dusenberry created a series of ads for Pepsi that included such celebrities as Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Geraldine Ferraro, and Lionel Richie. Michael Jackson was burned when a special effect went awry and briefly hospitalized while taping one of Dusenberry’s Pepsi commercials in 1984. He also created campaign commercials for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Dusenberry co-scripted the 1973 political satire film Hail!, and wrote Robert Redford’s 1984 film The Natural. He oversaw the team that created The New York Miracle public service spots in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. He authored his memoirs Then We Set His Hair on Fire: Insights and Accidents from a Hall-of-Fame Career in Advertising in 2005.

Philip Dusenberry

Victor Duncan

DUNCAN, WANDA Television writer Wanda Duncan died in Norman, Oklahoma, on June 16, 2007. She was 81. She was born Wanda Louise Scott in Minco, Oklahoma, on July 27, 1925. She married writer Robert L. Duncan in 1949 and the two became a successful writing team. They scripted episodes of such

EARLLE, FREDDIE British comic actor Freddie Earlle died in southern Spain after a long illness on July 7, 2007. He was 83. Earlle was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in May of 1924. He began performing on stage as a comedian, often performing at music halls with a partner as Mundy and Earle. He appeared on television from the early 1960s, and was seen in such series as Alfred Marks Time, Silent Evidence, Sherlock Holmes, Counterstrike, Paul Temple, Roads to Freedom, Six Dates Barker, Clochemerle, Comedy Playhouse, Black

103 and Blue, The Liver Birds, The Brothers, Dad’s Army, Z Cars, My Brother’s Keeper, Hunter’s Walk, Yanks Go Home, Seven Faces of Woman, Going Straight, The Wilde Alliance, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Room Service, Doctor Who, Robin’s Nest, Yes Minister, Bergerac, Hi-De-Hi!, C.A.T.S. Eyes, One by One, The Paradise Club, Taggart, Coronation Street in the recurring role of Sam Owens, and Backup. He was also seen in television productions of Not at All (1962), Red Monarch (1983), and The Bourne Identity (1988). Earlle also appeared in a handful of films during his career including The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968), the Hammer science fiction film Moon Zero Two (1969), The Magic Christian (1969) with Ringo Starr, Praise Marx and the Pass the Ammunition (1970), The Love Box (1972), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972) as Guinea Pig Pat, All I Want Is You ... and You ... and You... (1974), It Could Happen to You (1975), I’m Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976), The Ritz (1976), Living Doll (1990), and Bullseye! (1990). He subsequently retired to the south of Spain.

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(1989), Silent Cries (1993), Wet (1995), The Shooter (1995), Tales of Erotica (1996), The Watcher (2000), and Joshua (2002). He also worked in television as a production designer on the tele-films The Missiles of October (1974), F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1976), Lucan (1977), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1989), Blood River (1991), Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (1993), and Judith Krantz’s Dazzle (1995).

Brian Eatwell

Freddie Earle

EATWELL, BRIAN Production designer Brian Eatwell, who worked on Richard Lester’s 1973 film version of The Three Musketeers, died in Los Angeles after a short illness on January 20, 2007. He was 67. Eatwell was born in London in 1939. He began working in films as an art director in the mid–1960s, designing Her We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967), The Shuttered Room (1967), Just Like a Woman (1968), 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968), The Strange Affair (1968), I Start Counting (1969), Walkabout (1971), Madame Sin (1972), and Godspell (1973). He served as set designer for the cult horror films The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) starring Vincent Price, and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his work on The Three Musketeers (1973). He also designed Lester’s 1974 sequel The Four Musketeers. Eatwell’s other film credits include Nicholas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979), The Onion Field (1979), Savage Harvest (1981), White Dog (1982), Exposed (1983), American Dreamer (1984) where he also appeared onscreen in the role of Malcolm, Morons from Outer Space (1985), Wired

EBSEN, VILMA Dancer Vilma Ebsen, who performed on Broadway with her brother, Buddy Ebsen, died in her sleep at the Thousand Oaks Health Care Center in California on March 12, 2007. She was 96. Ebsen was born in Belleville, Illinois, on February 1, 1911. She and her family moved to Orlando, Florida, later in the decade, and Vilma helped teach at her father’s dance studio while in high school. After graduating she joined her brother, Buddy, in New York, where he was already a stage performer. He helped her get a role in the chorus of the musical Whooppee in 1929. The following year she joined Buddy on stage while he was performing in Atlantic City, and the duo’s lively dance routines proved a big hit. The team of Vilma and Buddy Ebsen were featured in the hit stage revue Broadway Stars of the Future. They also performed on Broadway in the musicals Flying Colors from 1932 to 1933, and 1934’s Ziegfeld Follies. She and Buddy went

Vilma Ebsen (dancing with brother Buddy)

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to Hollywood in 1935 to appear in the MGM musical Broadway Melody of 1936. Though Buddy remained in Hollywood to pursue a film career, Vilma returned to New York, where she appeared on Broadway in Between the Devil in 1937 to 1938. She moved to Pacific Palisades, California, in the early 1940s where she joined with her sister, Helga, to operate the Ebsen School of Dancing. The School continued to operate until the mid–1990s. She and her brother, who went on to fame in television starring as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies, remained close until his death in 2003.

EDMISTON, WALKER Walker Edmiston, a leading character actor and voice performer, died of complications from cancer at his home in Woodland Hills, California, on February 15, 2007. He was 81. Edmiston was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 6, 1926. He moved to Los Angeles in 1947 and studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He began his career as a voice actor on the children’s series Time for Beany in the early 1950s. He starred as William Shakespeare Wolf in the 1954 cartoon series Willy the Wolf. He also hosted a local children’s program, The Walker Edmiston Show, in Los Angeles in the 1950s and early 1960s. He created and voiced the show’s puppet characters Kingsley the Lion, Calli the Cat, and Ravenswood the Buzzard. Edmiston was also the voice of the duck in the 1961 comedy fantasy Everything’s Ducky with Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett. He also voiced several roles in the original Star Trek television series in the 1960s, and worked frequently on productions by Sid and Marty Krofft. He was the voice of Freddy the gold flute, Dr. Blinkey, Orson Vulture, and others for H.R. Pufnstuf, Big Daddy Ooze for Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Enik the Sleestak on Land of the Lost. Edmiston was also featured in the 1965 horror film The Beach Girls and the Monster (aka Monster from the Surf), as well as writing and performing the title song. He created the weird voice of the Zuni fetish doll in the 1975 classic horror tele-film Trilog y of Terror with Karen Black. His many television credits also include episodes of Maverick, Have Gun —Will Travel, The Flintstones, Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, The Virginian, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Daniel Boone, The Rounders, Pistols ’n’ Petti-

Walker Edmiston

coats, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Get Smart, Batman, The Monkees, Wild Wild West, The Big Valley, Then Came Bronson, Mannix, The Name of the Game, Bonanza, Cannon, Mission: Impossible, Griff, Gunsmoke, Harry O, Adam-12, The Lost Saucer, Shazam!, Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Newhart Show, Fantasy Island, Barnaby Jones, Dallas, Quincy, The Waltons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Flamingo Road, Little House on the Prairie, The Dukes of Hazzard, Falcon Crest, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Street Hawk, Riptide, Stingray, and Knots Landing. Edmiston also worked on the films Stagecoach (1966), The Green Berets (1968), Bullitt (1968), Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) as the dubbed voice of Gunter Meisner, One More Train to Rob (1971), The Andromeda Strain (1971), Wholly Moses! (1980) as the voice of God, Loose Shoes (1980), Scared to Death (1981), The Bear (1984), Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), and Dick Tracy (1990), and the tele-films The Silent Gun (1969), Short Walk to Daylight (1972), Columbo: Dagger of the Mind (1972), A Man for Hanging (1973), Columbo: Any Old Port in a Storm (1973), Live Again, Die Again (1974), The Night That Panicked America (1975), The Oregon Trail (1976), The Loneliest Runner (1976), Mad Bull (1977), Will Rogers: Champion of the People (1978), Some Kind of Miracle (1979), Tom Edison; The Boy Who Lit Up the World (1979), Scruples (1980), Attica (1980) as the voice of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Sizzle (1981), Grace Kelly (1983) as director Fred Zinnemann, Dempsey (1983), Why Me? (1984), J. Edgar Hoover (1987) as Harry S Truman, War and Remembrance (1988) as Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Goodbye, Miss 4th of July (1988). Edmiston was also a voice performer in numerous animated productions including Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Smurfs, The Adventures of the Little Prince, Pandamonium, Monchhichis, Dumbo’s Circus, The Gummi Bears, Jem, and Runaway Ralph. He also voiced Inferno in Transformers, and aging super-hero the Whizzer for Spider-Man in 1997. Edmiston performed the role of Tom Rile on the radio series Adventures in Odyssey for nearly 20 years. He had also voiced Ernie the Elf in Keebler commercials in recent years.

EDWARDS, JOE Comic artist Joe Edwards died after a long illness on February 8, 2007. He was

Joe Edwards

105 85. Edwards was born on December 6, 1921. He began working in comics in the late 1930s, illustrating funny animal comics from Dell and Timely. He moved to Archie Comics in 1942 where he worked on such funny animal series as Squoimy the Woim, Cubby the Bear, and Judge Owl’s Fables. He created the character Li’l Jinx, a mischievous young girl in pigtails, in 1947. He also began drawing for books featuring Archie and his pals in the 1940s. Edwards continued to work at Archie through the late 1980s.

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Memphis after the war, where he worked in accounting and raised a family. He also performed in choir with acclaimed singer James Hyter.

EINSTEIN, CHARLES Sportswriter and author Charles Einstein died in Michigan City, Indiana, on March 7, 2007. He was 80. Einstein was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 2, 1926. His father was comedian Harry Einstein, who performed under the name Parkyakarkus, and his half brothers were director and actor Albert Brooks and comic Bob Einstein, better known as Super Dave Osborne. Charles graduated from the University of Chicago , before joining the International News Service as a sports editor. He was the sports reporter for The San Francisco Examiner from 1958 to 1965 and for The San Francisco Chronicle from 1965 to 1970. Einstein was the editor of the four volume work The Fireside Book of Baseball, and wrote a popular career biography about baseball star Willie Mays, Willie’s Time: Baseball’s Golden Age in 1979. He also worked with Mays on the books Born to Play Ball and My Life In and Out of Baseball. Einstein wrote an episode of television’s Lou Grant series in 1978, and his novel The Blackjack Highjack was adapted for the 1978 tele-film Nowhere to Run.

Joe Edwards (his cartoon creation Li’l Jinx)

EGGLESTON, MERRILL World War II aviator Merrill Eggleston died in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 11, 2007. He was 86. Eggleston was born in South Dakota on June 6, 1920. He attended the University of South Dakota and worked as a school teacher before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. Eggleston was the navigator aboard a B-17 bomber that flew over Normandy on D-Day. Based out of Staffordshire, England, they completed 35 missions between May and August of 1944. The Memphis Belle, which was the subject of William Wyler’s 1944 documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 feature, completed 25 missions. After Eggleston and his crew were replaced, the plane was shot down in September of 1944 and all hands were lost. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross Medal and a Purple Heart for his service during the war. Eggleston settled in

Merrill Eggleston

Charles Einstein

EKINS, BUD Motorcyclist and stuntman Bud Ekins died in Los Angeles on October 6, 2007. He was 77. Ekins was born in Hollywood, California, on May 11, 1930. He was a leading motorcycle racer in the 1950s and was one of the first Americans to compete in Europe’s World Championship Motorcross Grand Prix. He earned four gold medals in the International Six Day Trial. Ekins became acquainted with actor Steve McQueen in the early 1960s and served as McQueen’s stunt double for the classic scene of the attempt to jump a motorcycle over a German prison camp’s barbed wire fence for the film The Great Escape in 1963. He also worked with McQueen in the films The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Bullitt (1968). He continued to perform stunt work in films over the next four decades, with such credits as How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Speedway (1968), The Love Bug (1968), Hell’s Angels ’69 (1969), Flap (1970), Angel Unchained (1970), Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), the 1971 James Bond film Di-

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amonds Are Forever, Bunny O’Hare (1971), The Thing with Two Heads (1972), Electra Glide in Blue (1973), Earthquake (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Front Page (1974), Race with the Devil (1975), Dixie Dynamite (1976), Scorchy (1976), Sorcerer (1977), Return from Witch Mountain (1978), National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), Movie Movie (1978), Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell (1978), Zero to Sixty (1978), Fast Charlie ... the Moonbeam Rider (1979), Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), Sogg y Bottom, USA (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), Megaforce (1982), Jekyll and Hyde ... Together Again (1982), Deadly Force (1983), City Heat (1984), Black Moon Rising (1986), Mac and Me (1988), Pacific Heights (1990), Extreme Justice (1993), The Next Karate Kid (1994), The Specialist (1994), and National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation (1997). Ekins also worked on the tele-films Death Screams (1975) and The Ransom Red Chief (1998). After retiring from stunt work he continued to operate a small motorcycle shop in the Hollywood area.

Bud Ekins

EL FARY Spanish singer Jose Luis Cantero, who was known on stage as El Fary, died of lung cancer in Madrid, Spain, on June 19, 2007. He was 69. Cantero was born in Madrid on August 20, 1937. He worked at a series of jobs while attempting to establish himself as a singer. During the 1970s he gained a following as a singer of light ballads known as coplas. He

El Fary

recorded numerous hits over the next decade, including his best known song “El Toro Guapo” (“The Handsome Bull”). El Fary became a popular television star in 1996, starring in the drama series Menudo es Mi Padre. He was also involved with Santiago Segura’s 1998 film Torrente —The Dumb Arm of the Law, and its two sequels, composing the theme song Apatrullando la Ciudad (Patrolling the City).

ELLENSHAW, PETER Oscar-winning special effects artist Peter Ellenshaw died at his home in Santa Barbara, California, on February 12, 2007. He was 93. Ellenshaw was born in London on May 24, 1913. He became an avid artist at an early age and began working in films as an assistant matte artist in 1935. He worked on such films as The Ghost Goes West (1935), Things to Come (1936), Rembrandt (1936), The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), Fire Over England (1937), Storm in a Teacup (1937), Elephant Boy (1937), Victoria the Great (1937), The Drum (1938), The Four Feathers (1939), The Thief of Bagdad (1940), Major Barbara (1941), A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven) (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), Idol of Paris (1948), and The Red Shoes (1948). Ellenshaw served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and returned to films after the war. He began his lengthy association with Walt Disney Studios in the late 1940s, painting mattes for the live-action film Treasure Island (1950). He also worked as a matte artist for the films Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), Quo Vadis (1951), The Story of Robin Hood (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953). Disney brought him to California in 1953 to work on their production of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). He continued to create painted illusions for the films Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955), The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956), Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956), Johnny Tremaine (1957), Old Yeller (1957), The Light in the Forest (1958), The Sign of Zorro (1958), Tonka (1958), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959), Kidnapped (1960), Toby Tyler (1960), Pollyanna (1960), Spartacus (1960), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), In Search of the Castaways (1962), Son of Flubber (1963), Summer Magic (1963), Mary Poppins (1964) which earned him an Academy Award for his special effects work, Lt. Robinson Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966), The Fighting Prince of Donegal (1966), The Happiest Millionaire (1967), Monkeys, Go Home (1967), The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967), The Gnome-Mobile (1967), Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968), and The Love Bug (1968). He also worked on the Disney television productions Zorro and Texas John Slaughter, and assisted on the designs of several rides and attractions at Disneyland. Ellenshaw was nominated for an Academy Award for his work as art director for the 1971 fantasy film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and received another Oscar nomination as production designer and special effects artist for the adventure film The Island at the Top of the World (1974). He subsequently moved to Ireland for several years where he concentrated on painting. He returned to Califor-

107 nia to work as a production designer and effects artist for the Disney science fiction film The Black Hole (1979), again sharing an Oscar nomination for best visual effects. He largely retired in the late 1970s, though he did supply some matte work for the films Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) and Dick Tracy (1990). He is survived by his son, Harrison Ellenshaw, and daughter, Lynda Ellenshaw Thompson, both of whom are also film visual effects artists.

Peter Ellenshaw

ELLIS, SIDNEY Television writer Sidney Ellis died in Beverly Hills, California, on September 6, 2007. He was 89. Ellis was born in New York City on September 5, 1918. He began working in television in the 1950s, scripting episodes of I Spy, Captain Grief, and The Verdict Is Yours. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he continued to work in television. He scripted episodes of Hong Kong, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits, Combat!, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Then Came Bronson, Matt Lincoln, McCloud, B.J. and the Bear, and The Mississippi. Ellis also served as story editor and associate producer for the series Baretta, The A-Team, and Hunter.

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2007. He was 78. He began wrestling in 1945, and captured the Mexican Middleweight Championship in 1950. He often teamed in the ring with his brother, who was known as Gold Rogers and El Enfermero. El Satanas retired from the ring in 1956. He opened a wrestling school in Los Angeles in 1974 and trained youngsters in the sport for the next twenty years.

EMMANUEL, IVOR Welsh singer Ivor Emmanuel died in Malaga, Spain, on July 20, 2007. He was 79. Emmanuel was born in Margam, Wales, on November 7, 1927. He began singing locally at an early age, though worked as a coal miner while in his teens. He lost both parents along with other members of his family in 1941 when an Allied plane accidentally bombed his home while perusing a German bomber. After the war, Emmanuel traveled to London where he embarked upon a career as a singer. He became a popular stage performer, singing in productions of South Pacific, The King and I and Damn Yankees in the 1950s. He became a leading television star in Wales, headlining the musical program Land of Song with Sian Hopkins from 1958 to 1965. He continued to perform on the stage and made his Broadway debut in a musical version of How Green Was My Valley in 1966. Emmanuel was best known for his role as Private Owen, who led the British defenders of Rorke’s Drift in song while facing an overwhelming hoard of Zulu warriors in the 1963 film Zulu. Emmanuel left show business later in the 1960s and retired to Spain.

EL SATANAS Mexican wrestler Enrique Navarro Camargo, who competed in the ring in Mexico and California as El Satanas, died on November 8, Ivor Emmanuel

El Satanas

ENDERS, ROBERT Film producer and director Robert Enders died in Los Angeles on September 7, 2007. He was 84. Enders was born in Pennsylvania on March 29, 1919, and raised in Texas and New Jersey. He began his career in advertising and directed radio programming. He formed his own production company in the 1950s to produce television programs and industrial films. He also produced the 1960 television anthology series The Best of the Post. He produced several films including A Thunder of Drums (1961), the Rowan and Martin comedy The Maltese Bippy (1969), How Do I Love Thee? (1970), and Zigzag (1970). Enders subsequently went to England where he wrote and produced the 1973 suspense film Voices, starring David

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Hemmings. He became a partner in Glenda Jackson’s production company Bowden Prods., and scripted and produced the 1974 film version of Jean Genet’s The Maids. He also wrote 1975’s Conduct Unbecoming, and produced Jackson’s film Hedda (1975). He wrote and produced 1977’s Nasty Habits, and produced Stevie in 1978. He produced, directed, and scripted the children’s television production The Princess and the Goblin in the early 1980s, and adapted and served as executive producer for the 1988 tele-film Strange Interlude.

EPPER , GARY Stuntman and actor Gary Epper died on December 1, 2007. He was 62. Epper was born in Los Angeles on December 31, 1944, the son of stuntman, John Epper. His brothers, Tony and Andy, and sister, Jeannie, also worked in films as stunt performers. Gary began working in films as a child with 1952’s The Story of Will Rogers. He appeared frequently on television from the 1950s on such series as Lassie, Fury, The Gallant Men, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Rat Patrol, The Mod Squad, Here Come the Brides, Hawaii Five-O, Wild Wild West, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, Vega$, Wonder Woman, 240-Robert, Charlie’s Angels, The Fall Guy, Voyagers!, Hart to Hart, Automan, Airwolf, Domestic Life, Magnum, P.I., T.J. Hooker, Moonlighting, Paradise, and Tales from the Crypt. Epper performed stunts and appeared in small roles in numerous films during his career including It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), A Man Called Gannon (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), The Omega Man (1971), The Cowboys (1972), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Soylent Green (1973), Magnum Force (1973), Blazing Saddles (1974), Earthquake (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), Rollerball (1975), The Hindenburg (1975), Futureworld (1976), Bound for Glory (1976), Eaten Alive (1977), Return from Witch Mountain (1978), Hooper (1978), Tilt (1979), Nightwing (1979), Delta Fox (1979), Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), When Time Ran Out... (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Ninth Configuration (1980), In God We Tru$t (1980), The Hand (1980), Deathtrap (1982), Blade Runner (1982), Megaforce (1982), Disney’s TRON (1982), The Beastmaster (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), Scarface (1983), Code Name: Zebra (1984), Bachelor Party (1984), Witness (1985), Into the Night (1985), Warning Sign (1985), The Naked Cage (1986), Top Gun (1986), Back to School (1986), The Untouchables (1987), The Squeeze (1987), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988), Shakedown (1988), Rambo III (1988), Caddyshack II (1988), The Blob (1988), The Seventh Sign (1988), John Carpenter’s They Live (1988), The Magic Boy’s Easter (1989), All’s Fair (1989), The ’burbs (1989), Dead Bang (1989), K-9 (1989), Roadhouse (1989), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Captain America (1990), Cold Dog Soup (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Last of the Finest (1990), Days of Thunder (1990), Die Hard 2 (1990), Pacific Heights (1990), Howling VI: The Freaks (1991), V.I. Warshawski (1991), Hook (1991), The Rocketeer (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), Extreme Justice (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), De-

molition Man (1993), American Yakuza (1993), Father Hood (1993), Jailbait (1994), The Hidden II (1994), Night of the Running Man (1994), Speed (1994), Shadow (1994), The Mask (1994), In the Army Now (1994), Sudden Death (1995), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), Money Train (1995), Eye for an Eye (1996), Looking for Richard (1996), Eraser (1996), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) as the Borg-assimilated Ensign Lynch, Broken Arrow (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Armageddon (1998), and Wild Wild West (1999). Epper also performed stunts in such tele-films as Kill Me if You Can (1977), Kentucky Woman (1983), Airwolf (1984), Gladiator (1986), The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990), Night of the Hunter (1991), Doorways (1993), Reform School Girl (1994), The Enemy Within (1994), Jonathan Stone: Threat of Innocence (1994), and Crazy Horse (1996).

Gary Epper (as a Borg from Star Trek: First Contact)

ERDMAN, PAUL Paul Erdman, an economist noted for his novels of financial fiction, died of cancer at his ranch in Healdsburg, California, on April 23, 2007. He was 74. Erdman was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on May 19, 1932. He earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Basel in Switzerland in 1958, and in 1965 became the first American to open a private bank in Switzerland. When his bank collapsed in 1970 due to losses on the speculation marked, he was arrested and held in a 17th cen-

Paul Erdman

109 tury Swiss prison for eight months. During his incarceration he began writing a novel, assisted by the expertise of a French safecracker sharing a neighboring cell. His first book, The Billion Dollar Sure Thing, earned him the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award in 1974. Released on bail, he returned to the United States, where he remained despite being convicted in absentia in Switzerland and receiving a nineyear sentence. Erdman’s subsequent novel, The Silver Bears, was adapted to film in 1978 starring Michael Caine and Cybill Shepherd. His other novels include the best-sellers The Crash of ’79 and The Panic of ’89. His final novel, The Great Game, was scheduled for publication in 2007.

ERDOSS, PAL Hungarian film director Pal Erdoss died after a brief illness in Budapest, Hungary, on February 15, 2007. He was 60. Erdoss was born in Budapest on February 9, 1947. He began his career working as an assistant director and location manager for Hungarian State Television in the mid–1960s. He also served as assistant director for such films as Horizon (1971), Petofi ’73 (1973), Kakuk Marci (1973), Wait a Minute (1973), Dreaming Youth (1974), Hajduk (1975), The Prize Trap (1975), Bread and Cigarettes (1975), Peter and Paul (1978), and Bekeido (1980). He made his directoral debut with The Princess (1982), which earned him the Golden Camera Award for best first film at the Cannes Film Festival. Erdoss also directed the films Countdown (1986), Tolerance (1986), Homo Novus (1991), Lazos de Sangre (1992), A LightSensitive Story (1993), Last Seen Wearing a Blue Skirt (1997), The Whistler (1998), and Uvegfal (2005). His final film, Lads of Budakeszi, was released in 2006.

2007 • Obituaries

Kings (1927), The Wedding March (1928), and City Lights (1931) with Charles Chaplin. He also was a popular radio performer, working on such programs as Amos and Andy, Lum and Abner, Big Town, Calling All Cars, I Was There, Joe Penner, The Jack Benny Show, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and Burns and Allen. He also sang in the films Harold Teen (1934) at Warner and Roy Rogers’ Guns and Guitars (1936) at Republic. Other film credits include The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942), Criminals Within (1943), The Story of Seabiscuit (1949), and The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949). He worked frequently for CBS television from the 1950s, doing sound effects for such series as The Buster Keaton Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Danny Kaye Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Sonny and Cher, and The Red Skelton Show. He also provided animal voices for the Crusader Rabbit cartoons and the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle. Erlenborn was also the voice of the Rabbit for the Winnie the Pooh cartoons. He retired from CBS in 1977, but continued to perform in local stage productions.

Ray Erlenborn

ERLICH, NORMAN Actor and comedian Norman Erlich died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 7, 2007. He was 75. Erlich was born in Buenos Aires on March 7, 1934. He began his career in the Yiddish theatre in Buenos Aires, in the 1950s. He was featured in numerous theatrical performances

Pal Erdoss

ERLENBORN, RAY Sound effects artist and voice actor Ray Erlenborn died of complications from a bacterial infection in West Hills, California, on June 4, 2007. He was 92. Erlenborn was born in Denver, Colorado on January 21, 1915. He began performing as a singer on the vaudeville stage at an early age. He appeared in the Winnie Winkle silent short comedies as Spike of the Rinkeydink Gang. He also appeared in small roles in the silent films Safety Last! (1923), BenHur (1925), Tell It to the Marines (1926), The King of

Norman Erlich

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throughout South America. He also appeared in films and television productions from the 1970s. His film credits include Las Munecas que Hacen Pum (1979), El Poder de la Censura (1983), Todo o Nada (1984), Brigada Exposiva (1986), Mujer — Mujer (1987), Feel the Heat (1987), La Clinica Loca (1988), The Plague (1992), Corrupt Police (1996), Cohen vs. Rosi (1998), Lost Embrace (2004), and Palermo Hollywood (2004). Erlich also appeared in the television series Senoras y Senores (1997), Los Iturralde (2000), and Fashion Vip (2002).

ERZISNIK, NELA Leading Croatian actress Nela Erzisnik died in Zagreb, Croatia, on August 14, 2007. She was 83. She was born Nevenka Maras in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on June 18, 1924. She was a leading film star in the former Yugoslavia from the 1950s, with such credits as Sinji Galeb (1953), Koncert (1954), Jubilej Gospodina Ikla (1955), My Son Don’t Turn Round (1956), Svoga Tela Gospodar (1957), Only People (1957), H-8 (1958), Signal Over the City (1960), Martin in the Clouds (1961), and The Birch Tree (1967). She performed frequently on television from the 1960s, appearing in comic roles. She was best known for her humorous portrayal of cleaning lady Marcia Hrdalo in many comedy skits.

Uruguay, on March 10, 2007. He was 82. Espalter was born in Maldonado, Uruguay, on April 14, 1924. He appeared frequently in films and television in Uruguay from the early 1960s. His film credits include La Industria del Matrimonio (1965), How to Seduce a Woman (1967), Quiero Besarlo Senor! (1973), Los Irrompibles (1975), The Film (1975), La Noche del Hurto (1976), Toto Paniagua, el Rey de la Chatarra (1980), Los Taxistas del Humor (1987), La Pandilla Aventurera (1990), The Dirigible (1994), Gardel: Ecos del Silencio (1997), and In This Tricky Life (2001). Espalter also appeared on the television series Telecataplum, Jaujarana, Hupumorpo, Hiperhumor, and Son de Diez.

ESTEBANEZ, NATATCHA Puerto Rican filmmaker Natatcha Estebanez died of complications from a sarcoma that metastasized on March 15, 2007. She had also suffered from breast cancer and Hodgkin’s disease. She was 45. Estebanez was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, on August 8, 1961, and came to the United States to attend college. She began working in television in the 1990s, and earned four New England Emmy Awards for her work on La Plaza, a series about the Latino culture. She also produced the children’s series Postcards from Buster, about the travels of an animated bunny. She also produced and directed a series of short films for the PBS Favorite Poem Project, and several films for The Discovery Channel. Estebanez produced and wrote the independent film The Blue Diner about the Latino experience in the United States, which debuted in 2001.

Nela Erzisnik

ESPALTER, RICARDO Uruguayan actor Ricardo Espalter died of kidney trouble in Montevideo, Natatcha Estebanez

Ricardo Espalter

ETCHEVERRY, ROBERT French actor Robert Etcheverry died in France on November 21, 2007. He was 80. Etcheverry was born in Colombes, Hautsde-Seine, France, in 1937. He appeared frequently in films and on television from the early 1960s. His film credits include La Fille du Torrent (1961), Sex Is Beautiful (1973), Arpad — Zwei Teufelskerle Raumen Auf (1975), Military Coup in Kolwezi (1980), A Captain’s Honor (1982), Terminate with Extreme Prejudice (1983), and Chateauroux District (1987). He was also seen in television productions of Le Rouge et le Noir (1961), Le Golem (1967), Isabelle (1970), Les Fosses de Vincennes (1972), Arpad le Tzigane (1973), Le Deuil Sied a Electre

111 (1974), Fachoda (1977), Charles Clement, Canut de Lyon (1979), L’Aeropostale, Courrier du Ciel (1980), Les Ferrailleurs des Lilas (1984), and La Chaine (1988). His other television credits include such series as L’Inspecteur Leclerc Enquete, The Flashing Blade, Agence Interim, Poly, Les Mohicans de Paris as Salvator de Valgeneuse from 1973 to 1975, La Vie des Autres, and Commissaire Moulin.

Robert Etcheverry

EVANS, CHARLES Fashion executive and film producer Charles Evans died of complications from pneumonia in Manhattan, New York, on June 2, 2007. He was 81. Evans was born in New York City on May 13, 1926. He became interested in women’s fashion after serving in the Army in the mid–1940s. He teamed with his father’s tailor, Joseph Picone, to form the women’s sportswear firm Evan-Picone in 1949. The successful operation continued until Revlon purchased the company in 1962. Evans subsequently formed a successful real estate firm, Evans Partnership. He also became involved in films in the early 1980s after purchasing the screenplay for the film Tootsie. He served as executive producer for the successful comedy starring Dustin Hoffman in 1982. He also produced the horror film Monkey Shines (1988) and Showgirls (1995). His brother, Robert Evans, was a prominent film executive who headed Paramount Studios.

2007 • Obituaries

EVANS , MICHAEL British character actor Michael Evans died in a Woodland Hills, California, nursing home on September 4, 2007. He was 87. Evans was born in Sittingbourne, Kent, England, on July 27, 1920. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and embarked on a career as an actor on stage in London in the late 1940s. He made his Broadway debut in the comedy Ring Round The Moon in 1950 and starred as Gaston opposite Audrey Hepburn in the original Broadway production of Gigi in 1951. In the late 1950s, Evans starred as Professor Henry Higgins in the touring production of My Fair Lady for several years. He was featured in a handful of films from the early 1950s, including No Trace (1950), The Six Men (1951), Appointment with Venus (1951), the musical comedy Bye Bye Birdie (1963) as Claude Paisley, The Plainsman (1966), Riot on the Sunset Strip (1967), The LoveIns (1967), The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), Time After Time (1979), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) as King Ludwig, Olivia (1983), and Return Home (1990). Evans also appeared in the tele-films U.M.C. (1969), The Challengers (1970), Death Among Friends (1975), and Goliath Awaits (1981). Evans was best known for his long-running role as Colonel Douglas Austin, confidant for ruthless businessman Victor Newman, on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1980 to 1995. His other television credits include episodes of Eye Witness, Kraft Television Theatre, Appointment with Adventure, Producer’s Showcase, Dr. Kildare, G.E. True, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Combat!, Laredo, The Rat Patrol, Pistols ’n’ Petticoats, I Spy, Run for Your Life, Mannix, The Outsider, The New Perry Mason, The Tony Randall Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Charlie’s Angels, Hart to Hart, Hunter, and Capitol.

Michael Evans

Charles Evans

EVANS , RAY Songwriter Ray Evans, who teamed with Jay Livingston to create a string of popular songs that included three Academy Award winners, died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital on February 15, 2007. He was 92. Evans was born in Salamanca, New York, on February 4, 1915. He met Jay Livingston while the two were attending the University of Pennsylvania, and the two began working together in bands at parties and on cruise ships. They went to New York in the late 1930s where they began

Obituaries • 2007

112 title song “Tammy,” Omar Khayyam (1957), Saddle the Wind (1958), Raw Wind in Eden (1958), Once Upon a Horse... (1958), Houseboat (1958) receiving an Academy Award nomination for the song “Almost in Your Arms,” Girls on the Loose (1958), A Private Affair (1959), Take a Giant Step (1959), Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960), Dear Heart (1964) whose title song received another Oscar nomination, Never Too Late (1965), This Property Is Condemned (1966), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) and Foxtrot (1975). Livingston and Evans also composed music for television, writing the themes to such popular series as Bonanza, Mr. Ed (“A horse is a horse, of course, of course...”), and Lawman. They created songs for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1990 film Godfather, Part III, and continued to write songs together until Livingston’s death in 2001.

a songwriting collaboration that would last for more than sixty years. Evans usually provided the lyrics and Livingston the melody. They created songs for the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson and, had a hit with “G’Bye Now” in 1941. The moved to Hollywood several years later to work in films. Their songs were heard in such movies as Private Snuffy Smith (1942), Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942), Crime, Inc (1945), On Stage Everybody (1945), Why Girls Leave Home (1945), which earned them an Oscar nomination for the song “The Cat and the Canary,” The Stork Club (1945), and Monsieur Beaucaire (1946). The duo had a major hit with their title song for the 1946 film To Each His Own, which was recorded by such artists as Eddy Howard, Tony Martin, Freddy Martin, the Modernaires, and the Ink Spots. They continued in films, writing songs for such stars as Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lucille Ball and Rosemary Clooney. Other film credits include My Favorite Brunette (1947), Golden Earrings (1947), Rose of Santa Rosa (1947), Smooth Sailing (1947), Imperfect Lady (1947), Easy Come, Easy Go (1947), Champagne for Two (1947), Big Sister Blues (1948), The Paleface (1948), which earned them their first Academy Award for the song “Buttons and Bows,” Whispering Smith (1948), Isn’t It Romantic? (1948), Hazard (1948), Streets of Laredo (1949), Sorrowful Jones (1949), The Heiress (1949), Song of Surrender (1949), The Great Lover (1949), My Friend Irma (1949), Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1959) which gained them a second Oscar for the song “Mona Lisa,” made famous by Nat King Cole, My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), Sunset Boulevard (1950) which included an onscreen appearance in a cameo role, The Furies (1950), Copper Canyon (1950), Here Comes the Groom (1951), My Favorite Spy (1951), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) including the popular Christmas song “Silver Bells,” Rhubarb (1951), Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952), Son of Paleface (1952), What Price Glory (1952), The Stars Are Singing (1953), Those Redheads from Seattle (1953), Off Limits (1953), Here Come the Girls (1953), Red Garters (1954), Casanova’s Big Night (1954), The Second Greatest Sex (1955), Lucy Gallant (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) gaining them another Oscar for Doris Day’s popular hit “Que Sera, Sera,” The Scarlet Hour (1956), Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) earning an Oscar nomination for the

EXTON, CLIVE British television writer Clive Exton died in London on August 16, 2007. He was 77. He was born Clive Brooks in London on April 11, 1930. He began his career on stage in the mid–1950s with aspirations of being an actor. His career soon shifted backstage, becoming a stage manager and writer. His first two plays, No Fixed Abode and The Silk Purse, were produced for ITV television in 1959. He subsequently joined ITV, scripting eight segments of the series Armchair Theatre in the early 1960s. Exton made his debut as a film screenwriter with the 1963 No Place to Go. The following year, he adapted Emlyn Williams’ suspense drama Night Must Fall. His other film credits include Three Faces of a Woman (1965), Georg y Girl (1966) doing an uncredited re-write of the script, the 1968 biographical film of dancer Isadora Duncan, Isadora, the 1970 adaptation of Joe Orton’s The Entertaining Mr. Sloane, 10 Rillington Place (1971) about British serial killer John Christie, Doomwatch (1972) based on the television series of the same name, The House in Nightmare Park (1974) which he also produced, The Awakening (1980), and Red Sonja (1985). Exton remained best known for his work on television, scripting productions of Kipps (1960), I’ll Have You to Remember (1961), Hold My Hand, Soldier (1963), The Close Prisoner (1964), Land of My Dreams (1965), The Big Eat (1965), Prenociste (1966), The Human Voice (1966), The Boundary (1975), Stigma (1977), A Guilty Thing Sur-

Ray Evans

Clive Exton

113 prised (1988), Shake Hands Forever (1988), and The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001). His other television credits include episodes of The World of Tim Frazer, Out of This World, Theatre 625, The Wednesday Play, Thirteen Against Fate, Play of the Month, Out of the Unknown, Conceptions of Murder, Play for Today, Survivors, Shades of Greene, Killers, The Crezz, Dick Barton: Special Agent, and ITV Playhouse. He scripted the first segment of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries series in 1987, and wrote many episode of Jeeves and Wooster from 1990 to 1993, based on P.G. Wodehouse’s comic stories. He served as lead writer for the series Poirot, featuring Agatha Christie’s famed Belgian detective played by David Suchet, from 1989 to 2001. His most recent credit was scripting episodes of the mystery series Rosemary & Thyme from 2003 to 2006.

EYTLE, TOMMY Actor and singer Tommy Eytle died in Reading, Berkshire, England, on June 19, 2007. He was 81. Eytle was born in Georgetown, Guyana, on June 16, 1926. He came to England in the early 1950s to work as a surveyor, but had soon formed his own band, Tommy Eytle’s Calypso Band. He and his group performed the song “Narrative Calypso” for the 1957 film The Tommy Steele Story (aka Rock Around the World), and Eytle was soon acting in such features as Naked Fury (aka The Pleasure Lovers) (1959), The Criminal (1960), The Hi-Jackers (1963), and Where Has Poor Mickey Gone (1964). He also performed frequently on BBC radio plays including The Barren One (1958), The Riverman (1958), and Milk with Coffee (1975), and became a familiar face on British television in episodes of Drama ’61, Corrigan Blake, Danger Man, The Spies, Adam Adamant Lives!, Softly Softly, The Saint, Out of the Unknown, The Troubleshooters, ITV Playhouse, Born Free, Quiller, Play for Today, Rumpole of the Bailey, Johnny Jarvis, Call Me Mister, Casualty, Never Say Die, and Storyboard. Eytle also appeared in the films On the Game (1974) and Bob’s Weekend (1996), and the 1981 television mini-series Wolcott. He was best known for his role as Jules Tavernier in the popular television series EastEnders from 1990 to 1996.

Tommy Eytle

FAHEY, BRIAN British musician and composer Brian Fahey died at his home in Worthing, Sus-

2007 • Obituaries

sex, England, on April 4, 2007. He was 87. Fahey was born in Margate, Kent, England, on April 24, 1919. He began playing the piano and cello as a child, and became interested in composing and arranging music in his teens. Fahey served in the British Army during World War II. He was wounded and captured by the Germans, and survived a brutal massacre of many of his fellow captives. He spent the next five years in German POW camps, where he practiced his musical skills. After the war he performed in several bands as a pianist, and worked as an arranger for signers and orchestras during the 1950s. He wrote the popular songs “Fanfare Boogie,” “At the Sign of the Swingin Cymbal,” and “The Creep.” He also composed the scores for several films including The Break (1963), Curse of the Voodoo (1965), The Plank (1967), and Rhubarb (1969). Fahey was musical director for singer Shirley Bassey from 1967 to 1972, and was conductor for the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra from 1972 to 1981. He continued to work for the BBC and was guest conductor for orchestras around the world through the 1980s. Fahey was married to singer Audrey Watkins from 1946 until her death in November of 2006.

Brian Fahey

FALWELL, JERRY Jerry Falwell, a Southern Baptist preacher who became a leading televangelist and the founder of the conservative political movement known as the Moral Majority, died of congestive heart failure at his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, on May 15, 2007. He was 73. Falwell was born Lynchburg on August 11, 1933. The son of a Prohibition-era bootlegger, Jerry became a Christian in 1952. He attended Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, and began preaching as a youth pastor. He returned to his hometown to form a congregation in 1956. His Thomas Road Baptist Church grew from a congregation of 35 to over 22,000 over the next five decades. Falwell became a leading voice for evangelical Christians and founded Lynchburg Baptist College (later University) in 1971. He was at the forefront of politicizing his evangelical followers into a ultra-conservative movement known as the Moral Majority. Falwell and his flock were actively involved in the election of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency in 1980. He exercised political influence over the next decade as the Re-

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publicans ascended to power. In the early 1980s, Falwell became involved in a bitter dispute with Larry Flint, the publisher of Hustler magazine. Hustler ran a fake interview that alleged Falwell admitted to incest with his mother. Falwell sued, alleging the parody damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress. Flint eventually won the suit on an appeal to the Supreme Court. The episode was related in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flint, with rotund comic Richard Paul in the role of Falwell. He briefly took over Jim Bakker’s PTL ministry in 1987 after the founder was forced to resign in disgrace. He departed after several months when he was unable to salvage the scandal ridden organization. Falwell hosted The Old Time Gospel Hour on television throughout the nation from the 1980s and supplied commentary for hundreds of radio stations in support of his political and religious agenda. He became an increasingly controversial figure as his extreme views led to outlandish statements. He declared that the children’s television show Teletubbies supported a homosexual lifestyle because the purple androgynous character Tinky Winky was gay. He caused more controversy while appearing on Pat Robertson’s The 700 Club after the 9/11 terrorist attack should be blamed on pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and the ACLU. He was later forced to apologize for his choice of words. Falwell appeared on television in such programs as Politically Incorrect and The O’Reilly Factor, and made a guest appearance in a 2002 episode of First Monday. Despite his divisive rhetoric and combative demeanor, Falwell remained an important voice of the political right, particularly in the Republican Party, for the remainder of his life.

FEENEY, BILL Actor Bill Feeney died in Los Angeles on July 8, 2007. He was 70. Feeney was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 8, 1937. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, where he worked as a CPA for nearly fifty years. Feeney also acted in films and on television, with such credits as the film Patty Hearst (1988), and the tele-films Getting Up and Going Home (1992), Cooperstown (1993), and The Heart of Justice (1993). He also appeared on television in episodes of Hunter and L.A. Law.

Bill Feeney

FEHEREGYHAZI, TIBOR Hungarian actor Tibor Feheregyhazi died of prostate cancer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, on July 10, 2007. He was 75. Feheregyhazi was born in Budapest, Hungary, on February 14, 1932. He was a leading radio star in Hungary as a child and was later featured in several films including The Hospital Ward No. 9 (1955) and Az Elet Hidja (1956). He was active in the Hungarian revolution against the Communist regime in 1956, and fled to Canada when the rebellion was crushed. He worked there as a drama teacher and theatrical director. He was also seen on television in an episode of Street Legal and in the 2000 tele-film Murder Seen.

Jerry Falwell

FARIAS, DANIEL Latin American telenovela director Daniel Farias died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on August 10, 2007. He was 74. Farias was born in Cuba in 1933, and moved to Venezuela in the late 1950s. He appeared as an actor in the television series The Failure in the 1960s, and was featured in the 1986 film From Woman to Woman. He was best known as the director of the popular telenovela Cristal in 1986 and 1987. He also produced and directed episodes of La Dama de Rosa. Farias moved to Florida in 2000 where he worked as a consultant on several Telemundo productions.

Tibor Feheregyhazi

FELDMAN, KRYSTYNA Polish actress Krystyna Feldman died of lung cancer in Poznan, Poland,

115 on January 24, 2007. She was 86. Feldman was born in Lvov, Poland (now Ukraine), on March 1, 1920. She began her career on stage with the Lvov Town Theatre in the late 1930s. She remained a leading figure on the Polish stage for over sixty years. She made her film debut in the early 1950s, and appeared in numerous features, usually in character roles, including The Bus Leaves at 6:20 (1954), Celullose (1954), The Hours of Hope (1955), Mr. Anatol’s Hat (1957), King Matthew I (1958), Free City (1958), Mr. Anatol’s Inspection (1959), Wedding Night (1959), Argument About Basia (1959), One Room Tenants (1960), A Place on Earth (1960), The Knave of Spades (1960), The Oil (1961), Battle of the Goat’s Manor (1962), Comediants (1962), The Voice from Beyond (1962), The Penthouse (1963), Yokmok (1963), Codename Nectar (1963), Hour of a Crimson Rose (1964), Adam’s Two Ribs (1964), Interrupted Flight (1964), The Holy War (1965), The Lodger (1966), A Cure for Love (1966), Hell and Heaven (1966), Stall on Salvador (1967), Weekend with a Girl (1968), The Doll (1968), The Red and the Gold (1969), The Woodpecker (1970), Abel, Your Brother (1970), Troublesome Visitor (1971), Palace Hotel (1977), Killing Auntie (1985), Yesterday (1985), Train to Hollywood (1987), Burial of a Potato (1990), Flying Machines Against Mr. Motor Car (1991), By the River Nowhere (1991), Two Moons (1993), A Gentle Woman (1995), Horror in Happy Swamp (1996), With Fire and Sword (1999), It’s Me, the Thief (2000), Edges of the Lord (2001), and Ubu the King (2003). She also performed frequently on Polish television in such productions as Sedziowie, Tragedya (1974), Rzeka Klamstwa (1989), Stella Stellaris (1994), and Plebania (2003) as Gienia. Feldman had her first leading role in films in 2004, playing the male primitive painter Nikifor in Krzysztof Krauze’s film My Nikifor. She made her final film appearance in Dublerzy as Grandma Gambini in 2006.

2007 • Obituaries

Pretty Poison (1968). Fellows worked primarily in England from the 1970s, with such film credits as Trick Baby (1973), The Spikes Gang (1974), Inside Out (1975), Spy Story (1976), The Omen (1976), Death Play (1976), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977), Valentino (1977), License to Love and Kill (1979), The London Connection (1979), Superman II (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Colonel Musgrove, Eye of the Needle (1981), Who Dares Wins (1982), Enigma (1983), Electric Dreams (1984), Riders of the Storm (1986), Haunted Honeymoon (1986), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Horseshoe (1998) as the voice of Charles, and The Man Who Cried (2000). Fellows also appeared in television productions of Mousey (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975), Lillie (1978), One Fine Day (1979), Ike (1979) as Gen. Carl Spaatz, Inside the Third Reich (1982), The Citadel (1983), The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985), Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story (1985), Reunion at Fairborough (1985), The Last Days of Patton (1986) as Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987), Intrigue (1988), The Nightwatch (1989), The Price of the Bride (1990), and Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt (1998). His other television credits include episodes of Dial M for Murder, You’re on Your Own, Spy Trap, Space: 1999, Z Cars, Wodehouse Playhouse, Play of the Month, Raffles, ITV Playhouse, BBC 2 Play of the Week, Tales of the Unexpected, The Sandbaggers, The Gentle Touch, The Bill, Chance in a Million, Great Performances, Jeeves and Wooster, Inspector Morse, and Kavanagh Q.C.

Don Fellows

Krystyna Feldman

FELLOWS, DON Character actor Don Fellows died in London on October 21, 2007. He was 84. Fellows was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on December 2, 1922. He began his career on stage in the 1950s, and appeared on television in episodes of Studio One, The Philco Television Playhouse, and Mr. Broadway. He also appeared in the films The Detective (1968) and

FELMY, HANSJOERG German actor Hanjoerg Felmy died at his home in Bavaria, Germany, after a long illness on August 27, 2007. He was 76. Felmy was born in Berlin on January 31, 1931. He began his acting career on stage after World War II, and became a leading film star in the 1950s. Felmy’s film credits include The Star of Africa (1957), Sharks and Little Fish (1957), The Heart of St. Pauli (1957), The Ripper (1958), The Muzzle (1958), Aren’t We Wonderful? (1958), The Restless Night (1958), The Man Who Sold Himself (1959), People in the Net (1959), Duel with Death (1959), the 1959 adaptation of Thomas Mann’s The Buddenbrooks as Thomas Buddenbrook, The Day That Will Never End (1959), The Angry Young Man (1960), Brainwashed (1960), The Ambassadress (1960), Sacred Waters (1960), The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1961), Defiant Daugh-

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ters (1961), The Last Chapter (1961), The Happy Years of the Thorwalds (1962), Station Six-Sahara (1962), The Mad Executioners (1963), The Fogg y Night Murderer (1964), The Monster of London City (1964), Pirates of the Mississippi (1954), The Racetrack Murders (1964), When the Grapevines Bloom on the Danube (1965), Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain (1966), The Dead One in the Thames River (1971), and Attempted Flight (1976). Felmy worked primarily in television from the late 1960s, appearing in productions of Flucht ohne Ausweg (1967), Alexander Zwo (1972), Meine Frau Erfahrt kein Wort (1982), Abgehort (1984), and Affaire Nachtfrost (1988). He starred as Kommissar Haferkamp in the popular Tatort television detective series from 1974 to 1980, and was Charlie Kapitzky in the Abenteuer Airport series in 1990. He was also featured in episodes of Sonderdezemat K1, Klimbin, Ein Fall fur Zwei, Unternehmen Kopenick, Die Wilsheimer, Die Manner vorn K3, Hagedorns Tochter, and Faust. Felmy was often the German dubbing voice for such actors as Jack Nicholson, Steve McQueen, and Roy Scheider.

Hansjoerg Felmy

FERNAN -GOMEZ, FERNANDO Spanish film director and actor Fernando Fernan-Gomez died in Madrid, Spain, of complications from heart disease on November 21, 2007. He was 86. He was born in Lima, Peru, on August 28, 1921, while his mother, actress Carola Fernan-Gomez, was on tour in Latin America. He began working in the theater in the early 1940s, directing and writing numerous productions. He also began acting in films, amassing numerous credits over his 60 year career. Fernan-Gomez’s film credits include Autumn Roses (1943), A Palace for Sale (1943), Turbante Blanco (1943), Cristina Guzman (1943), Noche Fantastica (1943), La Chica del Gato (1943), Empezo en Boda (1944), Una Chica de Opereta (1944), Mi Enemigo y Yo (1944), Espronceda (1945), El Destino se Disculpa (1945), El Camino de Babel (1945), Bambu (1945), Domingo de Carnaval (1945), The Black Siren (1947), La Muralla Feliz (1947), Embrujo (1947), The Harvest Is Rich (1948), Crossroads (1948), The Last Horse (1950), Saturday Night (1950), Reckless (1951), Captain Poison (1951), El Sistema Pelegrin (1952), I Want to Marry You (1952), Los Ojos Dejan Huellas (1952), Vida en Sombras (1952), Voice of Silence (1953), The

Happy Couple (1953), Aeropuerto (1953), Nobody Will Know (1953), Manicomio (1954), Rebeldia (1954), Morena Clara (1954), La Otra Vida del Capitan Contreras (1955), El Guardian del Paraiso (1955), Congreso en Sevilla (1955), El Mensaje (1955), The Bachelor (1955), La Gran Mentira (1956), El Malvado Carabel (1956), Honeymoon (1956), The Tenant (1957), The Girls in Blue (1957), Faustina (1957), Un Marido de Ida y Vuelta (1957), Los Angeles del Volante (1957), Life Ahead (1958), Life Around Us (1959), Soledad (1959), Bombas Para la Paz (1959), La Ironia del Dinero (1959), Solo Para Hombres (1960), La Vida Privada de Fulano de Tal (1960), Three Etc.’s and the Colonel (1960), Crimen Para Recien Casados (1960), La Venganza de Don Mendo (1961), Goodbye Mimi Pompon (1961), Fantasmas en la Casa (1961), Rififi en la Ciudad (1963), Benigno Hermano Mio (1963), La Becerrada (1963), Un Vampiro para Dos (1965), Life Goes On (1965), Ninette y un Senor de Murcia (1965), La Mujer de tu Projimo (1966), Mayores con Reparos (1966), La Vil Seduccion (1968), Carola de Dia, Carola de Noche (1969), Un Adulterio Decente (1969), Furnished Studio 2.P. (1969), El Triangulito (1970), Crimen Imperfecto (1970), Como Casares en 7 Dias (1971), Las Ibericas F.C. (1971), The Roosters of Dawn (1971), Vera, a Cruel Story (1973), Don Quixote Rides Again (1973), La Leyenda del Alcalde de Zalamea (1973), Anna and the Wolves (1973), The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), I Saw Her First (1974), The Love of Captain Brando (1974), Sensualidad (1975), Pim, Pam, Pum ... Fire! (1975), Jo, Papa (1975), The Mistress (1976), La Plaza (1976), Bruja, Mas que Bruja (1976), The Anchorite (1976), Las Cuatro Novias de Augusto Perez (1976), Imposible Para unaz Solterona (1976), The Carrot Queen (1977), The Girl in the Yellow Pajamas (1977), Mas Fina que las Gillinas (1977), Binge (1977), Chely (1977), Hail Hazana (1978), The Remains from the Shipwreck (1978), Gulliver (1979), Mama Turns 100 (1979), Yo que Se (1980), Maravillas (1981), We Had Better Call It a Day (1981), Copia Cero (1982), Besame, Tonta (1982), Soldados de Plomo (1983), Interior Roig (1983), Juana la Loca ... de Vez en Cuando (1983), Feroz (1984), The Stilts (1984), The Most Beautiful Night (1984), De Hombre a Hombre (1985), Stico (1985), Bohemian Nights (1985), Requiem por un Campesino Espanol (1985), The Court of the Pharaoh (1985), Hot Spot (1985), Half of Heaven (1986), Poor Butterfly (1986), Mambru Went to War (1986), Voyage to Nowhere (1986), Delirios de Amor (1986), El Gran Serafin (1987), Silver-Beet Face (1987), My General (1987), Moors and Christians (1987), Esquilache (1989), The Sea and the Weather (1989), El Rio que nos Lleva (1989), Offisdes (1991), The Dumbfounded King (1991), Miracle of Marcellino (1991), Chechu y Familia (1992), The Age of Beauty (1992), Cartas Desde Huesca (1993), On Earth As It Is in Heaven (1995), Pintadas (1996), Pesadilla Para un Rico (1996), Tramway to Malvarrosa (1997), La Hermana (1997), El Sueno de los Heroes (1997), The Grandfather (1998), All About My Mother (1999), Pepe Guindo (1999), Plenilunio (1999), Buterfly Tongues (1999), Voz (2000), Visionaires (2001), The City of No Limits (2002), The Shanghai Spell (2002), Bibliofrenia (2003), Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004), Para que no me Olvides (2005), Medea 2 (2006), and

117 Mia Sarah (2006). Fernan-Gomez also appeared in such television productions as Juan Soldado (1973), El Picaro (1974), Fortunata y Jacinta (1980), Los Desastres de la Guerra (1983), and A su Servicio (1993). He starred as Don Anselmo in the series Los Ladrones van a la Oficina from 1993 to 1995, and was Don Venancio in Cuentame from 2001 to 2002. Fernan-Gomez was also a leading film director and writer from the early 1950s helming such productions as Manicomio (1954), El Mensaje (1955), El Malvado Carabel (1956), Life Ahead (1958), Life Around Us (1959), Solo Para Hombres (1960), La Venganza de Don Mendo (1961), Los Palomos (1964), El Extrano Viaje (1964), Life Goes On (1965), Ninette y un Senor de Murcia (1965), Mayores con Reparos (1966), Crimen Imperfecto (1970), Como Casarse en 7 Dias (1971), I Saw Her First (1974), The Mistress (1976), Bruja mas que Bruja (1976), My Daughter Hildegart (1977), Five Forks (1979), Mambru Went to War (1986), Voyage to Nowhere (1986) which he adapted from his novel, The Sea and the Weather (1989), Offsides (1991), Long Life Together (1994), Pesadilla para un Rico (1996), A Porta do Sol (1998), and Lazaro de Tormes (2001).

2007 • Obituaries

A Bomba (2001), Maria E as Ouras (2004), and Skin (2006). Ferrer was also seen on television in productions of Miguel Bombarda (1985), Resposta a Matilde (1986), Roman Holiday (1987), Passerelle (1988), Topaze (1988), A Mala de Cartao (1988), O Corrijidor (1988), Casino Royal (1989), A Danca da Morte (1989), Mon Dernier Reve Sera Pour Vous (1989), Adieu Mes Jolies (1991), Retrato de urna Familia Portuguese (1991), Les Amants du Tage (1992), Agui De’El Rei! (1992), A Visita da Velha Senhora (1994), Une Femme dans la Tourmente (1995), Primeiro Amor (1995), Flics de Choc: Le Derniere Vague (1996), La Vie a Trois (1997), O Fusivel (1997), The Vanishing Mr. Owen (1997), A Lenda de Garca (1999), Anniversario (2000), Lourdes (2001), Ruy Blas (2002), Une Ville Pour Deux (2003), Lagardere (2003), and Julie, Chevalier de Maupin (2004). Ferrer also starred as Antonio in the television series Medico de Familia from 1998 to 2000, and was Manuel Constancio in Bocage in 2006.

Filipe Ferrer

Fernando Fernan-Gomez

FERRER, FILIPE Portuguese actor Filipe Ferrer died of cancer in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 26, 2007. He was 70. Ferrer was born in Faro, Portugal, on August 25, 1936. He was a popular stage performer in Portugal, and was seen frequently in films and television from the early 1980s. His many film credits include No Speaking (1983), Notre Mariage (1984), The Satin Slipper (1985), Duma Vez por Todas (1986), Azul, Azul (1986), O Barao de Altamira (1986), O Querido Lilas (1987), Reporter X (1987), La Brute (1987), The Beggars (1988), Mensagem (1988), President’s Target (1989), Street of No Return (1989), Rendezvous in Lisbon (1990), The King’s Trial (1990), 1867 (1990) as the Emperor Maximilian, The Milky Life (1992), Vertigern (1992), Cha Forte com Limao (1993), D’Artagnan’s Daughter (aka Revenge of the Musketeers) (1994), Taxi to Portugal (1994), Ao Sul (1995), Paradise Lost (1995), Cargo Infernal (1996), According to Pereira (1996), La Leyenda de Balthasar el Castrado (1996), Les Bidochohn (1996), News from the Good Lord (1996), The Jew (1996), Isle of Contempt (1996), O Segredo (2000), Camarate (2001),

FIELDS, FREDDIE Hollywood film producer and agent Freddie Fields died of lung cancer in his home in Beverly Hills, California, on December 11, 2007. He was 84. He was born Fred Feldman in Ferndale, New York, on July 12, 1923. His father operated a Catskills resort and his brother, Shep Fields, was a leading bandleader. Freddie grew up in the entertainment business and began working as a booking agent in New York in the 1940s. He worked with the talent agency Music Corporation of America, becoming vice president in 1946. He left MCA in 1960 to form his own agency, Creative Management Associates. CMA merged with International Famous Agency to form International Creative Management in the mid–1970s. Fields’ numerous clients included such Hollywood legends as Fred Astaire, Barbra Streisand, Henry Fonda, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg. He also managed Judy Garland and was executive producer of her television variety show in 1962. Fields was also a leading executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1980s. He served as producer for such films as Lipstick (1976), Handle with Care (1977), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), American Gigolo (1980), Wholly Moses! (1980), Victory (1981), Fever Pitch (1985), Poltergeist II:

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The Other Side (1986), American Anthem (1986), Crimes of the Heart (1986), Millennium (1989), and Glory (1989). Fields also served as executive producer of the syndicated talk show starring Montel Williams in the 1990s. Fields’ second marriage to actress Polly Bergen ended in divorce, as did his previous one. His survivors include his third wife, the former Miss Universe Corinna Tsopei.

evision productions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1958) as Hermia, For Tea on Sunday (1963), Marriage Lines (1963), and Night Train to Surbiton (1965). Finn was featured as the voices of Tin-Tin Kyrano, Grandma Tracy, and other characters on the marionette television series Thunderbirds from 1965 to 1966, and was Peggy Davidson in Dr. Finlay’s Casebook from 1967 to 1969. Her other television credits include episodes of Gideon’s Way, Scales of Justice, Dixon of Dock Green, Adam Adamant Lives!, Detective, and Paul Temple.

Freddie Fields

FINCH, BRIAN British television writer Brian Finch died in Wigan, Lancashire, England, on June 27, 2007. He was 70. Finch was born in Wigan on July 25, 1936. He began working as a journalist in the 1950s and later joined the BBC as a press officer. His first televised play, Rodney, Our Intrepid Hero aired on The Wednesday Play in 1966. He moved to Granada Television several years later where he became one of the most prolific script writers for the popular soap opera Coronation Street in the 1970s and 1980s. Finch also scripted episodes of such series as Thirty-Minute Theatre, The Tomorrow People, Hunter’s Walk, The Chinese Puzzle, The Life of Riley, Potter’s Picture Palace, Strangers, Fallen Hero, Park Ranger, The Gentle Touch, Saturday Night Thriller, Juliet Bravo, The Fourth Arm, Dramarama, Murphy’s Mob, Flying Lady, All Creatures Great and Small, Bergerac, The Bill, Wavelength, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Captain Scarlet, and Heartbeat. He also wrote numerous television productions including Arztin in Angst (1995), Mein Freund, der Bulle (1998), the 1999 adaptation of Goodnight, Mister Tom for Masterpiece Theatre, Back Home (2001), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002), Heidi (2005), and The Shell Seekers (2006). FINN, CHRISTINE British actress Christine Finn died in Guildford, Surrey, England, on December 5, 2007. Finn was born and raised in India and went to England in 1946. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and made her professional debut in the 1949 film The Romantic Age. She also performed frequently on the London stage. She appeared in small roles in the films The Long Rope (1953) and Value for Money (1955), and starred as Barbara Judd in the classic science fiction television miniseries Quatermass and the Pit. She was also seen in tel-

Christine Finn

FINN, MALI Film and television casting director Mali Finn of died melanoma in Sonoma, California, on November 28, 2007. She was 69. She was born Mary Alice Mann in Danville, Illinois, on March 3, 1938. Finn taught English and Drama for over a decade before moving to Los Angeles in 1981. She began working as an assistant to casting directors Dodie McLean and Lynn Stallmaster. She made her debut as lead casting director for the 1987 film The Untouchables. She went on to cast such films as Outrageous Fortune (1987), Lady in White (1988), Split Decisions (1988), Shadow of China (1990), Flatliners (1990), Pacific Heights (1990), Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Hot Shots! (1991), That Night (1992), Super Mario Bros. (1993), House of Cards (1993), The Air Up There (1994), True Lies (1994), The Client (1994), The Little Dead (1995), The Cure (1995), Batman Forever (1995), Eye for an Eye (1996), A Time to Kill (1996), Mission: Impossible (1996), Foxfire (1996), The Chamber (1996), Sunday (1997), L.A. Confidential (1997), Batman & Robin (1997), the Oscarwinning Titanic (1997), Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), 8 MM (1999), The Matrix (1999), Best Laid Plans (1999), The Love Letter (1999), Eye of the Beholder (1999), The Wood (1999), Flawless (1999), The Green Mile (1999), Return to Me (2000), Wonderboys (2000), Reindeer Games (2000), The Next Best Thing (2000), Where the Heart Is (2000), The King Is Alive (2000), The Weight of Water (2000), Tigerland (2000), Manic (2001), Joy Ride (2001), High Crimes (2002), Max (2002), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Never Get Outta the Boat (2002), 8 Mile (2002), Phone Booth (2002), All the Real Girls (2003), The Matrix Reloaded

119 (2003), Elephant (2003), Out of Time (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), Blessing (2004), The Big Bounce (2004), The Girl Next Door (2004), Undertow (2004), The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004), Raising Helen (2004), Around the Bend (2004), Where the Truth Lies (2005), Dark Water (2005), North Country (2005), Walker Payne (2006), Serephim Falls (2006), Running with Scissors (2006), The Number 23 (2007), Shooter (2007), Lucky You (2007), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). Finn also worked in television, earning an Emmy nomination for the 1995 tele-film Indictment: The McMartin Trial, and receiving the Emmy Award for 61* in 2001. Her other television credits include American Harvest (1987), Running Mates (2000), the 2000 series Gideon’s Crossing, The It Factor: Los Angeles (2003), Independent Lens (2003), and 2004’s Wonderfalls. Her final film credits include the 2008 films Dirty Hands and 10,000 B.C.

FIRESTONE, EDDIE Character actor Eddie Firestone died of respiratory and heart failure at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, on March 1, 2007. He was 86. Firestone was born in San Francisco, California, on December 11, 1920. He began his career on radio, performing in such series as Halls of Ivy and Suspense. He soon moved on to films and television, where he was often cast in genial supporting roles. He was seen in such films as The Jackpot (1950), With a Song in My Heart (1952), We’re Not Married (1952), One Minute to Zero (1952), Call Me Madam (1953), Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955), The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), The Brass Legend (1956), Joe Butterfly (1947), Bailout at 43,000 (1957), The Law and Jake Wade (1958), The Mountain Road (1960), Angel Baby (1961), Two for the Seesaw (1962), The Destructors (1968), Panic in the City (1968), A Man Called Gannon (1969), Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970), The Todd Killings (1971), Pickup at 101 (1972), Play It As It Lays (1972), The Stone Killer (1973), Invisible Strangler (1976), and W.C. Fields and Me (1976). He was also featured in the tele-films Scalplock (1966), Ironside (1967), Steven Spielberg’s Duel (1971), Murdock’s Gang (1973), Cry Panic (1974), Honky Tonk (1974), A Matter of Wife ... and Death (1976), How the West Was Won (1977), Standing Tall (1978), and I Take These Men (1983). Firestone starred as Eddy Coleman in the early television drama series Mixed Doubles in 1949. He remained a familiar face, appearing in numerous of episodes of such series as Dragnet, Four Star Playhouse, Justice, The Millionaire, The 20th Century–Fox Hour, Medic, Playhouse 90, Studio One, Steve Canyon, Black Saddle, Peter Gunn, One Step Beyond, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, The Donna Reed Show, The Untouchables, Bonanza, Disneyland, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Follow the Sun, Death Valley Days, Tales of Wells Fargo, Ben Casey, Perry Mason, Temple Houston, Dr. Kildare, The Legend of Jesse James, Hogan’s Heroes, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, I Dream of Jeannie, Dragnet 1967, Dundee and the Culhane, The Big Valley, Cimarron Strip, Mannix, The Big Valley, The High Chaparral, The Guns of Will Sonnett, Wild Wild

2007 • Obituaries

West, Here Come the Brides, Hawaii Five-O, The Silent Force, Mayberry R.F.D., The Virginian, Mannix, Cade’s County, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Kung Fu, Griff, Shazam!, The Rockford Files, Petrocelli, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Lucas Tanner, Ellery Queen, Kojak, The Invisible Man, Logan’s Run, Charlie’s Angels, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Galactica 1980, Quincy, and Knight Rider. Firestone largely retired from the screen in the early 1980s.

Eddie Firestone

FISCUTEANU , IOAN Romanian stage and film actor Ioan Fiscuteanu died of colon cancer in Bucharest, Romania, on December 8, 2007. He was 70. Fiscuteanu was born in Bistrirta, Transylvania, Romania, on November 19, 1937. He began his career on stage in Bucharest, and appeared frequently in films from the early 1980s. Fiscuteanu’s film credits include A Cloudless Vacation (1968), Forest Fruit (1983), Glissando (1985), Radio Romania Keeps Broadcasting (1985), A Morning Song (1988), Jacob (1988), Somewhere in the East (1991), The Oak (1992), The Earth’s Most Beloved Son (1993), Asphalt Tango (1996), Too Late (1996), Humanitarian Aid (2002), and The Manipulation (2004). Fiscuteanu was best known to international audiences for his starring role in Crisi Puiu’s award-winning 2005 film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.

Ioan Fiscuteanu

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FISHMAN, HAL Los Angeles newscaster Hal Fishman died of colon cancer at his home in Brentwood, California, on August 7, 2007. He was 75. Fishman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 25, 1931. He taught political science at Cal State LA during the 1950s and was hired as a political commentator at station KCOP-TV in 1960. He moved to KTLATV in 1965, and worked at several other stations before returning to KTLA as the evening news anchor in 1975. He remained anchor of the KTLA Prime News until shortly before his death. Fishman also appeared in cameo roles in several films including Black Sunday (1977), the tele-film When Hell Was in Session (1979), Wisdom (1986), Jimmy Hollywood (1994), Joe Dirt (2001), Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001), National Security (2003), Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003), One Six Right (2005), and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

theatrical productions during her career and also appeared frequently on television. She was seen in such series as Yo Compro esta Mujer (1968), Ella, la Gat (1968), Una Vida para Amarte (1970), Malevo (1972), La Historia de Celia Piran (1972), Las 24 Hrs (1981), Amada (1983), Momento de Incertidumbre (1985), and El Camionero y la Dama (1985).

Golde Flami

Hal Fishman

FLAMI , G OLDE Argentine actress Golde Flami died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 20, 2007. She was 89. She was born Golda Flon in the Ukraine, on February 10, 1918, and came to Argentina with her family at an early age. She began her career on stage in Yiddish theater in Buenos Aires. She made her film debut in a small role 1942’s En el Viejo Buenos Aires, and starred in The Two Rivals in 1944. She continued to appear in such films as A Woman of No Importance (1945), Albergue de Mujeres (1946), Un Marido Ideal (1947), El Barco sale a las Diez (1948), Rodriguez, Supernumerario (1948), The Name Was Carlos Gardel (1949), The Marihuana Story (1950), Lejos del Cielo (1950), Madre Alegria (1950), Volver a la Vida (1951), La Picara Cenicienta (1951), Dishonor (1952), Del Otro Lado del Puente (1953), El Juramento de Lagardere (1955), Los Hampones (1955), Simiente Humana (1959), Male and Female Since Adam and Eve (1961), Amorina (1961), Maternidad sin Hombres (1968), La Videlidad (1970), La Mary (1974), People in Buenos Aires (1974), Las Procesadas (1975), Jewish Gauchos (1975), Brigada en Accion (1977), Con mi Mujer no Puedo (1978), Crazy Love (1979), Nightmare’s Passengers (1984), Anibal Di Salvo’s Atrapadas (aka Condemned to Hell ) (1984), Las Barras Bravas (1985), Revancha de un Amigo (1987), Hector Olivera’s Two to Tango (1988), Traicion (1990), and Chiquilines (1991). Flami was featured in over 100

FLANAGAN, WALTER P. Actor Walter P. Flanagan died in Houston, Texas, on July 25, 2007. He was 78. Flanagan was born in Houston on October 4, 1928. He moved to New York to pursue a career in acting after graduating from the University of Houston. He appeared on stage throughout the United States during his career. He also appeared on television in an episode of Five Fingers in 1959. Flanagan appeared in several films including The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971), Shakedown (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). He also appeared in an episode of ABC Afterschool Specials in 1989 before retiring to Houston.

Walter P. Flanagan

FLAX, PHYLLIS Actress Phyllis Flax died of cancer in Venice, California, on May 26, 2007. She was 85. Flax was born in London, England, on July 19, 1921. She began performing at an early age under the name Phyllis Oliver and was lead dancer at the London Palladium in the mid–1930s. She moved to the United States after a stint as an ambulance driver during World War II. She performed on the amateur stage in California while raising a family, waiting until later

121 in life to embark upon a professional career in films and television. Flax guest-starred in such series as Wonder Woman, Mrs. Columbo, Newhart, The Wonder Years, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, NYPD Blue, Angel, Frazier, and ER. She also appeared in the films Black Magic Woman (1981) and Loved (1997), and the tele-films Deadly Care (1987) and Nightmare on the 13th Floor (1990).

Phyllis Flax

FLEMMING, BILL Sportscaster Bill Flemming, who was one of the original announcers for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, died of prostate cancer in Petoskey, Michigan, on July 20, 2007. He was 80. Flemming was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 3, 1926. He attended the University of Michigan where he became the sports director at the campus radio station. He moved to Detroit in 1953 where he became head of the sports department of the NBC television affiliate, WWJ-TV. He made his network debut as a replacement sportscaster on the Today show and was soon announcing for the U.S. Open golf tournament later in the 1950s. Flemming moved to ABC when that network began the new sports anthology series Wide World of Sports in 1961. He covered more than 600 events over the next four decades from football to auto racing to chess championships, and 11 Olympics.

2007 • Obituaries

FLINN, DENNY MARTIN Broadway performer and writer Denny Martin Flinn, who scripted the 1991 film Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, died of complications from cancer in Woodland Hills, California, on August 24, 2007. He was 59. Flinn was born in San Francisco, California, on December 21, 1947. He began his career as a dancer in San Francisco before moving to New York. He performed on Broadway in the musical Sugar, and in revivals of Pal Joey and Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey. He also appeared in OffBroadway productions and in the national tour of A Chorus Line. He wrote and directed the musical Groucho, which played Off-Broadway, and choreographed rock video sequences for the soap operas Another World and Search for Tomorrow. Flinn also choreographed sequences of the feature films The Deceivers (1988) and Ghost (1988). He was the author of a book about the musical A Chorus Line entitled What They Did for Love. He also wrote two mystery novels featuring Sherlock Holmes’ grandson, San Francisco Kills and Killer Finish. Flinn co-scripted Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country with Nicholas Meyer. He also wrote radio adaptations of Don Quixote and Meyer’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution for BBC radio. Flinn’s other books include Musical! A Grand Tour —The Rise, Glory and Fall of an American Institution, How Not to Write a Screenplay, and the Star Trek novel The Fearful Summons. FLOWER Flower, the matriarch of Meerkat Manor on the popular Animal Planet documentary series, was killed by a cobra while protecting her family in the Kalahari desert on March 6, 2007. Flower’s demise was witnessed by viewers of the television series on September 28, 2007, in the episode entitled Journey’s End.” The series depicted the life of the Whiskers clan including Flower, her mate Zaphod and a host of furry four-legged children. Cambridge University sponsored the Kalahari Meerkat Project, which documented the trials and tribulations of life in the desert for the nearly anthropomorphisized stars. Adding to the tragedy, Flower’s daughter, Mozart, was found dead in the desert, likely the victim of a jackal attack. Viewers learned of Mozart’s untimely demise on the October 26, 2007, program, when her lifeless body was shown. In a previous season, the family also lost a son,

Bill Flemming Flower

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Shakespeare, who vanished and was presumed dead. The deceased and most of the survivors of the Whiskers clan will be seen in a 2008 feature film highlighting Flower, Queen of the Kalahari.

FLYNN, BILL South African actor Bill Flynn died of a heart attack in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 11, 2007. He was 58. Flynn was born in Cape Town on December 13, 1948. He performed on stage, film and television from the early 1970s. Flynn’s film credits include House of the Living Dead (1973), Kill and Kill Again (1981), City Lovers (1982), Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983), Funny People II (1983), Magic Is Alive, My Friend (1985), Saturday Night at the Palace (1987), Kwagga Strikes Back (1990), Die Prince van Pretoria (1993), Kalahari Harry (1994), Human Timebomb (1996), Heels Against the Head (1999), Oh Shucks ... I’m Gatvol (2004), and Running Riot (2006). Flynn was also featured in the tele-films A Private Life (1989), Guns of Honor (1994), and Krakatoa: The Last Days (2006). He starred in the title role in the 1986 television series Senor Smith, which he also scripted. He wrote, directed, and starred as Quentin Carruthers II in the 2000 series The Carruthers Brothers, and was Captain Boki Basson in the 2004 series Jozi Streets.

April 4, 2007. He was 75. Flynn was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 14, 1932. He began working in films in the mid–1960s, serving as assistant director for the comedy John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965). He was best known for directing the 1977 revenge thriller Rolling Thunder starring William Devane. Flynn also directed the films The Sergeant (1968), The Jerusalem File (1972), The Outfit (1973) which he also adapted from Richard Stark’s novel, Defiance (1980), Touched (1983), Best Seller (1987), Lock Up (1989), Out for Justice (1991), Brainscan (1994), and Protection (2001). He also helmed the tele-films Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980), Nails (1992), Scam (1993), and Absence of the Good (1999).

FOGELBERG, DAN Singer and songwriter Dan Fogelberg, who had such soft-rock hits as “Leader of the Band” and “Same Old Lang Syne,” died of prostate cancer at his home in Maine on December 16, 2007. He was 56. Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois, on August 13, 1951. He began performing with a band while in his teens, and recorded two singles with the Coachmen in 1967. He performed as a solo acoustic player in the early 1970s and was soon working as a session musician. His debut album, Home Free, was released in 1972 and his second album, Souvenirs, was released two years later. It contained the hit song “Part of the Plan,” and Fogelberg became a leading recording star. He continued to release such hits as “Longer” (1979), “Same Old Lang Syne” (1980), “Leader of the Band” (1981), “Run for the Roses” (1982), “Missing You” (1982), and “Make Love Stay” (1983). He also recorded the album Twin Sons of Different Mothers with Tim Weisberg in 1978. He recorded the bluegrass album High Country Snows in Nashville in 1984, and released the studio album River of Souls in 1993. He recorded an album of Christmas songs, First Christmas Morning, in 1999. Fogelberg’s final album, Full Circle, was released in 2003. He was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer the following year, and was forced to cancel a concert tour.

Bill Flynn

FLYNN, JOHN Film and television director John Flynn died in Pacific Palisades, California, on

Dan Fogelberg

John Flynn

FONTANARROSA, ROBERTO Argentine cartoonist and writer Roberto Fontanarrosa died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Rosario, Argentina, on

123 July 19, 2007. He was 62. Fontanarrosa was born in Rosario on November 25, 1944. He began his career writing comic strips, creating such popular titles as Inodoro Pereyra and Boogie el Aceitoso. He also wrote short stories, novels, and several plays including Aryentians, Uno Nunca Sabe, and Boogie el Aceitoso. Several of his works were also adapted for film including La Planicie de Yothosawa (1991), Una Historia de Tango (2000), El Vuelo de la Oca (2004), Tomalo con Calma (2005), and El Amor a las Cuatro de la Tarde (2005). He also scripted the 2007 film Fierro.

2007 • Obituaries

FONTENAY, CHARLES Journalist and science fiction writer Charles Fontenay died in a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital after a long illness on January 27, 2007. He was 89. Fontenay was born on March 17, 1917. He served in the U.S. Air Corps during World War II. He embarked on a career in journalism, working at papers in Union City and Johnson City, Tennessee. He spent forty years with the Nashville newspaper The Tennessean, serving as a reporter and assistant city editor, before his retirement in the late 1980s. Fontenay, who often covered the political beat, also wrote Estes Kefauver: A Biography (1980) about the former Tennessee U.S. Senator. He was also a writer of science fiction, having penned such novels as Twice Upon a Time (1958), Rebels of the Red Planet (1961), The Day the Oceans Overflowed (1964), Kipton and the Tower of Time (1996), Kipton in Wonderland (1996), Kipton and the Ovoid (1996), Kipton and the Android (1997), Target: Grant, 1862 (1999), and Modal (2000)

Roberto Fontanarrosa

FONTANE, CHAR Actress Char Fontane died of cancer in Marietta, Georgia, on April 1, 2007. She was 55. She was born in Los Angeles on January 12, 1952, the daughter of singer Tony Fontane and actress Kerry Vaughn. She embarked on an acting career in the late 1970s, starring as Valerie Sweetzer in the shortlived television sit-com Joe and Valerie in 1978. She also appeared in the tele-films Pearl (1978) and The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1983). Fontane also guest-starred in episodes of Love, American Style, Barnaby Jones, Supertrain, and The Love Boat. She also appeared in several films during her career including Too Much (1987) and The Punisher (1989), before retiring in the late 1980s.

Charles Fontenay

FORD, LARKIN Actor Larkin Ford, who was the last surviving member of the cast of the original television production of Twelve Angry Men in 1954, died in New York City on January 13, 2007. He was 86. Ford was born in California on January 30, 1920. He attended Harvard University and performed on stage with the Brattle Theatre Company for seven years. He began working in television in the early 1950s under the

Char Fontane Larkin Ford

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name Will West III, and appeared as Juror #12 in the acclaimed drama Twelve Angry Men on Studio One in 1954. Other members of the cast included Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, and Edward Arnold. After changing his name to Larkin Ford, he continued his career in such series as Zane Grey Theater, The Third Man, Have Gun —Will Travel, Black Saddle, The Untouchables, and Cannon. He was also featured in Larry Cohen’s 1982 cult horror film Q (aka The Winged Serpent).

topoulos was born in Kalamata, Greece in 1934. He began his career as a designer for stage productions for the Greek National Opera House, the State Theatre of Northern Greece, and other venues in Europe and the United States. Fotopoulos worked uncredited designing sets for Elia Kazan’s 1963 film America America. He was also art director for Francis Ford Coppola’s feature You’re a Big Boy Now in 1966.

FORSBERG, GRANT Actor Grant E. Forsberg died in Studio City, California, on July 17, 2007. He was 47. Forsberg was born in Holden, Massachusetts, on July 22, 1959. He was featured in several films including My Man Adam (1985), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), and Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989). He also appeared on television in the tele-film Old Friends (1984), and an episode of the series L.A. Law. Forsberg was also the author of the book Lost Boys Never Say Die.

Vassilis Fotopoulos

Grant Forsberg

FORWOOD, GARETH British actor Gareth Forwood died in London on October 16, 2007. He was 62. He was born in London on October 14, 1945, the son of actress Glynis Johns and her first husband, Anthony Forwood. He made his debut on films in 1968’s The Bofors Gun, as the young Lt. Packering. He appeared frequently on British television from the late 1960s, with roles in such series as Detective, The Jazz Age, The Wednesday Play, Doctor at Large, Crown Court, The Pallisers, Armchair Thriller, and The Bill. His other television credits include such productions as The Piano Player (1972), Where Adam Stood (1976), Blade on the Feather (1980), Mother Love (1989), Never Come Back (1990), The Cinder Path (1994), Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circles (1995), and Bomber (2000). Forwood was also seen in a handful of films including Birth of the Beatles (1979), Priest of Love (1981), Gandhi (1982), King Ralph (1991) with John Goodman, and Electric Moon (1992). FOTOPOULOS, VASSILIS Greek art director Vassilis Fotopoulos, who received an Academy Award for his work on the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, died in Athens, Greece, on January 14, 2007. He was 72. Fo-

FRACTION, KAREN Actress Karen E. Fraction died of breast cancer in Largo, Florida, on October 30, 2007. She was 53. Fraction was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1954. She trained as a dancer and made her Broadway debut in Tap Dance Kid. She was also seen on Broadway in productions of Cabaret, Anything Goes, and Oh Kay! in the 1980s. She moved to Florida in the early 1990s where she continued her career as an actress on television. She was featured in an episode of Swamp Thing and starred as Jennifer Parker in the Nickelodeon sit-com My Brother and Me from 1994 to 1995. She was also featured in the recurring role of Dr. Perry in the sci-fi series SeaQuest DSV in 1995 and 1996, and guest-starred in episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, Taina, and Sheena. Fraction also appeared in the tele-film Our Son, the Matchmaker (1996), and the feature films Palmetto (1998) and The First of May (1999).

Karen Fraction

125 FRANCA, CELIA Canadian dancer and choreographer Celia Franca died after a long illness in an Ottawa, Canada, hospital on February 19, 2007. She was 85. She was born Celia Franks in London, England, on June 25, 1921. She studied dance as a child and was performing professionally by the age of 14. She joined Marie Rambert’s ballet company in 1936, and performed with Sadler’s Wells from 1941. Franca joined the Metropolitan Ballet in 1947, where she choreographed the ballets Eve of St. Agnes and Dance of Salome for BBC Television. She went to Canada in the early 1950 to form a new ballet company in Toronto, creating the National Ballet of Canada in 1951. She directed and starred in numerous ballets throughout the decade, and co-founded the National Ballet School of Canada in 1959. She remained artist director of the National Ballet through 1974. Rudolf Nureyev starred in a production of The Sleeping Beauty with the company in 1972, which performed at the Metropolitan Opera House and on CBC-TV in Canada. Franca performed the role of Carabosse in the ballet. After a hiatus of several years Franca returned to the National Ballet as a frequent guest character dancer, and oversaw the Christmas production of The Nutcracker.

Celia Franca

FRANCIS Francisco Garcia Escalante, who was a popular transvestite performer in Mexico, died of complications from respiratory problems in a Mexico

Francis

2007 • Obituaries

City hospital on October 10, 2007. He was 49. Francis was born in Campeche, Mexico, on April 6, 1958. He began his career as an entertainer in local clubs and became a popular performer impersonating leading Latin female singers. Francis appeared frequently on Mexican television from the 1990s, with roles in such series as Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real, Vivo por Elena, Desde Gayola, Hospital el Paisa, and La Fea Mas Bella. Francis was also featured as Tania in the 2003 film My Father, Rua Alguem 5555.

FRANCIS, FREDDIE Oscar winning British cinematographer Freddie Francis, who was also a celebrated director of horror and science fiction films, died in London on March 17, 2007. He was 89. Francis was born in Islington, London on December 22, 1917. He began working in films as a still photographer at Shepherds Bush Studios in 1934. He worked at the studio in various capacities and was making short films for the British Army by World War II. After the war, he continued his career working as a camera operator on such features as The Macomber Affair (1947), Mine Own Executioner (1947), Night Beat (1947), The Small Back Room (1949), The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), Golden Salamander (1950), Gone to Earth (1950), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951), Affair in Monte Carlo (1952), Outcast of the Islands (1952), Angels One Five (1952), The Wild Heart (1952), Moulin Rouge (1952), Twice Upon a Time (1953), Beat the Devil (1953), Knave of Hearts (1954), and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1955). He served as second unit director of photography for John Huston’s classic adaptation of Moby Dick in 1956. Francis continued to work as a cinematographer on such films as A Hill in Korea (1956), The Scamp (1957), Time Without Pity (1957), Virgin Island (1958), Next to No Time (1958), Room at the Top (1959), The Battle of the Sexes (1959), Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960), Sons and Lovers (1960) which earned him his first Academy Award, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), The Innocents (1961), and Night Must Fall (1964). Francis made his directorial debut filming sequences for the 1962 science fiction feature The Day of the Triffids. Over the next two decades he directed numerous films, including many cult horror and science fiction classics from Hammer and Amicus. His credits as director include Two and Two Make Six (1962), The Brain (1962), Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare (1964), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), Traitor’s Gate (1964), Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), Hysteria (1965), The Skull (1965), The Psychopath (1966), Torture Garden (1967), The Deadly Bees (1967), They Came from Beyond Space (1967), The Intrepid Mr. Twigg (1968), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Girly (1969), Trog (1970), The Vampire Happening (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Creeping Flesh (1973), Tales That Witness Madness (1973), Son of Dracula (1974), Craze (1974), Legend of the Werewolf (1975), The Ghoul (1975), and Golden Rendezvous (1977). Francis also worked frequently in television from the late 1960s, helming episodes of Man in a Suitcase, The Champions, The Saint, The Adventures of Black Beauty, and Star Maidens. He had largely retired from films by the late 1970s,

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but emerged from retirement in 1980 to serve as cinematographer for director David Lynch’s black and white film The Elephant Man. He continued to work in film and television as a cinematographer, photographing such features as The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), The Jigsaw Man (1983), Memed My Hawk (1984), Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic Dune (1984), Return to Oz (1985), Codename: Emerald (1985), Clara’s Heart (1988), Her Alibi (1989), Brenda Starr (1989), Glory (1989) which earned him another Oscar, The Man in the Moon (1991), Cape Fear (1991), School Ties (1992), Calliope (1994), Princess Cariboo (1994), Rainbow (1996), and The Straight Story (1999). He also was cinematographer for the tele-films The Executioner’s Song (1982), The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990), and A Life in the Theater (1993). Francis also directed the films The Doctor and the Devils (1985) and Dark Tower (1987), the latter under the pseudonym Ken Barnett, and helmed episodes of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and HBO’s Tales from the Crypt. Francis also co-authored the books Light ’Em Up: A Gaffer Remembers a Lifetime Making Movies (1996) and Inside Hammer (2001). He had recently completed his autobiography before suffering a stroke in December of 2006.

May 11, 2007. He was 82. He was born Norman James Fetrod in Manhattan, New York, on February 17, 1925. Frank served in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II. He worked in advertising after the war, and was soon involved with television. He produced and directed the CBS series Star of the Family in 1950. He also produced the documentary series Wide Wide World starring Dave Garroway, and produced and sometimes directed the NBC comedy variety series The Jonathan Winters Show. Frank remained active in public relations, and was involved with the New York City’s police union in the 1960s. He also made an unsuccessful attempt to run for mayor of New York City in 1969.

FRANKLIN, GARY Film critic Gary Franklin died of complications from a series of strokes in Los Angeles on October 2, 2007. He was 79. Franklin was born in Leipzig, Germany, on September 22, 1928. He and his family fled from the Nazis in 1938 and settled in New York City. He studied film at New York City College and began working in broadcasting in the early 1950s in Virginia. He joined California radio station KFWB-AM in 1972 as a reporter. Franklin moved to television in 1981, becoming a movie and entertainment critic for several stations over the next decade. He was noted for the “Franklin Scale” of critiquing films by using a 1 through 10 numerical score. Franklin was seen on screen in small roles in several films including Rollercoaster (1977) and An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998).

Freddie Francis

FRANK, NORMAN Television and advertising executive Norman Frank died in Miami, Florida, on Gary Franklin

Norman Frank

FRANKLIN, RICHARD Australian film director Richard Franklin, who was best known for helming such thrillers as Road Games and Psycho II, died of prostate cancer in Melbourne, Australia, on July 11, 2007. He was 58. Franklin was born in Melbourne on July 15, 1948. He attended college in the United States where he studied film and became particularly influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock. Franklin directed several shorts and television productions before producing, directing and scripting his first feature, The True Story of Eskimo Nell in 1975. He directed the adult exploitation film Fantasm in 1976, and produced and directed the horror film Patrick in 1978. Franklin pro-

127 duced, directed and wrote the thriller Road Games starring Jamie Lee Curtis in 1981, which was the most expensive film produced in Australia at the time. He subsequently came to Hollywood, where he helmed Psycho II, the 1983 sequel to Hitchcock’s classic, with Anthony Perkins reprising his role as homicidal maniac Norman Bates. He also directed the films Cloak & Dagger (1984), Link (1986), F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion (1991), and Running Delilah (1995), and episodes of television’s Beauty and the Beast and A Fine Romance. He returned to Australia in the 1990s to produce, direct, and script acclaimed film adaptations of the plays Hotel Sorrento (1995) by Hannie Rayson and Brilliant Lies (1996) by David Williamson. His later credits also include the 1997 tele-film One Way Ticket and the pilot episode of the 1999 television production of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. He also helmed an episode of Flatland and the 2003 feature Visitors.

2007 • Obituaries

Neptune in the children’s television series Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue.

Harry Frazier

FRENCH , KATY Irish model Katy French died in a Navan, County Meath, Ireland, hospital on December 6, 2007, after collapsing at a friend’s home several days earlier. She was 24. French was born in Switzerland on October 31, 1983, and moved to Ireland with her family as a child. She began working with Assets Modeling Agency and became one of Ireland’s leading models. French’s engagement and bombastic breakup with wealthy restaurateur Marcus Sweeney in January of 2007 kept her in the public eye. She also made guest appearances on Irish television in such RTE series as Celebrities Go Wild, The Podge and Rodge Show, and Tubridy Tonight. Richard Franklin

FRAZIER, HARRY Character actor Harry Frazier, whose full white beard led to his performance as Santa Claus on numerous productions, died of complications from diabetes at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on May 26, 2007. He was 77. Frazier was born in Elk County, Pennsylvania, on July 30, 1929. He began performing on the regional stage in the late 1950s before moving to California. He performed frequently at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, California. He was seen in numerous Shakespeare productions, and often played the role of the rotund Falstaff. Frazier also appeared in film and television from the 1960s, with roles in such films as McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), The Christian Licorice Store (1971), Eat My Dust (1976), and An Enemy of the People (1978). He guest starred on television in episodes of Batman, Hill Street Blues, Wildside, Hunter, Cheers and Lifestories. He also appeared as Van Ripper in an 1987 adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on Tall Tales and Legends. Frazier’s resemblance to Santa Claus gained him numerous roles as St. Nick. He brought Christmas cheer to episodes of Cheers, Night Court, and Knots Landing. He also played Santa the 1992 film Deep Cover, and the tele-films The Elf Who Saved Christmas (1992) and The Elf and the Magic Key (1993). Frazier appeared as King

Katy French

FRIENDLY , ED Television producer Ed Friendly, who was instrumental in creating the series Laugh-In and Little House on the Prairie, died of cancer at his home in Rancho Santa Fe on June 17, 2007. He was 85. Friendly was born in New York City on April 8, 1922. He served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific during World War II and began working in advertising after the war. He became a sales executive at ABC in 1949 and worked as a producer at CBS in the 1950s. He joined NBC in 1959 as vice president of special

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programs. Friendly partnered with George Schlatter in 1967 to form an independent production company. The following year they had a huge hit producing the comedy variety series Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Friendly’s wife and teenage daughter were instrumental in bringing his attention to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books. He secured the screen rights for the novels and produced the subsequent television adaptation, starring Michael Landon as the Ingalls’ patriarch. Little House on the Prairie was aired on NBC from 1974 to 1983, and spawned several tele-films sequels. Friendly returned to the original stories in 2005 to produce a mini-series for ABC. During his career, Friendly also produced the 1976 tele-film Young Pioneers, and subsequent 1978 series. He earned Emmy nominations for the 1977 tele-film Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion and the 1979 mini-series Backstairs at the White House. His other production credits in the tele-films The Flame Is Love (1979) and The Ladies (1987).

lar jazz standard “Detour Ahead” during that period, which was recorded by such stars as Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn. He also wrote the songs “I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out!” and “Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel.” He worked as a studio musician on commercials and backing such singers as Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, and Julie Andrews from the late 1940s through the 1970s. He began playing the jazz violin in the 1980s, performing with Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, and Herb Ellis on the 1987 recordings Triple Treat II and Triple Treat III. He appeared several times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson after taking up the violin.

FRIGO, JOHNNY Jazz violinist and bassist Johnny Frigo died after a long battle with cancer at a Chicago, Illinois, hospital on July 4, 2007. He was 90. Frigo was born in Chicago on December 27, 1916. He performed as a bassist with the U.S. Coast Guard band during World War II, and toured with Jimmy Dorsey’s orchestra from 1945 to 1947. He also wrote the popu-

FROST, LEE Lee Frost, who directed numerous exploitation films in the 1960s and 1970s, died on May 25, 2007. He was 71. Frost was born in Globe, Arizona, on August 14, 1935. He began directing films in the early 1960s, often under the name R.L. Frost. Most of his works were low budget, drive-in fare, that included the cult nudie horror film House on Bare Mountain (1962). His other 1960s exploitation credits include Surftide 77 (1962), Hollywood’s World of Flesh (1963), Love Is a 4-Letter Word (1964), The Defilers (1965), The Forbidden (1966), Mondo Freudo (1966), Mondo Bizarro (1966), The Animal (1968), Hot Spur (1968), The Pick-Up (1968), The Scavengers (1969), and Love Camp 7 (1969). Frost continued his career through the 1970s, often using such pseudonyms as Franklin G. Perl, Elov Peterssons, Leoni Valteentin, David Kayne, and Carl Borcht. Frost directed, and often scripted, the features Zero In and Scream (1970), Ride Hard, Ride Wild (1970), Witchcraft ’70 (1970), Surftide Female Factory (1971), Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), Chain Gang Women (1971), Two for the Money (1972), Slaves in Cages (1972), the cult horror classic The Thing with Two Heads (1972), Policewomen (1974), The Erotic Adventures of Poor Cecily (1974), The Black Gestapo (1975), A Climax of Blue Power (1976), Dixie Dynamite (1976), The Boob Tube Strikes Again! (1977), Sweet Captive (1979), and Sweet Dreams Suzan (1980). Frost also scripted the satanic horror film Race with the Devil (1975) starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. He also appeared in several films directed by himself or friends, including The Scavengers (1969), The Thing with Two

Johnny Frigo

Lee Frost (from The Black Gestapo)

Ed Friendly

129 Heads (1972), Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973), Garden of the Dead (1974), The Black Gestapo (1975), and Dixie Dynamite (1976). Frost was later an executive producer for Hell Riders (1984), and directed, scripted, and appeared in the psychological thriller Private Obsession in 1995.

FRYER, FRITZ Fritz Fryer, lead guitarist for the British 1960s pop band the Four Pennies, died from pancreatic cancer in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 2, 2007. He was 62. He was born David Roderick Carney Fryer in Oldham, Lancashire, England, on December 6, 1944. He began playing in bands in the late 1950s, teaming with Mike Wilson as the guitar duo, the Fables. He and Wilson joined with vocalist Lionel Morton and drummer Alan Buck to form the Four Pennies in the early 1960s. They performed several hit songs including “Black Girl,” “Juliet,” “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” and “No More Sad Songs for Me” before breaking up in 1966. Fryer subsequently formed the group Fritz, Mike and Mo. He later worked as a record producer for such hard rock bands as Motorhead and Stackridge.

2007 • Obituaries

(1960), Bonchi (1960), The Woman Who Touched the Legs (1960), A False Student (1960), The Age of Marriage (1961), A Lustful Man (1961), Ten Dark Women (1961), Onna no Kunsh (1961), Ghost Story of Kakui Street (1961), Kodachi o Tsukau Onna (1961), A Family Matter (1962), Onnakeizu (1962), Stolen Pleasure (1962), The Outcast (1962), The Black Test Car (1962), Being Two Isn’t Easy (1962), The Graceful Brute (1962), Fred Tattoo (1963), The Money Dance (1963), An Actor’s Revenge (1963), Lies (1963), Modern Fraudulent Story: Racoon (1964), Modern Fraudulent Story: Cheat (1964), Kizudarake no Sanga (1964), All Mixed Up (1964), Black Express (1964), Forest of No Escape (1965), and Obi o Toku Natsuko (1965). He starred as Dr. Hidaka in the first Gamera film in 1965, and was Dr. Shiga in the later epic of the giant flying turtle Gamera vs. Guiron (aka Attack of the Monsters) in 1969. His other films include Freezing Point (1966), The Great White Tower (1966), The Litte Runaway (1966), Ambassador Ramen (1967), Yoru no Wana (1967), When the Cookie Crumbles (1967), The Smell of Poison (1967), The Ghostly Trap (1968), Army Nakano School: War Broke Out Last Night (1968), Blind Beast (1969), Thousand Cranes (1969), Tora-san’s Rise and Fall (1975), and Seinen no Ki (1977). Funakoshi largely retired from the screen in the late 1970s.

Fritz Fryer (left, with the Four Pennies)

FUNAKOSHI, EIJI Japanese actor Eiji Funakoshi died of a stroke in Japan on March 17, 2007. He was 84. Funakoshi was born in Tokyo, Japan, on March 17, 1923. He began his career in films with Daiei in 1947 and made his film debut in Beautiful Enemy (1948). Funakoshi continued to appear in such films as Himitsu (1952), Older Brother, Younger Sister (1953), Golden Demon (1953), Aru Onna (1954), Shunkin Monogatari (1954), Hotaru no Hikari (1955), A Girl Isn’t Allowed to Love (1955), Bridge of Japan (1956), Odoriko (1957), Nagasugita Haru (1957), Leaves of Night (1957), Hole in One (1957), Warm Current (1957), The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958), Woman of Osaka (1958), Akasen No Hi Wa Kiezu (1958), A Daring Man (1958), Yoru no Sugao (1958), Undutiful Street (1958), Goodbye, Hello (1959), Sasameyuki (1959), The Most Valuable Wife (1959), Yoru no Tog yo (1959), Flood (1959), and Jirocho Fuji (1959). Funakoshi received acclaim for his performance as Tamura in Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain in 1959. He continued his career in such films as The Love of a Friend (1960), A Woman’s Testament (1960), The Wandering Princess (1960), Afraid to Die

Eiji Funakoshi

FUX, HERBERT Austrian actor Herbert Fux died in Salzburg, Austria, after a long illness on March 13, 2007. He was 79. Fux was born in Hallein, Austria, on March 25, 1927. He was a frequent performer on stage, film and television from the early 1960s. Fux’s many film credits include Everyman (1961), Mann im Schatten (1961), The Bandit and the Princess (1962), Lulu (1962), Der Rote Rausch (1962), Adorable Julia (1962), The Invisible Terror (1963), The Black Cobra (1963), Is Geraldine an Angel? (1963), Condemned to Sin (1964), Killer’s Carnival (1966), Das Madchen mit dem Sechsten Sinn (1966), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Pension Clausewitz (1967), Kommissar X — Drei Grune Hunde (1967), Dead Run (1967), House of 1,000 Dolls (1967), Operation St. Peter’s (1967), Beyond the Law (1968), The Long Day of Inspector Blomfield (1968), Assignment K (1968), Moment’s Caress (1968), The Gorilla of Soho (1968), Andrea the Nympho (1968), Hate Is My God (1969), Three-Cornered Bed

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(1969), Deadly Shots on Broadway (1969), Island of Lost Girls (1969), The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969), Angels of the Street (1969), Mark of the Devil (1970), The Erotic Adventures of Hansel and Gretel (1970), Gentlemen in White Vests (1970), Eugenie ... The Story of Her Journey into Perversion (1970), Bite Me, Darling (1970), Michel Strogoff (1970), Konig Drosselbart (1971), Tante Trude aus Buxtehude (1971), Ore di Terrore (1971), Lady Frankenstein (1971), War Is Hell (1972), Bandera Bandits (1972), The Sex Shop (1972), Little Funny Guy (1973), Night Flight from Moscow (1973), View from the Loft (1974), Hey Marie, I Need More Sleep (1974), Der Teufel in Miss Jonas (1974), Undine 74 (1974), Mundl — You Can’t Bring a Good Viennese Man Down (1975), Trinity Plus the Clown and a Guitar (1975), The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975), Jack the Ripper (1976), Rosemaries Tochter (1976), The Elixirs of the Devil (1976), Chinese Miracle (1977), Love Letters from a Portuguese Nun (1977), Woman in Hospital (1977), The Expulsion from Paradise (1977), Drei Schwedinnen in Oberbayern (1977), The Serpent’s Egg (1978), Son of Hitler (1978), Lady Dracula (1978), Uranium Conspiracy (1978), Popcorn and Ice Cream (1978), Love ’n’ Leather Pants (1979), Iron Hand (1979), Himmel, Scheich und Wolkenbruch (1979), Cola, Candy, Chocolate (1979), Werner Herzog’s Woyzeck (1979), Traumbus (1979), Why Do the UFOs Steal Our Lettuce (1980), Gentle, but Sassy Like Oskar (1980), What a Mess (1982), Happy Weekend (1983), Plem, Plem — Die Schule Brennt (1983), Big Mac (1985), Three Crazy Jerks (1987), Bavaria Blue (1990), German Guy Sexy! The Story of Ilona and Kurti (1991), Night on Fire (1993), The Three Musketeers (1993), An Ideal Candidate (1994), You Drive Me Crazy (1994), Black Flamingos — Sie Lieben Euch zu Tode (1998), Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999), Professor Niedlich (2001), and Silentiunm (2004). Fux also appeared on television in productions of Das Messer (1971), Der Illegale (1972), Harte 10 (1974), 21 Hours at Munich (1976), Exil (1981), The Mysterious Stranger (1982), Das Schone irre Judenmadchen (1984), Die Schwarzen Bruder (1984), The Ox War (1987), Holleisengretl (1995), Stockinger (1996), Ein Idealer Kandidat (1997), A Heavenly Gamble (2002), Paradies in den Bergen (2004), Ein Paradies fur Tiere (2005), and Ein Paradies for Pferde (2006), and in episodes of Das

Kriminalmuseum, Dem Tater auf der Spur, Tatort, Der Kleine Doktor, Munchner Geschichten, Der Anwalt, SOKO 5113, Der Alte, Schwqarz Rot Gold, Der Schwammerlkonig, Kaisermuhlen Blues, Cluedo — Das Morderspiel, Zwei Munchner in Hanburg, Der Bulle von Tolz, Die Wache, SOKO Kitzbuhel, Pfarrer Braun, and SOKO Donau. Fux was also active in Austrian politics, serving on the Salzburg local council, and as a national delegate for the Green Party.

GAAL, ISTVAN Hungarian film director Istvan Gaal died in Hungary after a long illness on September 25, 2007. He was 74. Gaal was born in Salgotarjan, Hungary, on August 25, 1933. He studied at Budapest’s Academy Theater and Film Art, graduating in 1957. He directed several shorts and documentaries, and wrote and edited Sandor Sara’s 1962 documentary Gypsies. A leader of Hungary’s New Wave cinema, he directed his first feature film, Sodrassban (Current) in 1963. He continued to direct and write such films as Green Years (1965), Kronika (1967), Baptism (1968), Tiz eves Kuba (1969), and Bartok Bela: Az Ejszaka Zeneje (1970). He earned international acclaim for his 1970 film The Falcons, receiving a Jury Prize from the Cannes Film Festival. His other film credits include Dead Landscape (1972), Legato (1978), Cserepek (1980), Ejszaka (1998), and Romai Szonata (1996). He also worked in television, directing such productions as Unalmukban (1976), L’Autre Rive (1976), Naponta ket Vonat (1977), Halaltanc (1981), Orpheus and Eurydice (1986), Peer Gynt (1988), and Kerala (2005).

Istvan Gaal

GABRIEL, LAWRENCE Actor Lawrence V. Gabriel, Jr., died in San Gabriel, California, on July 13, 2007. He was 70. Gabriel was born on May 22, 1937, and raised in Totowa Boro, New Jersey. He began his career on stage in New Jersey and moved to Los Angeles in 1966. He also taught English and drama there for the next 35 years. He appeared in several films from the 1970s including Truck Turner (1974), Video Vixens (1975), Jim the World’s Greatest (1976), Trackdown (1976), The Muppet Movie (1979), and Cavegirl (1985). In recent years Gabriel served as executive producer of the films The Job (2003), The Hard Easy (2005), and Vacuuming the Cat (2007). Herbert Fux

131 GAGNON, BERTRAND Canadian actor Bertrand Gagnon died in Quebec, Canada, on March 2, 2007. He was 80. Gagnon appeared in numerous film and television productions in Quebec from the 1950s. He was featured in the films Delivrez-nous du Mal (1966), Exile (1972), L’Apparition (1972), A Few Acres of Snow (1972), Trois fois Passera (1973), Bingo (1974), Lies My Father Told Me (1975), Beat (1976), Cordelia (1980), Yesterday (1981), and Lucien Brouillard (1983). Gagnon was also featured in such television productions as Bien dans sa Peau (1976), Duplessis (1977), As, Les (1977), Au Jour le Jour (1980), and Une Vie (1982).

2007 • Obituaries

GAINES, LEONARD Actor and producer Leonard Gaines died at his home in West Hollywood, California, on February 15, 2007. He was 84. Gaines was born on October 13, 1922. He worked as a comedy writer for the Sid Caesar Show in the 1950s and produced musical revues. During the 1960s he wrote and produced several comedy records and produced early televised heavyweight boxing championship bouts. Gaines made his screen debut in Martin Scorsese’s 1978 film Blue Collar. He served as executive producer on the 1979 comedy film Going in Style, and continued acting in small roles in such films as Hardcore (1979), Rocky II (1979), Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), The Idolmaker (1980), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Scent of a Woman (1992). He was also seen in the 1981 telefilm The Two Lives of Carol Letner, and an episode of Fame.

Bertrand Gagnon

GAI, CLAUDE Canadian actor and comedian Claude Gai died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on February 2, 2007. He was 70. Gai was born in Montreal on August 13, 1936. He was a popular performer from the 1970s, appearing in such films as Once Upon a Time in the East (1974), Eliza’s Horoscope (1975), The Head of Normande St. Onge (1975), The Late Blossom (1977), Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1978), Amuse-Gueule (1984), Heads or Tails (1997), The Seat of the Soul (1997), and Hochelaga (2000). Gai was also featured in television productions of Les Anglais sont Arrives (1976), A Cause de Mon Oncle (1977), Les Fils de la Liberte (1981), Les Tisserands du Pouvoir (1988), Super Sans Plomb (1989), and Bunker, le Cirque (2002).

GALATIKOVA , VERA Czech actress Vera Galatikova died of lung cancer in Kladno, Czech Republic, on December 21, 2007. She was 69. Galatikova was born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, on August 19, 1938. She was active in films from the late 1960s, appearing in All My Compatriots (1968), Valley of the Bees (1968), Nudity (1970), Leto s Kovbojem (1976), Smoke on the Potato Fields (1976), Shadow of a Flying Bird (1977), Jakub (1977), Kam Nikdo Nesmi (1979), Julek (1980),

Claude Gai

Vera Galatikova

Leonard Gaines

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La Chanson du Mal Aime (1981), Laska s Vuni Pryskyrice (1984), Clovek Proti Zkaze (1989), Skylarks on a String (1990), Return to Paradise Lost (1999), Landscape (2000), Angel Exit (2000), and Wild Flowers (2000). Galatikova was also featured as the Dispatcher in the 1984 television series Sanitka, and was Perinova in Cetnicke Humoresky in the early 2000s. Her other television credits include such productions as My Vsichni Skolou Povinni (1984), Cizi Holka (1984), Vlak Detstvi a Nadeje (1989), Gambit (2000), and Karlinska Balada (2001).

GANNON, BEN Australian stage, film and television producer Ben Gannon died of cancer in Tanarama, New South Wales, Australia, on January 4, 2007. He was 54. Gannon was born in Maffra, Victoria, Australia, on September 23, 1952. He began his career in films in the early 1980s, serving as an associate producer for Peter Weir’s war drama Gallipoli. He started View Films in 1984, producing such features as Travelling North (1987), The Girl Who Came Late (1991), Sweet Talker (1991), Hammers Over the Anvil (1993), The Heartbreak Kid (1993), and The Man Who Sued God (2001). He also produced such television productions as Shout! The Story of Johnny O’Keefe (1985) and Shadow of the Cobra (1989), and the series Heartbreak High, Wildside, and Head Start. He was best known for developing and producing the stage musical The Boy from Oz, about Australian singer Peter Allen. It premiered in Sydney in 1998 and had a successful run on Broadway in 2003, starring Hugh Jackman.

Ruby Garcia

GARDNER, JOHN Writer John Gardner, who was best known as successor to Ian Fleming on the James Bond series, died in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, on August 3, 2007. He was 80. Gardner was born in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, England, on November 20, 1926. After varied careers as an Anglican priest, Marine commando and stage magician he began working as a drama critic in the late 1950s. His 1964 novel The Liquidator introduced the character of cowardly secret agent Boysie Oakes. He continued to write over 50 thrillers, resurrecting Sherlock Holmes’ arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty in 1974’s The Return of Moriarty and introducing Big Herbie Kruger in 1979’s The Nostradamus Traitor. His novel A Complete State of Death was adapted to film as The Stone Killer in 1973. Gardner achieved his greatest fame when he was selected by the literary copyright owners of secret agent James Bond to further his adventures in a series of novels. The first new Bond novel Licence Renewed was published in 1981. Thirteen subsequent Bond tales followed including Nobody Lives Forever (1986), When, Lose, or Die (1989) and The Man from Barbarossa (1991). Gardner moved to the United States in 1989, where medical problems including a bout with esophageal cancer left him nearly bankrupt less than a decade later. Returning to England, Gardner resumed his writing career, creating the new character World War II heroine Suzie Montford. A fifth volume of her adventures

Ben Gannon

GARCIA, RUBY Actress Ruby Correa, who performed under the stage name Ruby Garcia, was found dead in her apartment in Sunnyvale, California, on August 25, 2007. She was 40. She and her husband, David Garcia, were both found when neighbors reported a foul smell to the police. The deaths remained a subject of investigation by the local police, but it appeared that the two had died of an overdose of drugs and alcohol several weeks before the discovery of their bodies. Garcia was featured in the 2007 camp horror film Pocahauntus, about the spirit of an Indian maiden seeking vengeance for her tribe’s massacre.

John Gardner

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The Human Enemy was slated for publication later in 2007, and his final work The Redemption of Moriarty was completed shortly before his death.

GASCOINE, PHIL British comic artist Phil Gascoine died after a brief illness in England in August 2007. He was 73. Gascoine was born in England on June 8, 1934. He began working as a commercial artist in the late 1950s, drawing such British titles as Bunty and School Friend, Jinty and The Sarge. Gascoine also worked as an illustrator with Marvel UK on The Punisher, and drew or inked such DC titles as The Unknown Soldier, Tank Girl: Apocalypse, Eg ypt, and Shade, the Changing Man for the U.S. market. Wolfgang Gasser

Phil Gascoine

GASSER, WOLFGANG Austrian actor Wolfgang Gasser died in Vienna on May 20, 2007. He was 79. Gasser was born in Wolfsberg, Austria, on May 31, 1927. He began his career on stage in Baden, Austria, performing in operas in the mid–1950s. He became a leading stage performer in Vienna later in the decade. Gasser also appeared frequently in films and television productions from the early 1960s. His film credits include Everyman (1961), Der Verschwender (1964), Third of November 1918 (1965), Situation (1973), Parapsycho — Spektrum der Angst (1975), To the Bitter End (1975), Mein Seliger Onkel (1977), The Inheritors (1982), Eine Kleine Erfischung (1994), Poet’s Princess (1994), Deadly Love (1995), and My Mother’s Courage (1995). Gasser also appeared on television in productions of Ostwind (1967), Kaiser Karls letzte Schlacht (1971), Theodor Kardinal Innitzer (1971), Es Begann bei Tiffany (1979), Ringstrassenpalais (1980), Das Dorf an der Grenze (1982), Heisse Tage im Juli (1984), Morning Terror (1985), Der Vierte Mann (1988), Heldenplatz (1989), Anna und Anna (1989), Lenin: The Train (1990), Der Schwierige (1991), Tonino and Toinette (1994), A Perfect Scoundrel (1994), Lovers (1995), Geschafte (1995), Night of Nights (1997), Clarissa (19980, Emilia Galotti (2003), Dinner for Two (2003), Zuckeroma (2004), Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (2005), Mord auf Rezept (2006), and Konig Ottokars Gluck und Ende (2006). His other television credits include episodes of Der Kommissar, Der Alte, and Polizeiruf 110.

GATES, TUDOR British screenwriter Tudor Gates, who scripted the Hammer horror films The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil, died of heart disease in Birchington, Kent, England, on January 12, 2007. He was 76. Gates was born in Hoxton, London, England, on January 2, 1930, and was raised in London’s East End. He began his career in the theater as a stage manager and made his debut as a writer with The Guv’nor in 1955. He was soon writing for television, scripting episodes of such series as Ghost Squad, Sir Francis Drake, Man of the World, The Sentimental Agent, The Villains, Vendetta, Strange Report, and The Sweeney. Gates also wrote the films Dateline Diamonds (1966), Danger: Diabolik! (1968), and Better a Widow (1969), and was one of several scripters to work on Roger Vadim’s 1968 science fiction film Barbarella. He wrote a trilogy of female vampire films for Hammer in the early 1970s loosely based on Sheridan le Fanu’s Gothic classic Carmilla. The films included The Vampire Lovers (1970) starring Ingrid Pitt and Peter Cushing, Lust for a Vampire (1971) starring Yutte Stensgaard and Ralph Bates, and Twins of Evil (1971) starring Peter Cushing and twin Playboy Playmates Madelaine and Mary Collinson. He also scripted the 1971 thriller Fright, and the drama The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973) starring Peter Sellers. Gates also scripted several British sex comedies, usually using the pseudonyms Teddy White and Edward Hyde. They included The Love Box (1972)

Tudor Gates

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which he also directed, The Sex Thief (1973), Three for All (1975), Intimate Games (1976) which he also directed, and Confessions of the Naughty Nymphos (1980). His plays, Who Killed Agatha Christie?, The Kidnap Game, and Who Saw Him Die? had successful runs in the West End. He also wrote for the 1980 television series Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

GAY, GIT Swedish actress and singer Git Gay died in Malmo, Sweden, on July 2, 2007. She was 85. She was born Birgit Agda Holmberg in Karlshamn, Sweden, on July 13, 1921. She began her career performing in revues in the late 1940s. She remained a popular stage performer in Sweden over the next two decades. She was also seen in such films as Lattjo med Boccaccio (1949), Spoke pa Semester (1951), The Exploits of Private Karlsson (1951), Blondie, Biffen, och Bananen (1952), Skrattbomben (1954), Dreams (1955), Flottans Overman (1958), Only a Waiter (1959), Lejon pa Stan (1959), Oss Atomforskere i Mellom (1961), Haj du Glada Sommar!!! (1965), and Daddy, Why Are You Angry (1968). She was the creator of the modern restaurant performances in Sweden with The Git Gay Show in Gothenburg in 1960. In recent years she was featured on television hosting revues.

adise, Bonanza, and Combat! He produced and directed 1957’s The James Dean Story, and wrote and produced the 1961 film The Two Little Bears. He also produced the films Pretty Polly (1967), Twisted Nerve (1968), Night Watch (1973), Naughty Schoolgirls (1976), Rich Kids (1979), and My Dinner with Andre (1981). George made his Broadway producing debut with the Tony-nominated play Dylan in 1964. He produced eight subsequent Broadway productions including the hits Any Wednesday, Ben Franklin in Paris, and Bedroom Farce.

George W. George

Git Gay

GEORGE, GEORGE W. Screenwriter turned Broadway producer George W. George died in New York City on November 7, 2007. He was 87. George was born in New York on February 20, 1920. He began working in films in the late 1940s, writing Robert Altman’s 1948 feature Bodyguard. George also wrote the films I Married a Communist (1949), The Nevadan (1950), Pegg y (1950), Experiment Alcatraz (1950), Mystery Submarine (1950), Red Mountain (1951), Week-End with Father (1951), Thunder Bay (1953), City of Bad Men (1953), The Rocket Man (1954), Big House, U.S.A. (1955), Smoke Signal (1955), Desert Sands (1955), Uranium Boom (1956), The Halliday Brand (1957), Fort Dobbs (1958), Apache Territory (1958), and The Son of Robin Hood (1958). George also worked frequently in television from the mid–1950s, often collaborating with his wife, Judy George, on episodes of The Loretta Young Show, My Friend Flicka, Alcoa Theatre, The Rifleman, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Hong Kong, Adventures in Par-

GERBER, ROY Talent agent Roy Gerber, who served as the inspiration for the character of Oscar Madison in Neil Simon’s comedy The Odd Couple, died of complications from a brain tumor at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on August 21, 2007. He was 82. Gerber was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 23, 1925. He began his career in show business as a trumpet player, and entertained troops with the special services during World War II. After the war he began working as a theatrical agent in New York, and joined with Music Corp. of America (MCA) in 1953. He headed up MCA’s office in Las Vegas for most of the decade, booking such stars as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Betty Grable, and Victor Borge. He joined Genera Artists Corp. in the early 1960s where he represented such popular performers as the Beatles, the Mamas and the Papas, Tom Jones, and Richard Pryor. After Gerber’s divorce from his first wife in the early 1960s, he and comedy writer Danny Simon, the brother of playwright Neil, moved in together. The sloppy, womanizing Gerber and the neat and fastidious Simon inspired the equally ill-matched pair of Oscar and Felix for Neil Simon’s hit Broadway play. A hit feature film starring Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon followed, as did a popular television series with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. Gerber continued to work as a talent agent, forming Roy Gerber and Associates in 1978. He managed such stars as Diahann Carroll, Sid Caesar, Shirley Jones, and Arsenio Hall until his retirement in 2002. GERLACH , VIRGIL CALVIN Writer and filmmaker Virgil Calvin Gerlach died in a Ventura, California, hospital on January 14, 2007. He was 82.

135 Gerlach was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1924. He became interested in making films as a child and made his first short movie, King of the West, at the age of 12. He also produced several other early films including Redcoat Dispatch, The Swamp Fox, and Disputed Territory. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1940s where he became a story editor, and worked at Disney Studios as a free-lance writer. Several of his scripts were produced as episodes of the television western series Death Valley Days in the early 1960s. He also authored the original story for the 1967 European western film I Crudeli (aka The Cruel Ones).

GHOSTLEY, ALICE Veteran character actress Alice Ghostley died of cancer at her home in Studio City, California, on September 21, 2007. She was 81. Ghostley was born in Eve, Missouri, on August 14, 1926. She began her career on stage in the early 1950s and appeared on Broadway in the variety revue New Faces of 1952. A decade later, she earned a Tony nomination for her performance in S.J. Perelman’s The Beauty Part in 1963. She received a Tony for best supporting actress in 1965 for her role in Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. She was also a frequent performer on television from the 1950s. She appeared in a 1957 production of Cinderella as a Wicked Stepsister, and was featured in the 1960 version of Shangri-La. She also appeared in episodes of Freedom Rings, The Best of Broadway, Playwrights ’56, Dow Hour of Great Mysteries, The Tom Ewell Show, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Play of the Week, Car 54, Where Are You?, The United States Steel Hour, Pantomime Quiz, Naked City, The Trials of O’Brien, Hollywood Squares, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, The Farmer’s Daughter, Captain Nice, Get Smart, The Mothers-in-Law, The Queen and I, It Takes a Thief, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Odd Couple, Mayberry R.F.D., Hogan’s Heroes, Nichols, The Julie Andrews Hour, Temperatures Rising, Ghost Story, Here We Go Again, Love, American Style, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Big Eddie, Maude, Monster Squad, What’s Happening!!, Good Times, CHiPs, Police Woman, Family, One Day at a Time, Chico and the Man, Gimme a Break!, Trapper John, M.D., Tales from the Darkside, Highway to Heaven, Stir Crazy, What’s Happening Now!, Simon & Simon, Punky Brewster, The Golden Girls, Small Wonder, B.L. Stryker, Daddy Dearest, Cobra, Diagnosis Murder, The Client, Touched by an Angel, Cybill, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Dharma & Greg. She was also a voice actor in the animated series Rugrats and Disney’s Hercules. Ghostley was perhaps best known for her role as the ditzy witch Esmeralda on the classic sit-com Bewitched from 1966 to 1972, and as wacky friend Bernice Clifton on Designing Women from 1986 to 1993. She also appeared in the recurring role of Ima Wallingsford in Evening Shade with Burt Reynolds from 1992 to 1994, and was Matilda Matthews on the supernatural soap opera Passions in 2000. Her other television credits include the tele-films Two on a Bench (1971), Katmandu (1980), The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (1984), Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer (1990), and Izzy’s Quest for Olympic Gold (1995). Ghostley made her film debut as Aunt Stepha-

2007 • Obituaries

nie Crawford in the Oscar-winning 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. She was also featured in such films as My Six Loves (1963), The Flim-Flam Man (1967), The Graduate (1967), With Six You Get Eggroll (1968), Viva Max! (1969), Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973), Blue Sunshine (1976), Gator (1976), Record City (1978), Rabbit Test (1978), the hit musical Grease (1978) as Mrs. Murdock, Not for Publication (1984), The Odd Couple II (1998), Addams Family Reunion (1998) as Granny, Palmer’s Pick Up (1999), and Mothers and Daughters (2002).

Alice Ghostley

GIANCARLO , LUCIANO Actor Luciano Giancarlo Guizzardi died of complications from pneumonia and cancer on July 16, 2007. He was 36. He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on April 13, 1971, and raised in Bologna, Italy. He returned to the United States in the early 1990s where he embarked on an acting career. He was featured in the 2001 film Gypsy Rose, and appeared on television in episodes of What I Like About You, Will & Grace, Arrested Development, Gilmore Girls, and Out of Practice.

Luciano Giancarlo

GIBSON, LOIS Film writer Lois Gibson died in Malibu, California, after a long illness on May 6, 2007. She was 77. Gibson was born in New York City on January 21, 1930. She began her career in the late 1940s working as an editor and translator for the Ballan-

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tine paperback book company. She moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s where she worked at CBS Television in the story department. She worked on such series as The Untouchables, Shirley Temple Storybook, The Fugitive, The Invaders, Quincy, and Kay O’Brien. Gibson also wrote the story for the 1973 horror film Crypt of the Living Dead (aka Young Hannah, Queen of the Vampires).

GILBERT, PEGGY Musician Peggy Gilbert, who led the first all-female jazz band from the early 1920s, died of complications from hip surgery in a Burbank, California, hospital on February 19, 2007. She was 102. Gilbert was born Margaret “Peggy” Knechtges in Sioux City, Iowa, on January 17, 1905. She took her mother’s maiden name when she began to perform professionally. She led the female jazz band, the Melody Girls, after graduating from high school in 1923. Gilbert moved to Los Angeles in 1928 and continued to perform at local night spots. She and her band also performed in several films including The Wet Parade (1932), Melody for Two (1937), and The Great Waltz (1938). She became leader of KMPC Radio’s all-woman band, the Early Girls, in 1938, and led CBS’s Victory Belles band in the early 1940s. During the 1950s and 1960s she worked with the musician’s union in various secretarial capacities. She retired from the union in 1970, and formed a new group, the Dixie Belles, four years later at the age of 69. She and the band performed on such television variety shows as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and appeared in episodes of the sit-coms The Golden Girls, Dharma & Greg, Married with Children, and The Ellen Show. Musicologist Jeannie Pool recently completed a documentary about her career, Pegg y Gilbert and Her All-Girl Band, narrated by Lily Tomlin.

George Giles (from Doctor Who)

a familiar face on British television from the late 1950s, appearing in episodes of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Barnaby Rudge, You Can’t Win, Maigret, Barbara in Black, William, The Avengers, The Saint, Swizzlewick, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly, Redcap, The Baron, Quick Before They Catch Us, King of the River, Orlando, Doctor Who, The First Lady, Paul Temple, Virgin of the Secret Service, Play of the Month, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Public Eye, Z Cars, Van der Valk, Special Branch, Microbes and Men, Angels, Two’s Company, ITV Playhouse, Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Juliet Bravo, Campion, All Creatures Great and Small, Maigret, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, and Crime Traveler. He also appeared in television productions of The Government Inspector (1958), A Wedding (1961), David Copperfield (1974) as Mr. Chillip, To Serve Them All My Days (1980), The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981) as Lord Curzon, I Remember Nelson (1982), Swallows and Amazons Forever!: Coot Club (1984), and After Pilkington (1987). Gill was also seen in a handful of films during his long career including This Sporting Life (1963), Night Must Fall (1964), Privilege (1967), The Whistle Blower (1986), and The Land Girls (1998).

Peggy Gilbert

GILES, GEORGE British actor George Giles died in England on August 17, 2007. Giles appeared frequently on British television during the 1970s, with roles in such series as The Wednesday Play, The Troubleshooters, Z Cars, Paul Temple, Bless This House, and Doctor Who. GILL, JOHN British character actor John Gill died in England on March 29, 2007. He was 94. Gill began his career on stage in the early 1930s. He became

John Gill

GILLIES , GREG Canadian professional wrestler Greg Gillies, who competed under such names as Mr. Gillis and Doby Gillis, died of a heart attack at

137 his home in British Columbia, Canada, on December 23, 2007. He was 44. Gillies was born in Coronach, Saskatchewan, Canada, on June 14, 1963. He began wrestling professionally in 1985, and was a popular star in Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Gillies also competed in Puerto Rico as the Lion, Mexico as Mr. Atlas, and the Kansas City area as Greg Montana. He was the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion in 1998.

2007 • Obituaries

of the popular soap The Young and the Restless in 1973. He spent nine years helming segments of The Young and the Restless and also was involved with the creation of its sister program The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987. Glen also directed the tele-films The Suicide Club (1973), House of Evil (1974), and After Hours from Janice, John, Mary and Michael, with Love (1976). He also helmed a segment of the 1976 television mini-series The Adams Chronicles.

GLYNN, JEANNE DAVIS Actress and television writer Jeanne Davis Glynn died of cancer in a New Fairfield, Connecticut, healthcare center on June 8, 2007. She was 75. Glynn was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 13, 1932. She performed on stage as an actress and director before becoming a script writer for television soap operas in the 1980s and 1990s. She earned five Emmy nominations for her work on such series as Guiding Light, General Hospital, As the World Turns, One Life to Live, and Port Charles. She won a Writer’s Guild of America Award for her work on Search for Tomorrow in 1984.

GLEN, BILL Television soap opera director Bill Glen died at his home in Palm Springs, California, on June 11, 2007. He was 74. Glen was born in Ottawa, Canada, on May 17, 1933. He began his career on stage while in his teens, performing with the Canadian Repertory Theatre. He later directed children’s programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Co. He went to New York in the late 1960s, where he directed the soap opera Where the Heart Is. He subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, where he was one of the original directors

GOLDER, SYD Syd Golder, a British bank robber turned actor and theatrical producer, died in London, England, on March 22, 2007. He was 83. Golder was born in South London on August 28, 1923. He embarked on a life of crime from an early age. He served several prison sentences including eight years for armed robbery in the 1960s. After his release he took a job as a handyman at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he became interested in the theatre. He was soon working with theatrical troupes as a stage manager before forming his own company, The Elephant Theatre, in the late 1970s. His company produced over twenty lunchtime productions a year, with Golder serving as artistic director. The heavyset performer also began appearing in films and television. He was seen in the tele-films The Old Curiousity Shop (1979) and The Long Firm (2004), and in episodes of Angels, Objects of Affection, Minder, Dempsey and Makepeace, Silent Witness, and My Hero. He was also featured in the films Nil by Mouth (1997), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and Skin Deep (2001). Golder wrote a somewhat fanciful autobiography, Ducking and Diving, in 2005.

Bill Glen

Syd Golder

Greg Gillies

GLAESER, HENRI French film director Henri Glaeser died in France on July 23, 2007. He was 78. Glaeser was born in Paris on June 18, 1929. He wrote and directed several films in the 1960s and 1970s including The Hand (1969), L’Homme aux Chats (1969), A Tear in the Ocean (1973), Andrea (1976), and 500 Grammes de Foie de Veau (1977).

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GOLDWATER, RICHARD Richard H. Goldwater, the president and publisher of Archie Comics, died of cancer in Greenwich, Connecticut, on October 2, 2007. He was 71. Goldwater was born on July 25, 1936. He was the son of John Goldwater, the cofounder of MLJ Comics, that later became better known as Archie Comic Publications. Richard joined his father’s company after college and rose to become president and co-publisher with Michael Silberkleit, son of another co-founder. The comic company was best known for the character of Archie, his girls and friends. The companies characters spawned several animated television series including Archie, Sabrina, and Josie and the Pussycats. Goldwater served as a consultant on the live action television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch which aired from 1996 to 2002. He was also the executive producer of Josie and the Pussycats feature film in 2001. Archie Comics also published such licensed properties as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Richard Goldwater

GOLLARD, JEROME Radio and television writer Jerome Gollard died in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 8, 2007. He was 93. Gollard was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 14, 1914. He worked in radio from the 1940s, writing for such programs as Duffy’s Tavern and The Shadow. He also wrote several films including Jinx Money (1948) and Inner Sanctum

Jerome Gollard

(1948). He moved to television in the 1950s, where he worked on such series as The Fugitive, Checkmate, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, King of Diamonds, and Mr. Lucky. Gollard was also the author of the 1953 mystery novel The Seventh Chasm.

GOMEZ, SERGIO Mexican singer Sergio Gomez, who was the lead singer of the popular group K-Paz de la Sierra, was found dead in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, on December 3, 2007. He was 34. He had been tortured and strangled to death and his body left along a highway. Gomez had been abducted the previous day after performing a concert in Morelia. Gomez was noted for his up-beat style known as “Pasito Duranguense,” recording such popular songs as “Volvere,” “Pero Te Vas A Arrepentir,” “Procuro Olvidarte,” and “Mi Credo.” Though Gomez was not thought to be involved in the drug trade, his death was believed to have been carried out by members of Mexico’s warring drug cartels.

Sergio Gomez (center, with members of his band)

GONZAGA, CASTRO Brazilian actor Castro Gonzaga died of multiple organ failure in Petropois, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 2, 2007. He was 89. Gonzaga was born in Cravinhos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on January 28, 1918. He was a leading film and television performer in Brazil from the 1950s. Gonzaga’s film credits include Rio 100 Degrees F. (1955), Essa Gatinha e Minha (1966), Mineirinho Vivo ou Morto (1967), A Marcha (1971), O Poderoso Machao (1974), Contos Eroticos (1977), O Inferno Comeca Agui (1982), and Os Trapalhoes na Serra Pelada (1982). Gonzaga’s numerous television credits include such productions as O Tempo e o Vento (1967), Os Diabolicos (1968), O? Direito dos Filhos (1968), Dez Vidas (1969), Toninho on the Rocks (1970), O Semideus (1973), Mulher (1974), Gabriela (1975), O Grito (1975), Saramandaia (1976), Dona Xepa (1977), Gina (1978), Os Gigantes (1979), O Homem Probido (1982), Grande Sertao: Veredas (1985), Dona Bejia (1986), Memorias de um Gigolo (1986), Mania de Querer (1986), Chapadao do Bugre (1988), Republica (1989), Felicidade (1991), Tereza Batista (1992), Anos Rebeldes (1992), Quem E Voce? (1996), Malhacao (1995), Labirinto (1998), O Cravo e a Rosa (2000), Brava Gente (2001), Kubanacan (2003), Alma Gernea (2005), Bang Bang (2005), and O Profeta (2006).

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Sonhadora (2001), Marisol (2002), Mulheres Apaixonadas (2003), and Belissima (2005). Gonzalez also appeared frequently in Brazilian films with such credits as The Evil Angel (1971), Incesto (1976), Os Indecentes (1980), Convite ao Prazer (1980), Bare Behind Bars (1980), O Inseto do Amor (1980), As Prostitutas do Dr. Alberto (1981), Eros, O Deus do Amor (1980), Sexo, Sua Unica Arma (1981), Retrato Falado de uma Mulher Sem Pudor (1982), Sexo as Avessas (1982), Estranho Desejo (1983), S.O.S. Sex-Shop (1984), Mulher ... Sexo ... Veneno (1984), Satanic Attraction (1990), and Acquariaz (2003).

Castro Gonzaga

GONZALEZ, BECKY Actress Becky Gonzalez Herrier died in Los Angeles on January 5, 2007. She was 51. Gonzalez was born on September 14, 1955. She appeared in several films including Young Doctors in Love (1982) and Night Shift (1982). She performed on television as a member of the Mighty Carson Art Players on The Tonight Show. She was also seen in episodes of Laverne and Shirley, The White Shadow, and Hart to Hart. Serafim Gonzalez

Becky Gonzalez

GONZALEZ, SERAFIM Brazilian actor Serafim Gonzalez died of heart failure in Santos, Sao Paul, Brazil, on April 29, 2007. He was 72. Gonzalez was born in Sertaozinho, Brazil, on May 19, 1934. He was a popular performer in Brazilian films and television from the 1960s. Gonzalez was featured in such television series as Sublime Amor (1967), O Pequeno Lord (1967), Legiao dos Esquecidos (1968), Os Estranhos (1969), Editora Mayo, Born Dia (1971), Os Inocentes (1974), Idolo de Pano (1974), Ovelha Negra (1975), A Viagem (1975), Um Sol Maior (1977), Aritana (1978), Roda de Fogo (1978), Gaivotas (1979), Fernando de Gata (1973), Jogo do Amor (1985), Memorias de um Gigolo (1986), Sampa (1988), A Historia de Ana Raio E Ze Trovao (1990), Felicidade (1991), Mulheres de Areia (1993), Tocaia Grande (1995), Antonio Alves, Taxista (1996), Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (1998), A Hiostoria de Ester (1998), Aquarela do Brasil (2000), Picara

GOORNEY , H OWARD British character actor Howard Goorney died in England on March 29, 2007. He was 85. Goorney was born in Manchester, England, on May 11, 1921. He began his career on stage in Joan Littlewood’s production of The Good Soldier Schweik in 1938. He was a co-founder of Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop two years later, and continued to perform with the company for the next thirty years. Goorney was featured in numerous stage productions, and began appearing frequently in films and television in the late 1950s. His film credits include the Hammer horror feature The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), The Hill (1965) with Sean Connery, Berserk! (1967) with Joan Crawford, Bedazzled (1967) as the deadly sin Sloth, Where’s Jack? (1969), Crucible of Horror (1970), You Can’t Win ’Em All (1970), Take a Girl You Like (1970), Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Offence (1972), Innocent Bystanders (1972), Savage Messiah (1972), To the Devil ... a Daughter (1976), Fanny Hill (1983), Little Dorrit (1988), and Blackball (2003). He also appeared on television in productions of The Possessed (1969), The Six Wives of Henry VII (1970) as Will Somers, Four Idle Hands (1976), King Cinder (1977), Peter and Paul (1981), Private Schulz (1981), Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (1981), Othello (1981), The Borgias (1981), The Wall (1982), The Last Days of Pompeii (1984), Freud (1984), Jamaica Inn (1985), Bramwell II (1996), and Pat and Mo: Ashes to Ashes (2004). Goorney was also featured on television in episodes of Fair Game, The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre, Z Cars, Suspense, Moonstrike, The Avengers,

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Crane, The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, The Wednesday Play, No Hiding Place, Secret Agent, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Man in a Suitcase, Sherlock Holmes, Counterstrike, Special Branch, My Partner, the Ghost, Follyfoot, Ace of Wands, The Adventurer, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Leap in the Dark, Into the Labyrinth, All Creatures Great and Small, Only Fools and Horses, The Bill, Peak Practice, Rescue Me, Waking the Dead, and EastEnders.

(1971), Pancho Villa (1972) and Horror Express (1973) starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. His final film credit was as scripter for the 1981 feature Surfacing. His on-screen credits were restored to many of the films which he worked on under pseudonyms or fronts when the Writer’s Guild of America began correcting the inequities of the blacklist in the 1980s. Gordon remained politically involved throughout his life and was an outspoken critic of the decision to award an honorary Oscar to blacklist collaborator Elia Kazan in 1999. He was also the author of two memoirs, Hollywood Exile, or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist and The Gordon File: A Screenwriter Recalls Twenty Years of F.B.I. Surveillance.

Howard Goorney

GORDON, BERNARD Screenwriter Bernard Gordon, whose career was interrupted by the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, died after a long battle with cancer in Los Angeles, on May 11, 2007. He was 88. Gordon was born in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 29, 1918. He began his career in Hollywood in the early 1950s, where his first screen credit was as the writer of the boxing film Flesh and Fury, starring Tony Curtis, in 1952. He also scripted the films The Lawless Breed (1953) and Crime Wave (1954) before his career came to an abrupt halt when allegations of his former membership in the Communist Party were revealed to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Gordon continued to work in Hollywood under assumed names, penning Columbia’s The Law vs. Billy the Kid under the pseudonym John T. Williams. Writing as Raymond T. Marcus, Gordon also scripted or cowrote the films Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), Zombies of Mora Tau (1957), The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957), Hellcats of the Navy (1957) starring Ronald Reagan, Chicago Confidential (1957), Escape from San Quentin (1957), and The Case Against Brooklyn (1958). He also wrote the screen adaptation of John Wyndman’s classic science fiction tale of ambulatory maneating plants The Day of the Triffids (1962). Producer Phillip Yordin fronted for Gordon on the film, and received credit for the screenplay. Yordin was also Gordon’s front for Circus World (1964) and Battle of the Bulge (1965). Gordon was again allowed to receive credit under his own name with 1963’s 55 Days at Peking. He also scripted Cry of Battle (1963), The Thin Red Line (1964), Custer of the West (1967) and Krakatoa, East of Java (1969). Gordon produced several films in Spain in the early 1970s, including Bad Man’s River

Bernard Gordon

GORDON , BRUCE Disney Imagineer and historian Bruce Gordon died at his home in Glendale, California, on November 6, 2007. He was 56. Gordon was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on April 18, 1951, and was raised in California. He began his career at Disney as a model designer in 1980, constructing props for the Journey into Imagination exhibit at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center. He also contributed to such popular Disney theme park attractions as Splash Mountain, Tarzan’s Treehouse, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and “Finding Nemo” Submarine Voyage. Gordon was co-author of the 1998 book Disney-

Bruce Gordon

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land: The Nickel Tour, which told the history of the park through postcards. He was also the author of the books The Art of Disneyland, Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever, Walt Disney World: Then, Now and Forever, The Art of Walt Disney World, Ellenshaw Under Glass about special effects artist Peter Ellenshaw, and A Brush with Disney about illustrator Herb Ryman. He stepped down as project director at Walt Disney Imagineering in 2005 to become producer and creative consultant for the Walt Disney Family Museum.

GOSIENGFIAO , DIREK JOEY Philippine film director and producer Direk Joey Gosiengfiao died of a heart attack in Queson City, the Philippines, on March 16, 2007. He was 66. Gosiengfiao began directing films in the early 1970s, often with Regal Films. He helmed such features as Takbo Vilma Dali (1972), Fly, Darna, Fly! (1973), The Stupid Boyfriend (1976), Ang Kambal sa Uma (1979), Underage (1980), Bomba Star (1980), Bedspacer (1980), Nympha (1980), Katorse (1980), Temptation Island (1981), Blue Jeans (1981), 14 Going Steady (1984), When I Fall in Love (1986), Rape of Virginia P. (1989), and The Nights of Serafina (1991). Gosiengfiao worked mainly as producer from the 1990s, with such film credits as Dobol Dribol (1992), Bala at Lipstick (1994), Moises Arcanghel: Sa Guhit ng Bala (1996), Woman on a Tin Roof (1998), The Criminal of Barrio Concepcion (1998), Pahiram Kahit Sandali (1998), Sisa (1999), Fetch a Pail of Water (1999), Hope of the Heart (2000), Halik ng Sirena (2001), Xerex (2003), and Forever My Love (2004).

Direk Joey Gosiengfiao

GOSSETT, RONNIE P. Wrestling manager Ronnie P. Gossett died of colon cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital on July 24, 2007. He was 63. Gossett was born on May 19, 1944. He began working in wrestling as a ring announcer at events in the Chattanooga area from the late 1970s. He began managing wrestling villains in Memphis’ USWA promotion in 1989, and was appeared frequently at local events and on the weekly television program. He managed such wrestlers as Jerry “the King” Lawler and the Dirty White Boys. GOSTELOW , G ORDON British character actor Gordon Gostelow died in London on June 3,

Ronnie P. Gossett

2007. He was 82. Gostelow was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on May 14, 1925. He was raised in Australia and studied economics and mathematics at Sydney University. He was also active on stage and traveled to England in 1950 to pursue a career as an actor. He toured with small companies for several years and worked with the Ipswich Repertory Theatre. Gostelow made his debut in the West End in a production of Tennessee Williams’ Camino Royal in the late 1950s. He remained a popular performer on the English stage and was soon appearing in films and television as well. Gostelow became a familiar character actor on British television with roles in such productions as David Copperfield (1960) as Barkis, An Age of Kings (1960), As You Like It (1963), The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963), Esther Waters (1964), Nicholas Nickleby (1968) as Newman Noggs, Elizabeth R (1971), Dominic (1976), Anna Karenina (1977), Crime and Punishment (1979), Shakespeare’s Henry IV (1979) as Bardolph, The Day Christ Died (1980) as Nicodemus, The Critic (1982), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982), Squaring the Circle (1984), Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1984), Merlin of the Crystal Cave (1991), and Wives and Daughters (1999). Gostelow’s other television credits include roles in episodes of such series as Maigret, Suspense, Espionage, The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, Gideon’s Way, Sherlock Holmes, Cluff, R3, Softly Softly, The Saint, The Wednesday Play, Mr. Aitch, Man in the Suitcase, The Railway Children, Something to Hide, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Doctor Who, Jackonary, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Z Cars, The Pallisers, Shadows, Boy Dominic, Just William, Return of the Saint, Play for Today, Last of the Summer Wine, County Hall, Lady Killers, Play of the Month, Shelley, The All Electric Amusement Arcade, Tripper’s Day, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Capstick’s Law, All Creatures Great and Small, Never the Twain, Bergerac, Tygo Road, Rumpole of the Bailey, and Midsomer Murders. Gostelow also appeared in a handful of films during his career including The Idol (1966), The Spy with the Cold Nose (1966), In Search of Gregory (1969), Wuthering Heights (1970), Nicholas and Alexandria (1971), and How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989). Gostelow is survived by his wife of 43 years, actress Vivian Pickles. (See photograph on page 142.)

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Gordon Gostelow

GOTCH, KARL Karl Gotch, a leading professional wrestler from the late 1950s, died in Tampa, Florida, on July 28, 2007. He was 82. He was born Karl Istaz in Hamburg, Germany, on August 3, 1924. He began his career as an amateur wrestler and competed in the 1948 Olympics for Belgium. He soon began wrestling professionally in Europe under the name Karl Krauser. He moved to the United States in the late 1950s where he took the name Karl Gotch. He held the AWA Ohio Heavyweight Title for 1962 to 1964. A backstage altercation with NWA heavyweight champion Buddy Rogers damaged Gotch’s career in the United States. Gotch teamed with Rene Goulet to hold the WWWF Tag Team Titles from December of 1971 to February of 1972. He subsequently moved to Japan, where he was wrestler, booker and trainer for New Japan wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s. Gotch was known as “Kamisama” or “the God of Pro Wrestling” in Japan. He was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in May of 2007.

youth in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He began performing professionally as a singer while in his teens. He became a popular stage performer in Canada and soon began appearing on television in such variety series as Showtime, Cross-Canada Hit Parade and The Leslie Bell Singers. He achieved fame in the Unites States in Lerner and Loewe’s hit musical Camelot, starring with Julie Andrews and Richard Burton in nearly 900 performance during the early 1960s. Goulet’s rendition of the song “If Ever I Would Leave You” brought the cast album to the top of the charts. He quickly became one of the premier singers of the period, earning a Grammy Award for best new artist in 1962 after recording the album’s Always You and Two of Us. He also recorded the hit-single “What Kind of Fool Am I,” and had nearly 20 albums hit the charts during the 1960s. He was also a frequent performer on television, appearing in several specials and on such variety shows as The Jack Paar Tonight Show, The Jack Benny Program, The Jerry Lewis Show, The Joey Bishop Show, the quiz show What’s My Line?, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Lucy Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters, The Is Tom Jones, Playboy After Dark, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Julie Andrews Hour, The Bell Telephone Hour, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, The Flip Wilson Show, The Merv Griffin Show, Dinah!, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, and The Tony Danza Show. Goulet also starred in television productions of The Enchanted Nutcracker (1961), Brigadoon (1966), Carousel (1967), and Kiss Me Kate (1968). His popularity on stage also led to roles in such feature films as Honeymoon Hotel (1964), I’d Rather Be Rich (1964), I Deal in Danger (1966), and Underground (1970). He was also the voice of Jaune-Tom in the animated film Gay Pur-ee in 1962, and was the Singer in The Daydreamer in 1966. By the 1970s, Goulet’s style of music had largely fallen out of fashion, though he continued to be a popular performer on stage and in Vegas nightclubs. He even occasionally took to parodying his own image in film and television comedies. Goulet’s numerous television roles include episodes of such series as Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Patty Duke Show, Blue Light, The Big Valley, The Name of the Game, The Hon-

Karl Gotch

GOULET, ROBERT Famed Broadway performer Robert Goulet, who created the role of Lancelot in the original 1960 production of Camelot, died of complications from lung disease while awaiting a transplant in a Los Angeles hospital on October 30, 2007. He was 73. Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on November 26, 1933, and spent much of his

Robert Goulet

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eymooners, Mission: Impossible, Cannon, Police Woman, Police Story, The Love Boat, Flying High, Alice, Police Squad, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, Finder of Lost Loves, Mr. Belvedere, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, In the Heat of the Night, the new Get Smart, Boy Meets World, Burke’s Law, George & Leo, Just Shoot Me!, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Nikki, Las Vegas, and The King of Queens. He was also in the telefilms The Dream Merchants (1980), Acting Sheriff (1991), and Based on a Untrue Story (1993). Goulet made a cameo appearance in Louis Malle’s 1980 film Atlantic City, and guest starred as himself in the 1988 comic adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Scrooged starred Bill Murray. He was featured as Maxie Dean in Tim Burton’s fantasy classic Beetlejuice in 1988, and appeared in the spoof The Naked Gun 21 ⁄ 2: The Smell of Fear in 1991. His other film credits include Mr. Wrong (1996), The Last Producer (2000), and G-Men from Hell (2000). Goulet also supplied the singing voice for Wheezy the Penguin for the animated film Toy Story in 1999, and was Mikey’s singing voice in the Recess television series and subsequent films. He was also a voice performer in episodes of The Simpsons and Gary the Rat. Goulet first marriage, to Louise Longmore, ended in divorce in early 1963. He married fellow singer, Carol Lawrence, later in the year. They made a popular performing duo until their divorce in 1981. His survivors include his third wife, the former Vera Novak, a daughter from his first marriage and a two sons from his second.

aters as the Royal Opera House, London’s Covent Garden, and the English National Opera. He made his U.S. debut directing Britten’s Owen Wingrave at the Santa Fe Opera in 1974. He joined the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as director of productions in 1978, and became their artistic director in 1985. Graham staged nearly 50 new productions in St. Louis, until his death. During his career he also wrote the libretto for several operas including Britten’s The Golden Vanity, Richard Rodney Bennett’s Penny for Song, Stephen Paulus’ The Postman Always Rings Twice, Minoru Miki’s Joruri and The Tale of Genji, Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao, and David Carlson’s Anna Karenina.

GRAHAM, CLIVE British actor Clive Graham died at his home in Chiswick, England, on June 11, 2007. He was 70. Graham was born in Wales in 1937. He studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1959 and made his professional stage debut two years later. He appeared frequently on stage, film and television from the 1960s. He appeared in the films Blunderball (1966), Hamlet (1969) as Guilderstern with Nicol Williamson as Shakespeare’s Danish prince, The Brute (1977), Loophole (1981), and Johnny English (2003). Graham was featured in numerous television productions including Shotgun (1966), The Three Musketeers (1966), Middlemarch (1968), Ivanhoe (1970), Foreign Exchange (1970), Sentimental Education (1970), Lord Peter Wimsey: Five Red Herrings (1975), and The Office (1996). He was also seen in episodes of United!, Out of the Unknown, Theatre 625, Bat Out of Hell, Boy Meets Girl, Detective, The Avengers, The Wednesday Play, Journey to the Unknown, Play of the Month, Emmerdale Farm, Play for Today, Who, Sir? Me, Sir?, Call Me Mister, and Boon. He was a semi-regular on the Scottish soap opera Take the High Road, starring as Douglas Dunbar from 1980 until 1983.

Colin Graham

GRAHAM, COLIN Stage director Colin Graham, who was the artistic director at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis for nearly 30 years, died of respiratory and cardiac arrest in a St. Louis, Missouri, hospital on April 6, 2007. He was 75. Graham was born in Hove, England, on September 22, 1931. He began a long association with the composer Benjamin Britten in the early 1950s, and staged most of Britten’s premieres. Over the next two decades, he worked with such the-

GRANBERY, DON Don Granbery, an actor and assistant director, died of a heart attack at his home in Texas on May 31, 2007. He was 62. Granbery began his career in films as an actor in the early 1970s, appearing in The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972), The Supreme Kid (1976), Death Weekend (1976), Blackout (1978), Star 80 (1983), Mrs. Soffel (1984), and Physical Evidence (1989). He was also seen on television in the tele-films Deep Dark Secrets (1987), Trucks (1997), and This Matter of Marriage (1998), and episodes of Night Heat and The Beachcombers. He began working behind the camera as a second assistant director on the 1976 film Mustang Country. He served as first assistant director on such films as The Last Chase (1981), Separate Vacations (1986), and Physical Evidence (1989). Granbery also worked on the television series Night Heat and The Hitchhiker, and the tele-films Payoff (1991), I Know My Son Is Alive (1994), David’s Mother (1994), Spenser: A Savage Place (1995), Falling for You (1995), Moonshine Highway (1996), Double Jeopardy (1996), The Deliverance of Elaine (1996), Lies He Told (1997), Mary Higgins Clark’s Let Me Call You Sweetheart (1997), The Waiting Game (1998), This Matter of Marriage (1998), and A Friday Night Date (2000). GRAND, MURRAY Veteran composer and cabaret musician Murray Grand died of emphysema in Santa Monica, California, on March 7, 2007. He was 87. Grand was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 27, 1919. He began his career playing in private clubs while in his teens. During World War II he served

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in the U.S. Army, where he accompanied such celebrities as Betty Grable, Gypsy Rose Lee and Beatrice Lillie while they toured with the USO. After the war he studied composition and piano at the Juilliard School in New York, and went on to perform at popular night clubs for the next several decades. Grand and Elisse Boyd collaborated on the song “Guess Who I Saw Today,” which was introduced in the hit Broadway revue Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952. The song became a popular hit for such artists Eydie Gorme, Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan. He also composed such songs as “Hurry” and “April in Fairbanks” for the musical New Faces of 1956. Other popular works include the songs “Thursday’s Child,” “Not a Moment Too Soon,” and “Come by Sunday.” Grand was also featured as a pianist in several films including Tempest (1982) and Moscow on the Hudson. His most recent work was composing speciality music for the revival of James Kirkwood’s Legends starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans.

GRANIER-DEFFERE, PIERRE French film director Pierre Granier-Deffere died in a Paris hospital on November 16, 2007. He was 80. Granier-Deffere was born in Paris on July 22, 1927. He began working in films as an assistant director in the early 1950s with such credits as Terreur en Oklahoma (1951), Le Roi des Camelots (1951), The Night Is My Kingdom (1951), Chacun son Tur (1951), Allo ... je t’Aime (1952), She and Me (1952), Wonderful Mentality (1953), Air of Paris (1954), Papa, Mama, the Maid and I (1954), Magic Village (1955), The Fugitives (1955), On Foot, on Horse, and on Wheels (1957), A Legitimate Defense (1958), The Possessors (1958), Eyes of Love (1959), and Taxi for Tobruk (1960). Granier-Deffere made his directorial debut with 1962’s Le Petit Garcon de l’Ascenseur. He directed, and often scripted, numerous films over the next thirty years including The Adventures of Saladin (1963), Cloportes (1965), Paris in the Month of August (1966), The Big Softie (1967), The Horse (1970), The Cat (1971), The Widow Couderc (1971), The Son (1973), The Last Train (1973), Creezy (1974), The Cage (1974), The French Detective (1975), A Woman at Her Window (1976), The Medic Le Toubib (1979), Strange Affair (1981), The North Star (1982), A Friend of Vincent (1983), L’Homme aux

Pierre Granier-Deferre

Yeux d’Argent (1985), Cours Prive (1986), Widow’s Walk (1987), La Couleur du Vent (1988), L’Autrichienne (1990), La Voix (1992), and Archipel (1993). He also directed and scripted several tele-films featuring Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

GRANT , MILT Milt Grant, who hosted a popular television dance show in Washington, D.C., in the 1950s, died of cancer at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 28, 2007. He was 83. Grant was born in New York City on May 13, 1923, and was raised in Plainfield, New Jersey. He began his career on radio in Washington as an announcer in the early 1950s. He began hosting what became The Milt Grant Show in 1956, which featured high school kids dancing to the latest hit records. Though the show was a huge hit for five years, it was abruptly cancelled in 1961 when new management took over the station. Grant subsequently began one of Washington’s earliest independent television stations, WDCA-TV, in 1966. He sold WDCA in 1979, and purchased stations in Dallas and Houston, Texas. His acquisitions of three independent stations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Miami in 1986 forced Grant into bankruptcy. He returned later in the decade, buying stations in smaller television markets which he affiliated with the Fox network.

Milt Grant

GRANT, WARD Ward Grant, the longtime publicist for comedian Bob Hope, died of congestive heart failure at his home in Burbank, California, on January 11, 2007. He was 75. Grant was born in Denver, Colorado on April 21, 1931. He began working in Hollywood as a publicist, with such clients as Dorothy Lamour, Eva Gabor, and Fess Parker. He started working with Bob Hope in the early 1970s, and served as his director of media and public relations for over thirty years until the comic’s death in 2003. Grant was also co-author of Hope’s book Dear Prez, I Wanna Tell Ya. (See photograph on page 145.) GRAVELL, RAY Ray Gravell, a leading Welsh rugby player turned actor, died from complications from diabetes on October 31, 2007. He was 56. Gravell was born in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on September 12, 1951. He began playing rugby in 1970

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Ward Grant

and competed for various teams in Wales and Britain over the next 15 years. Gravell retired from the field in early 1985 and embarked upon a second career as a broadcaster and actor. He was a popular talkshow host for the BBC in Wales and presented the weekly program I’ll Show You Mine. He was featured in a small role in Louis Malle’s 1992 film Damage and appeared in Peter O’Toole’s 1992 television production of Dylan Thomas’ Rebecca’s Daughters. Gravell also appeared in such films Darklands (1996), Up ’n’ Under (1998), What? (2002), and New Shoes (2003). His other television credits include such productions as The Cormorant (1993), Blood on the Dole (1994), Score (2001), and Very Annie Mary (2001).

2007 • Obituaries

Greeley’s hands were seen when the star, Tyrone Power, played the piano. He also composed scores and incidental music for the films Not Wanted (1949), Pirates of Tripoli (1955), Seminole Uprising (1955), Secret of Treasure Mountain (1956), The Peacemaker (1956), The White Squaw (1956), Rumble on the Docks (1956), The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957), Hellcats of the Navy (1957) starring Ronald Reagan and his future wife Nancy Davis, Calypso Heat Wave (1957), No Time to Be Young (1957), the science fiction classic The 27th Day (1957) starring Gene Barry, Screaming Mimi (1958), Good Day for a Hanging (1959), and Comanche Station. His best known work, the theme for television’s My Favorite Martian, included the use of a theremin to give the music an other-worldly tone. Greeley also composed music for the television series My Living Doll and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

GREEN , SANFORD Songwriter and film composer Sanford Green died in New York on August 26, 2007. He was 93. Green was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 24, 1914. He began working in films at Brooklyn Vitaphone in 1934, creating songs for numerous musical shorts over the next four years. He provided original songs for such artists as Morton Downey, Hal LeRoy, Phil Harris, Georgie Price, and Olga Baclanova. His songs included “Bingo Crosbyana,” “Bermuda Buggy Ride,” “Do It for the Girl You Love,” “Do I Know What I’m Doing,” and “They Put a Top Hat on the Moon.” Green’s music was heard in such shorts as The Police Girl (1934), The Gem of the Ocean (1934), Soft Drinks and Sweet Music (1934), Main Street Follies (1935), Dublin in Brass (1935), The Love Department (1935), Rhythmitis (1936), and the Oscarnominated Double or Nothing (1936). He later contributed incidental music for several Warner films including Kid Galahad (1937), Alcatraz Island (1937), The Case of the Black Parrot (1941), Knockout (1941), and An Angel Comes to Brooklyn (1945). He continued to work as an arranger and music conductor for most of his life.

Ray Gravell

GREELEY, GEORGE Composer and pianist George Greeley, who wrote the theme for the television sitcom My Favorite Martian, died of emphysema in Sherman Oaks, California, on May 26, 2007. He was 89. Greeley was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on July 23, 1917. He attended the Juilliard School of Music and worked as an arranger for big bands. He was part of Tommy Dorsey’s band and led the Air Force band during World War II. Greeley recorded a series of twenty-five albums of piano concertos for Warner Records. He also worked frequently in films and television from the 1950s. For the film The Eddy Duchin Story

Sanford Green

GREEN, SLIM Austin C. “Slim” Green, who made saddles for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, died in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on December 22, 2007. He was 91. Green was born in Ravi, Oklahoma,

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on June 10, 1916. He moved to Texas with his family as a child, where he became a rodeo rider and roper. He learned to make saddles from Pop Bettes in the early 1930s and completed his first in 1936. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and continued his career as a master saddle maker after the war. Green’s hand-tooled saddles were considered works of art and have been featured at the Smithsonian Institution and the Gene Autry National Western Heritage Museum. Many Hollywood stars had their saddles made by him, including John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Robert Redford, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John and Val Kilmer.

Slim Green

GREENBERG, ELIZABETH Casting director Elizabeth Greenberg died of pancreatic cancer in New York City on May 11, 2007. She was 45. Greenberg was born on August 12, 1961. She studied drama and began her career as a theatrical director in New York. She also served as resident stage manager at the Actor’s Studio during the 1980s. She appeared on television in small roles in the 1984 tele-film The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck and an episode of Hey Dude. She was also seen in the films The Babe (1992) as Dorothy Ruth, Birth (2004), and National Treasure (2004), and was a voice performer for the animated film The Incredibles (2004). Greenberg began working in casting in the 1990s on the television series It’s True, Harsh Realm, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and The Lone Gunmen. She also cast such films as Godzilla (1998), The Patriot (2000), The Kiss (2001), Jersey Girl (2004), House of D (2004), Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Birth (2004), Open House (2004), National Treasure (2004), Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Forty Shades of Blue (2005), Dear Wendy (2005), Capote (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), All the King’s Men (2006), The Return (2006), Sunny & Share Love You (2007), and Summerhood (2007). GREER , DABBS Veteran character actor Dabbs Greer, who starred as the Rev. Robert Alden on television’s Little House on the Prairie, died of complications from kidney and heart disease in a Pasadena, California, on April 28, 2007. He was 90. He was born Robert William Greer in Fairview, Missouri, on April 2, 1917. Greer graduated from Drury University in 1939

and worked as a speech and drama teacher in Missouri for several years before moving to Pasadena in 1943. He taught at the Pasadena Playhouse school throughout the 1940s, where he also directed and performed in numerous plays. He made his film debut in 1949 in a small role in Reign of Terror. Over the next fifty years, he became a familiar face in films and television. His film credits include Hit the Deck (1955), Seven Angry Men (1955), An Annapolis Story (1955), The Seven Little Foys (1955), Foxfire (1955), The Scarlet Coat (1955), The McConnell Story (1955), At Gunpoint (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), D-Day The Sixth of June (1956), The First Texan (1956), Hot Rod Girl (1956), Away All Boats (1956), The Young Guns (1956), Tension at Table Rock (1956), Hot Cars (1956), Chain of Evidence (1957), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Johnny Tremaine (1957), The Vampire (1957), Pawnee (1957), My Man Godfrey (1957), Young and Dangerous (1957), All Mine to Give (1957), Baby Face Nelson (1957), the cult sci-fi film It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) as Eric Royce, I Want to Live! (1958) as Susan Hayward’s prison guard, Lone Texan (1959), The Last Train from Gun Hill (1959), Day of the Outlaw (1959), Edge of Eternity (1959), Cash McCall (1960), Showdown (1963), Wives and Lovers (1963), Palm Springs Weekend (1963), Roustabout (1964) with Elvis Presley, and Shenandoah (1965). Greer appeared frequently on television from the 1950s. He was seen as Superman’s first rescue, when he was saved him from a fall from a dirigible in the pilot episode “Superman on Earth” in 1952. He appeared in the recurring role of storekeeper Wilbur Jonas on Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1960, was featured as Mr. Blandish in the television comedy series How to Marry a Millionaire in 1957. He also appeared as Norrie Coolidge on the fantasy comedy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from 1968 to 1969. Greer guest-starred in hundreds of other television episodes in such series as Cavalcade of America, Father Knows Best, The Man Behind the Badge, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Frontier, General Electric Theater, Navy Log, Cheyenne, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Science Fiction Theatre, TV Reader’s Digest, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Lux Video Theatre, The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, Whirlybirds, Fury, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Tombstone Territory, The Gray Ghost, Official Detective, The Court of Last Resort, State Trooper, Steve Canyon, Texas John Slaughter, Trackdown, The Restless Gun, Playhouse 90, The Rough Riders, Zane Grey Theater, Goodyear Theatre, Man Without a Gun, Troubleshooters, Tightrope, Bat Masterson, Law of the Plainsman, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Wichita Town, Black Saddle, Letter to Loretta, Death Valley Days, Johnny Ringo, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Tales of Wells Fargo, Two Faces West, The Jack Benny Program, The Aquanauts, Adventures in Paradise, The Rifleman, Dr. Kildare, Bus Stop, Have Gun, Will Travel, Surfside 6, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Follow the Sun, Checkmate, Laramie, Lawman, The Eleventh Hour, Empire, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Stoney Burke, The Untouchables, I’m Dickens, He’s Finster, Temple Houston, Kraft Suspense Theatre, The

147 Greatest Show on Earth, Grindl, Destry, Arrest and Trial, The Rogues, The Outer Limits, The Andy Griffith Show, Lassie, Wendy and Me, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hank, Perry Mason, Laredo, The Invaders, Rango, The Fugitive, The Road West, The Virginian, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Cimarron Strip, The Big Valley, Petticoat Junction, The Wild Wild West, Judd for the Defense, Mannix, The Brady Bunch, Lancer, Bracken’s World, The Interns, The Young Lawyers, Bonanza, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, O’Hara, U.S. Treasury, Nichols, Ghost Story, The F.B.I., Barnaby Jones, Adam-12, Ironside, The Rookies, Chopper One, Chase, The Manhunter, Cannon, Shazam!, Saturday Night Live, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, Emergency!, The Incredible Hulk, Charlie’s Angels, Matt Houston, and The Greatest American Hero. Greer also continued to appear in films and tele-films from the 1970s including The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), Two Boys (1970), The Boy Who Stole the Elephant (1970), Rage (1972), White Lightning (1973), God Bless Dr. Shagetz (1974), The Greatest Gift (1974), Green Eyes (1977), The Winds of Kitty Hawk (1978), Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), Evil Town (1987), Two Moon Junction (1988), Pacific Heights (1990), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1991), House IV (1991), Runaway Daughters (1994), Little Giants (1994), and Con Air (1997). Greer starred as Walnut Grove’s Reverend Robert Alden on the popular family series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1984. He was also a man of the cloth in Picket Fences, playing Rev. Henry Novotny from 1992 to 1996. His later television credits also include episodes of Starman, Charles in Charge, Bonanza: The Next Generation, Roseanne, The Bradys, In the Heat of the Night, L.A. Law, Empty Nest, The Secret of Lost Creek, George and Leo, Ally McBeal, Spin City, Diagnosis: Murder, Family Law, and Lizzie McGuire. He appeared regularly as Grandpa Fred Stage in the comedy series Maybe It’s Me from 2001 to 2002. His final film appearance was as the old Paul Edgecomb, the character played by Tom Hanks, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Green Mile in 1999.

Dabbs Greer

GREGG, MARK Actor Mark Gregg was shot to death in Hollywood by Los Angeles police officers after attacking a neighbor with a knife on July 24,

2007 • Obituaries

2007. He was 25. Gregg reportedly refused orders by the officers to drop his butcher knife before being fired upon. Gregg was born in Solana Beach, California on September 25, 1981. He studied performing arts at the University of San Francisco and appeared in several stage productions. He also appeared in the 2007 film The Pacific and Eddy.

Mark Gregg

GREUTERT, ROBERTA Veteran animator Roberta Greutert died in Woodland Hills, California, on April 26, 2007. She was 93. Greutert was born in Tennessee in 1914. She began her career working at MGM as an animation painter in 1938. She worked as a background artist on several Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts including Timid Tabby (1957) and Happy Go Ducky (1958). When MGM closed she headed to Hanna-Barbera, serving as ink and paint supervisor. She worked on such cartoon series as Jonny Quest, Wacky Races, The Adventures of Gulliver, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, Where’s Huddles?, Harlem Globe Trotters, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, and Help! ... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch! GREY, LOREN Loren Grey, a psychology professor and the son of famed western author Zane Grey, died in Woodland Hills, California on February 2, 2007. He was 91. Grey was born in Middletown, New York, on November 20, 1915, and moved to California with his family as a child. Zane Grey died in 1939 while his son was attending the University of California at Los Angeles. Loren served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and continued his education after the war. He began teaching educational psychology at Cal State Northridge in the early 1960s, and was the author of several books in the field including Discipline Without Fear: Child Training During the Early School Years (1974) and Alfred Ayer, the Forgotten Prophet: A Vision for the 21st Century (1998). Loren Grey also became the custodian of his father’s legacy as president of Zane Grey, Inc. He was the author of a 1985 book Zane Grey: A Photographic Odyssey, and a series of western novels based on his father’s character Lassiter from Riders of the Purple Sage where ghost-written and published under the name Loren Zane Grey.

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Loren Grey

GRIFFIN , JOHN PATRICK John Patrick Griffin, the father of comedian Kathy Griffin who appeared with his daughter in several of her television productions, died in Los Angeles on February 17. 2007. He was 90. Griffin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 29, 1916. He had small roles in several episodes of his daughter’s sit-com Suddenly Susan, and appeared regularly with her on the Bravo reality series My Life on the D List.

John Patrick Gri‡n (with daughter Kathy)

GRIFFIN, MERV Actor and singer Merv Griffin, who became a noted talk show host and the creator of the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, died of prostate cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on August 12, 2007. He was 82. Griffin was born in San Mateo, California, on July 6, 1925. He broke into show business as a singer on radio in 1945. He became a regular on the nationally syndicated San Francisco Sketchbook, which soon became The Merv Griffin Show. His portly physique didn’t fit the network’s billing of him as a romantic singing star, and a humiliating episode with a fan led to a successful crash diet. Griffin joined Freddy Martin’s band as lead vocalist in 1948 and recorded several popular songs including “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” and “Never Been Kissed.” He was signed to a film contract with MGM in 1952 and he made his film debut with the western Cattle Town that same year. His other film credits in the 1950s

include By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), Trouble Along the Way (1953), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), So This Is Love (1953), Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), The Boy from Oklahoma (1954), and the 1954 horror film Phantom of the Rue Morgue as Georges Brevert. He left Hollywood in 1955 and moved to New York where he appeared in the comedy-musical Finian’s Rainbow on Broadway. He also embarked on a television career, appearing in such series as Songs for Sale, Look Up and Live, The Robert Q. Lewis Show, Summer Holiday, The Dupont Show of the Week and Hippodrome Show. He was also seen frequently as a panelist on game shows including I’ve Got a Secret, Talent Scouts, To Tell The Truth and What’s My Line? Griffin was soon hosting such quiz shows as Saturday Prom, Keep Talking and Play Your Hunch. He became a frequent guest host for The Tonight Show, often substituting for Jack Parr in 1962 before Johnny Carson took over the show later in the year. His success on the program led to his own daytime talk show on NBC, The Merv Griffin Show, which debuted in October of 1962. NBC cancelled the show the following year and Griffin returned to game shows as host of Word for Word, which was produced by his own company. The Merv Griffin Show returned to the air in 1965 as a syndicated daytime program. CBS aired the show on late night from 1969 to 1971. Merv returned to daytime television in 1972 continuing to host his show for the next 14 years. British character actor Arthur Treacher served as Griffin’s announcer and sidekick until his death in 1974. The program, which was the first to deal with such controversial subjects as homosexuality and incest, also counted amongst its guests such varied celebrities as Bette Davis, Woody Allen, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Nixon and Robert F. Kennedy. Griffin also had great success as the creator of two of television’s most popular television game shows. He created Jeopardy! in 1964 and Wheel of Fortune in 1975, and composed the memorable theme music for both series. The shows were produced by Merv Griffin Enterprises, which was sold for $250 million to Coca-Cola in 1986. He continued his business endeavors as head of The Griffin Group, owning hotels, residential developments and a stable of thoroughbred race horses. He also remained active in film and television productions, serving as executive producer of the Dance Fever television series and the game shows Monopoly, Click and Crosswords. Griffin was a frequent guest on such television variety show as The Pet Set, Dinah’s Place, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Sammy and Company, Late Night with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, Circus of the Stars, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, The Daily Show, The Wayne Brady Show, The Late Show with Craig Kilborn, ALF’s Hit Talk Show, The View, The Tony Danza Show, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Megan Mullally Show, and The Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He also appeared in episodes of Sanford and Son, Newhart, The Golden Girls, Hope & Gloria, Fat Actress, and I Married a Princess, and in such television productions as Cin-

149 derella at the Palace (1978), Alice in Wonderland (1985), and Don Rickles: Rules the World (2005). Griffin also appeared in cameo roles in such films as Inside Daisy Clover (1965), Hello, Down There (1969), Two-Minute Warning (1976), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), One Trick Pony (1980), Rich and Famous (1981), The Man with Two Brains (1982) as the elevator killer with Steve Martin, Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1982), The Funny Farm (1983), and The Lonely Guy (1984). He was married to Julann Wright from 1958 until their divorce in 1976. He was the defendant in a palimony suit by a former employee in 1991 and was sued for sexual harassment by Dance Fever host Deney Terrio. Both suits were eventually dismissed. Griffin wrote his autobiography, Merv: Making The Good Life Last in 2003 and won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Science in 2005.

Merv Gri‡n

GRIFFIN, VICTOR Stage actor, singer, and dancer Victor Griffin died in Syosset, New York, on February 3, 2007. He was 88. Griffin was born on February 22, 1918. He performed on Broadway from the early 1940s, appearing in such musicals as High Kickers (1941), Count Me In (1942), and Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 (1943). He served as assistant choreographer for the 1958 musical Oh Captain!, and was featured as Vincent in the original Broadway production of Follies in 1971. He also appeared in productions Ballroom (1978) and Amadeus (1983). Griffin was featured as Saunders in the 1982 film musical Annie, and appeared in a small role in the 1987 film Magic Sticks. He also performed on television in Sing Along with Mitch and the 1980 PBS production of Dorothy Parker’s Big Blond. GRIFFITH , CHARLES B. Screenwriter Charles B. Griffith, who scripted a string of cult classics for Roger Corman, died in San Diego, California, on September 28, 2007. He was 77. Griffith was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 23, 1930. He came to Hollywood in the mid–1950s to assist his grandmother, vaudeville comic Myrtle Vail, break into television. Griffith met Corman through an actor friend and the two soon began working together. He wrote the tale of a Venusian invader, It Conquered the World, and the western, Gunslinger, in 1956. Griffith also appeared

2007 • Obituaries

in the small role of Dr. Pete Shelton in It Conquered the World. He continued to write low-budget fare for Corman and American International Pictures, often incorporating black humor in his scripts. Griffith’s film credits include Naked Paradise (1957), Flesh and the Spur (1957), Not of This Earth (1957), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) also serving as associate producer, directing underwater sequences and appearing in a small role, The Undead (1957), Rock All Night (1957), Teenage Doll (1957), Ghost of the China Sea (1958) which he also produced, Forbidden Island (1959) which also served as his directorial debut, A Bucket of Blood (1959), Beast from Haunted Cave (1959), and Ski Troop Attack (1960). His best known work was the comedy cult classic Little Shop of Horrors, about man-eating plant Audrey II. Griffith also served as second unit director and was onscreen in numerous small roles during the film, notably voicing the plant’s entreaties to “Feed me, Seymour!” Little Shop went on to become a popular musical in the early 1980s, which spawned another film version in 1986. He was writer, production manager, associate producer and bit actor in the 1961 muscleman epic Atlas. He also scripted the comedy horror Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) and the biker flicks The Wild Angels (1966) and Devil’s Angels (1967). Griffith was an assistant director for the 1963 film The Young Racers, and second unit director for the 1966 horror film Revenge of the Blood Beast. His script for Corman’s The Trip was rejected by the director for his glorification of drugs. He scripted the 1975 classic Death Rays 2000, produced by Corman and directed by Paul Bartel. Griffith also served as second unit director on the film. The follow year, he appeared in a cameo role in the cult comedy Hollywood Boulevard. He also scripted The Swinging Barmaids in 1975, and wrote and directed 1976’s Eat My Dust starring Ron Howard. He directed 1979 underwater horror Up from the Depths, and wrote and directed a black comedy version of the horror classic with Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype in 1980. He directed 1981’s Smokey Bites the Dust, and made a cameo appearance in Paul Bartel’s 1982 black comedy Eating Raoul. Griffith’s final film credit was as director and screenwriter for the 1989 fantasy Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, though his earlier scripts for Not of

Charles B. Gri‡th (left, with Mel Welles from Little Shop of Horrors)

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This Earth and A Bucket of Blood were recycled in the 1990s.

GRILLS, LUCKY Australian entertainer Lucky Grills, who was best known as the star of the television series Bluey in the mid–1970s, died at his home in Queensland, Australia, on July 27, 2007. He was 79. Grills was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, on May 26, 1928. A stage performer and comic, he was cast in the role of Det. Sgt. Bluey Hills in the Australian television series Bluey from 1976 to 1977. He was also featured as Johnno in the 1984 series A Country Practice. His other television appearances include roles in productions of People Like Us (1980), The Dismissal (1983), Vietnam (1987), The Last Crop (1990), and The Magicians (2001), and guest appearances in episodes of Matlock Police, Rush, Glenview High, Special Squad, Fire, and Mortified. Grills was also seen in a handful of films during his career including Caddy (1976), Money Movers (1978), Starstruck (1982), Molly (1983), Fast Talking (1984), and Outback Vampires (1987) as Humphrey. Grills continued to perform on stage until his death.

Lucky Grills

GRIZZARD, GEORGE Stage and screen actor George Grizzard died of complications of lung cancer in a New York City hospital on October 2, 2007. He was 79. Grizzard was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, on April 1, 1928. He began his career on stage in Washington, D.C., in the 1950s. He subsequently studied with Sanford Meisner in New York and made his Broadway debut in The Desperate Hours, with Paul Newman, in 1955. Grizzard earned a Tony nomination for best actor for his role in The Disenchanted in 1959. He earned a second Tony nomination in 1962 for Big Fish, Little Fish. He starred in the Broadway premiere of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff ? Grizzard was Nick, the foil of warring spouses George and Martha. He left the play after three months to star in Tyrone Guthrie’s production of Hamlet. He remained with the Guthrie Theater for two years, appearing in such productions as Henry V, Volpone, and St. Joan. Grizzard also appeared frequently on television from the mid–1950s, with roles in such series as Look Up and Live, Appointment with Adventure, Star Tonight, Justice, Playwrights ’56, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour,

Goodyear Television Playhouse, One Step Beyond, Playhouse 90, Startime, The Millionaire, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, The United States Steel Hour, Play of the Week, Brenner, Bus Stop, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Espionage, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, The Nurses, Profiles in Courage, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Medical Center, The Interns, Ironside, Caribe, Hawaii 5O, Trapper John, M.D., Spencer: For Hire, The Cosby Show, You Again?, Murder, She Wrote, Studio 5-B, The Golden Girls, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Touched by an Angel, and Law & Order in the recurring role of Arthur Gold from 1992 to 2000. Grizzard’s television credits also include roles in numerous tele-films and mini-series including A Case of Libel (1968), Teacher, Teacher (1969), The Front Page (1970), Travis Logan, D.A. (1971), Pueblo (1973), Indict and Convict (1974), The Country Girl (1974), A Memory of Two Mondays (1974), The Stranger Within (1974), Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975), The Two Deaths of Sean Doolittle (1975), The Lives of Jennie Dolan (1975), The Adams Chronicles (1976) earning an Emmy nomination for his role as John Adams, The Night Rider (1979), Attica (1980) as journalist Tom Wicker, The Oldest Living Graduate (1980) winning an Emmy for his role of Floyd Kincaid, The Shady Hill Kidnapping (1982), Not in Front of the Children (1982), Robert Kennedy & His Times (1985) as journalist John Siegenthaler, Embassy (1985), International Airport (1985), Midas Valley (1985), Under Siege (1986), The Deliberate Stranger (1986), The Secret Sunday (1986), Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel (1987), David (1988), False Witness (1989), An Enemy of the People (1990), Caroline? (1990), Iran: Day of Crisis (1991) as President Jimmy Carter, Queen (1993), Not in My Family (1993), Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story (1993), Scarlett (1994), Sisters and Other Strangers (1997), and Haskett’s Chance (2006). Grizzard made his feature film debut in 1960’s From the Terrace. He was also seen in the films Advise and Consent (1962) as Senator Fred Van Ackerman, Warning Shot (1967), Kurt Vonnegut’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971), Comes a Horseman (1978), Firepower (1979), Neil Simon’s Seems Like Old Times (1980), Wrong Is Right (1982) as President Rockwood, Bachelor Party

George Grizzard

151 (1984) with Tom Hanks, Wonder Boys (2000), Small Time Crooks (2000), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006) as John Bradley. Grizzard continued to appear frequently on stage throughout his career. He won a Tony Award in 1996 for his role in the revival of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. He was also seen in productions of Seascape (2005) and Regrets Only (2006).

2007 • Obituaries

gulimala (1960), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961), Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1962), Veer Bhimsen (1964), Shree Ram Bharat Milap (1965), Purnima (1965), The Marriage of Tulsi (1971), In Praise of Mother Santoshi (1975), Nagin (1976), Jai Dwarkadheesh (1977), For Yolur Sake (1978), Tajurba (1981), Fifty-Fifty (1981), and Krishna-Krishna (1986).

GROSS, JACK, JR. Film and television writer Jack Gross, Jr., died in La Jolla, California, on December 14, 2007. He was 78. Gross was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 4, 1929. He began writing Mister Magoo cartoons in the late 1950s. He was best known for scripting television episodes from the 1960s with such credits as Gilligan’s Island, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Valentine’s Day, My Favorite Martian, Tarzan, Daniel Boone, and Diff ’rent Strokes. Gross also wrote the films Clay Pigeon (1971) and Welcome to Arrow Beach (1974). GUARRERA, FRANK Operatic baritone Frank Guarrera died on November 23, 2007. He was 83. Guarrera was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 3, 1923. He was trained by Richard Bonelli and made his professional debut with the New York City Opera in a production of I Pagliacci in 1947. He spent the next year studying in Italy and performing with La Scala before returning to the United States. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1948 in a production of Carmen. He continued to perform with the Met for 28 seasons, through 1976, singing in such operas as Cosi Fan Tutte, Eugene Onegin and Lohengrin. He also sang the role Ford in Toscannini’s broadcast performance and recording of Verdi’s Falstaff in 1950.

Anita Guha

GURROLA, JUAN JOSE Mexican actor Juan Jose Gurrola died in Mexico City on June 1, 2007. He was 71. Gurrola was born in Mexico City on November 19, 1935. He began working in films in the early 1960s, directing several documentaries including Jose Luis Cuevas (1964), Vidcente Rojo (1965), and Alberto Gironella (1965). He produced, directed, and scripted the films Robarte el Arte (1972) and Landru (1973). Gurrola also appeared onscreen in such films as L Sunamita (1965), Amor, Amor, Amor (1965), Mariana (1967), the 1970 cult classic El Topo as Master #2, Aquilae non Caput Muscas (1971), Ensayos (1978), Llamenme Mike (1982), To Kill a Stranger (1985), and Carmina y Quetzalcoatl (1991). He also appeared as painter Diego Rivera in the 1986 film Frida, and the 1987 television series Senda de Gloria.

Frank Guarrera

GUHA , ANITA Indian actress Anita Guha died in a Mumbai, India, hospital of heart failure on June 20, 2007. She appeared frequently in films from the 1950s, often cast as a goddess in mythological features. Her film credits include Tangewali (1955), Society of Confirmed Bachelors (1956), Chhoo Mantar (1956), The Conman (1957), Sharada (1957), Gateway of India (1957), Ek Jhalak (1957), Dekh Kabira Roya (1957), Kavi Kalidas (1959), The Call of the Shehnai (1959), Chacha Zindabad (1959), Mud Ke Na Dekh (1960), An-

Juan Jose Gurrola

HADLEY, JERRY Operatic tenor Jerry Hadley died in a Poughkeepsie, New York, hospital on July 18,

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2007, when he was taken off life support a week after shooting himself in the head with an air rifle in a suicide attempt at his home on July 10, 2007. He was 55. Hadley was born in Princeton, Illinois, on June 16, 1952. He began his career performing with regional operas before making his debut with the New York City Opera in a production of Lucia di Lammermoor in the late 1970s. He performed frequently with such leading companies as the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Vienna State Opera. He was noted for his role of Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. He also performed in the debuts of such productions as Myron Fink’s The Conquistador, John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, and Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio. He performed on television in productions of Candide (1989), Don Giovanni (1990), Handel: Messiah (1992), The Rake’s Progress (1994), Cosi Fan Tutte (1996), Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1998), and Die Fledermaus (2001). He also performed the voice of the Supreme Judge in Carlo Coloddi’s 1996 film The Adventures of Pinocchio. Hadley was also the recipient of three Grammy Awards for his recordings. He made his final performance in a production of Madame Butterfly with Opera Queensland in Australia in May of 2007.

Jerry Hadley

HAEFLIGER , ERNST Swiss operatic tenor Ernst Haefliger died of heart failure at his home in

Ernst Haefliger

Davos, Switzerland, on March 17, 2007. He was 87. Haefliger was born in Davos on July 6, 1919. He studied in Zurich, Geneva, and Vienna, and made his public debut in Bach’s St. John Passion in Geneva in 1942. He joined the Zurich Opera the following year, and was featured in the premiere of Carl Orff ’s Oedipus at the Salzburg Festival in 1949. He joined Berlin’s Stadische Oper in 1952, and continued to perform with the company until 1974. He made his U.S. debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in a production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 1966. He also performed at numerous recitals in the United States. He taught at the Music Hochschule fur Musik for many years and was the author of the 1983 book The Singing Voice.

HAINING, PETER Author and anthologist Peter Haining died of a heart attack in England on November 19, 2007. He was 67. Haining was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England, on April 2, 1940. He began his career working as a reporter in Essex in the 1960s. He soon joined the publishing house New English Library, becoming editorial director. He edited numerous anthologies of horror and fantasy stories from the late 1960s including The Evil People (1968), The Midnight People (1968), The Satanists (1969), The Unspeakable People (1969), The Ghouls: The Stories Behind the Classic Horror Films (1971), The Nightmare Reader (1973), Christopher Lee’s New Chamber of Horrors (1974), Great British Tales of Terror (1974), Everyman’s Book of Classic Horror Stories (1976), Tales of Unknown Horror (1978), and More Tales of Unknown Horror (1979). Haining wrote several reference books about the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, including Doctor Who: A Celebration: Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), The Key to Time: A Year by Year Record (1984), The Doctor Who File (1986), and The Nine Lives of Doctor Who (1999). He also wrote the 1987 book about secret agent 007 James Bond: A Celebration, and The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991), looking at the small screen adventures of the master detective. His other works include The Edgar Allan Poe Scrapbook (1977), Mystery and Horrible Murders of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), The Legend of Charlie Chaplin (1983), Goldie Hawn (1985), The Dracula Centenary Book (1987), Poltergeist: Tales of Deadly Ghosts (1987), Movie Monsters: Great Horror Film Stories (1988), Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories (1989), The Legend of Garbo (1990), The Television Detectives’ Omnibus (1992), Masters of the Macabre (1993), The Frankenstein Omnibus (1994), Peter Cushing’s Monster Movies (1994), Agatha Christie’s Poirot: A Celebration of the Great Detective (1995), Space Movies: Classic Science Fiction Films (1995), Classic Westerns (1998), The Invasion Earth Companion (1998), The Mystery of Rommel’s Gold (2004), and Cannibal Killers: The Real Life Flesh Eaters and Blood Drinkers (2006). HALBERSTAM, DAVID Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author David Halberstam was killed in an automobile accident in Menlo Park, California, on April 23, 2007, when the car he was a passenger in was broadsided by another vehicle and shoved into a third. Halberstam died at the scene. He was 73.

153 He was born in New York City on April 10, 1934. He graduated from Harvard in 1955 where he had been the editor of the campus newspaper The Crimson. He headed south after his graduation where he reported on the early days of the civil rights movement for such papers as Mississippi’s West Point Daily Times Leader and The Nashville Tennessean. He was hired by the New York Times in 1960, where he reported overseas from the Congo and Vietnam. His dispatches reflecting the corruption and ineptness of the South Vietnamese government and the problems faced by U.S. troops involved in the ground war made him an unpopular figure in the circles of power in Washington in the early 1960s, but earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1964. Halberstam left the New York Times later in the decade and wrote a book about the decisions that led to the disastrous Vietnam War and the men that made them, The Best and the Brightest, in 1972. He went on to author twenty other books including The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy (1968), The Coldest Winter about the Korean War, The Fifties (1997) about America during that decade, and The Powers That Be (2000) about the power of the press in the United States. He also authored several books about baseball including The Summer of ’49 (1989) and The Breaks of the Game. His book The Amateurs was filmed as Rowing Through in 1996, and The Fifties was adapted for a television miniseries in 1997. His book The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship was also adapted for television in 2003. Halberstam’s recent books also include War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals (2001) critiquing American foreign police following the end of the Cold War, Firehouse (2002) about the fire crew of Engine 40, Ladder 35 during the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11, and The Coldest Winter, a forthcoming work about the Korean War.

2007 • Obituaries

tured as Brooke English in All My Children in 1981. She also starred as Judy Maxwell in the short-lived comedy series What’s Up Doc in 1978. Hall also appeared in several films including Rush It (1976), Hit List (1989), and Relentless (1989). She was featured in the tele-films The Day the Women Got Even (1980), Born Beautiful (1982), The Witching of Ben Wagner (1987), and Foxfire (1987) with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. Though largely retired from the screen, she made a final appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2001.

Harriet Hall

HALL, JIMMY Jimmy Hall, who was scheduled to host the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, was killed on May 9, 2007, while BASE jumping from mountains near Sam Fjord on Canada’s Baffin Island. He was 41. Hall was filming a documentary north of the Arctic Circle at the time of his death. Hall was the owner of Hawai’i Shark Encounters in O’ahu, Hawaii. He appeared on various television programs including Today Show, Inside Edition, and CNN newscasts. He was scheduled to swim with Great White Sharks at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef for Discovery’s Shark Week later in the summer.

David Halberstam

HALL, HARRIET Actress Harriet Hall died of a heart attack in Chatsworth, Georgia, on September 29, 2007. She was 58. Hall was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 18, 1948. She began her acting career performing in dinner theaters in the Chicago area. She starred on the NBC daytime soap opera Sommerset as Andrea Moore from 1972 to 1974 and was fea-

Jimmy Hall

HALL , TERRY British ventriloquist Terry Hall died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in

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Earlsdon, Coventry, England, on April 4, 2007. He was 80. Hall was born in Chadderton, Oldham, England, on November 20, 1926. He began practicing ventriloquism as a child and was performing with the Carroll Levis Discoveries stage show from the age of 15. His best known puppet was Lenny the Lion, and they made their debut together on television on the variety show Dress Rehearsal with Eric Sykes in 1956. Hall starred in several of his own series, including The Lenny the Lion Show from 1957 to 1960, Lenny’s Den from 1959 to 1961, and Pops and Lenny from 1962 to 1963. Hall and Lenny were featured on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958, and they released a popular record, Lenny’s Bath Time, in 1963. Hall was also featured on such television series as Big Night Out, The Blackpool Show, and Spatz. He and Lenny continued to work the variety circuit through the 1970s, and starred in the ITV children’s educational series Reading with Lenny from 1977 to 1980.

Terry Hall (with Lenny the Lion)

HAMANN, EVELYN German actress Evelyn Hamann died in Germany on October 29, 2007. She was 65. Hamann was born in Hamburg, Germany, on August 6, 1942. She began her career on stage in the late 1960s, and became a popular performer on German television in a series of comedy sketches in the 1970s. She was also seen on television in such series as Ida Rogalski, Pariser Geschichten, St. Pauli Landungsbrucken,

Felix und Oskar, Kontakt bite..., Abenteuer Bundesrepublik, Nesthakchen, Helga und die Nordichter, Berliner Weisse mit Schuss, Roncalli, Hessische Geschichten, Jakob und Adele, Tatort, Der Landarzt in the recurring role of Thea Abdoll, Gluckliche Reise, Der Alte, Der Millionenerbe, and Das Traumschiff. She also starred as Carsta Michaelis in the television series The Black Forest Clinic from 1986 to 1989. Hamann appeared in a handful of films during her career including The Pentecost Offering (1978), Piratensender Powerplay (1982), Wer Spinnt Denn da, Herr Doktor? (1982), Odipussi (1988), and Pappa ante Portas (1991). Hamann starred as Adelheid Mobius in the television series Adelheid und ihre Morder from 1993 until her death.

HAMMER, MARK Actor Mark Hammer died of complications from renal failure, diabetes, and sepsis in a Jersey City hospital on February 15, 2007. He was 69. Hammer was born in San Jose, California, on April 28, 1937. He attended Stanford University and Catholic University, where he earned a master’s degree in theater in 1962. He taught drama at Catholic from 1966 to 1989. He performed frequently on stage, acting in productions at Washington, D.C.’s, Arena Stage from 1973 to 1991. He also appeared often with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, and appeared on Broadway as King Creon in Medea with Diana Rigg. Hammer also appeared in several films including Being There (1979), Raise the Titanic (1980), Year of the Dragon (1985), The Imagemaker (1986), McBain (1991), The Silent Alarm (1993), Kiss of Death (1995), Magnetism (1999), Thinking Out Loud (2000), Meet the Parents (2000), Just Another Story (2003), It Runs in the Family (2003), and Jinnah — On Crime: White Knight, Black Widow (2003). He also appeared in television productions of Much Ado About Nothing (1973), Zalmen: or, The Madness of God (1975), and Darrow (1991), and episodes of 3 lbs. and Law & Order.

Mark Hammer

Evelyn Hamann

HANDFORD, PETER Academy Award–winning sound recordist Peter Handford died in Wickham Skeith, Suffolk, England, on November 6, 2007. He was 88. Handford was born in Four Elms, Kent, England, on March 21, 1919. He began working in films

155 at the age of 17 as an apprentice sound camera loader for London Films. He served with the British Expeditionary Forces during World War II and worked with the Army Film Unit. He returned to film work after the war and earned his first film credit with 1949’s Black Magic, starring Orson Welles. Handford became one of the leading sound recordists in British films over the next 40 years, with such credits as Maytime in Mayfair (1949), Alfred Hitchcock’s Under Capricorn (1949), Night and the City (1950), Odette (1950), Into the Blue (1950), Paris (1951), Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951), The Lady with the Lamp (1951), Curtain Up (1952), Derby Day (1952), Gift Horse (1952), Trent’s Last Case (1952), Folly to Be Wise (1953), The Beggar’s Opera (1953), Front Page Story (1954), Trouble in the Glen (1954), Seagulls Over Sorrento (1954), Lilacs in the Spring (1954), It’s a Great Day (1955), David Lean’s Summer Madness (1955), King’s Rhapsody (1955), Private’s Progress (1956), My Teenage Daughter (1956), Sailor Beware (1956), Dry Rot (1956), Three Men in a Boat (1956), Saint Joan (1957), Blue Murder at St. Trinian’s (1957), Happy Is the Bride (1958), The Key (1958), and Left Right and Centre (1959). Handford worked with Jack Clayton on the landmark British New Wave classic, Room at the Top, in 1959. Noted for his abilities to record sound on location shootings, he remained a leading sound recordist in the 1960s. His credits include Sons and Lovers (1960), The Entertainer (1960), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Mysterious Island (1961), Billy Liar (1963), Tom Jones (1963), The Pumpkin Eater (1964), Darling (1965), Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), Mademoiselle (1966), Charlie Bubbles (1967), The White Bus (1967), The Railway Children (1970), The Go-Between (1970), Hitchcock’s Frenzy (1972), From Beyond the Grave (1973), Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), A Doll’s House (1973), Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Akenfield (1974), The Romantic Englishwoman (1975), Joseph Andrews (1977), Julia (1977), The Chosen (1977), Absolution (1978), The Lady Vanishes (1979), Finders Keepers (1984), and Steaming (1985). Hartford received the Academy Award for Best Sound for his work on Sidney Pollack’s 1985 film Out of Africa. He continued to work on such films as Hope and Glory (1987), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Clint

Peter Handford

2007 • Obituaries

Eastwood’s White Hunter, Black Heart (1990), and Pollack’s Havana (1990).

HANDLEMAN, STANLEY MYRON Comedian Stanley Myron Handleman died of a heart attack in a Panorama City, California, hospital on August 5, 2007. He was 77. Handleman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 21, 1929. He began performing in New York in the late 1950s. Bedecked in a flat cap with oversized glasses, Handleman was noted for his often intellectual comedy routines. He became well known for his regular role on the television variety series Dean Martin Presents the Goldiggers in the late 1960s. He also made frequent appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Barbara McNair Show, The Flip Wilson Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Handleman was featured as Mookie in the 1965 film Harvey Middleman, Fireman and guest starred in an episode of Make Room for Granddaddy. He performed frequently on the stage in Las Vegas and often wrote material for fellow comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

Stanley Myron Handleman

HANICINEC, PETR Czech actor Petr Hanicinec died of cancer in Batronice, Czech Republic, on November 7, 2007. He was 77. Hanicinec was born in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia, on September 15, 1930. He was seen in numerous films from the late 1950s includ-

Petr Hanicinec

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ing All Our Enemies (1957), Tenkrat o Vanocich (1958), Sedmy Kontinent (1960), Evening (1962), Cerny vlk (1971), Horka Zima (1974), Pavlinka (1974), The Death of a Fly (1977), Shadow of a Flying Bird (1970), Svitalo Celou Noc (1980), Posledni Propadne Peklu (1982), A Bitter Autumn with a Scent of Mango (1984), Salar (1986), Time of the Servants (1989), and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1992). Hanicinec was also featured in such television productions as Vlci Halir (1975), Mezicas (1981), Rozpaky Kuchare Svatopluka (1985), Synove a Dcery Jakuba Sklare (1986), Klement Gottwald (1986), Jaja a Paja (1987), Dlouha Mile (1989), and Adventure of Criminalistics (1990).

HANLEY, ELLEN Actress and singer Ellen Hanley died of a stroke following a long battle with cancer in a Norwalk, Connecticut, hospital on February 12, 2007. She was 80. Hanley was born in Lorain, Ohio, on May 15, 1926. A leading stage performer, she made her Broadway debut in Annie Get Your Gun in 1946. She also appeared in productions of Barefoot Boy with Cheek (1947), Two’s Company (1952), and First Impressions (1959). She was best known for her role as Fiorello LaGuardia’s first wife in the hit Broadway musical Fiorello! in 1959. Hanley also toured frequently in summer stock, and was featured in an episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on television. She was married to television writer Ronnie Graham from 1951 until their divorce in 1963.

(1962), Voyage to Danger (1962), The Pastor with the Jazz Trumpet (1962), Kali Yug, Goddess of Vengeance (1963), The Cavern (1964), Frozen Alive (1964), Gringos Do Not Forgive (1965), Diamond Walkers (1965), Mutiny in the South Seas (1965), X7 Operation Rembrandt (1966), Is Paris Burning? (1966), the 1967 Perry Rhodan science fiction film Mission Stardust, Assignment K (1968), Andrea the Nympho (1968), Unser Doktor ist der Beste (1969), The Brazen Women of Balzac (1969), The Bridge at Remagen (1969), Underground (1970), Popsy Pop (1971), First Time with Feeling (1974), The Old Gun (1975), A Woman at Her Window (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Boys from Brazil (1978), Lucky Star (1979), Iron Hand (1979), Breakthrough (1979), and Palace (1985). Hansen was also seen in such television productions as Pakbo (1970), Operation Walkure (1971), Gasparone (1972), World on Wires (1973), Nora Helmer (1974), Les Faucheurs de Marguerites (1974), Harte 10 (1974), Heidi (1978), Anne of Green Gables (1985), My Secret Summer (1995), and Ein Mann fur Gewisse Sekunden (1999). Hansen was featured as Lt. Gen. Alfred Jodl in the mini-series The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988). His other television credits include episodes of Les Nouvelles Aventures de Vidocq, Tatort and Das Traumschiff.

Joachim Hansen

Ellen Hanley

HARDMAN , K ARL Karl Hardman, who starred in George Romero’s landmark horror classic

HANSEN, JOACHIM German actor Joachim Hansen died of a brain hemorrhage in Berlin, Germany, on September 13, 2007. He was 77. Hansen was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 28, 1930. He began his career in films in the late 1950s and appeared in numerous features over the next forty years. Hansen’s film credits include The Star of Africa (1957), Escape from Sahara (1958), Laila (1958), Romarei, das Madchen mit den Grunen Augen (1958), Black Triangle (1959), Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (1959), Duel with Death (1959), Der Schatz vom Toplitzsee (1959), The High Life (1960), Devil’s Choice (1960), Heritage of Bjorndal (1960), Fountain of Life (1961), Via Mala (1961), Ramona (1961), The Secret of the Black Trunk (1962), Das Madchen und der Staatsanwalt

Karl Hardman

157 Night of the Living Dead, died of pancreatic cancer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 22, 2007. He was 80. Hardman was born in Pittsburgh on March 22, 1927. He worked in radio in Pittsburgh as part of the cast of the popular program Cordic and Company from 1954 to 1965. He was the voice of such characters as Louie the Garbageman, Roquefort Q. LaFarge, and Mr. Murchison. He starred as ill-tempered Harry Cooper in the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead, which also featured his partner Marilyn Eastman, and their daughter, Kyra Schon, as his on-screen family. Hardman was also a producer of the film, and worked on makeup and sound effects. He returned to the screen three decades later in the 1996 horror film Santa Claws.

HARKIMO, OSMO Finnish cinematographer Osmo Harkimo died in Sipoo, Finland, on April 8, 2007. He was 83. Harkimo was born in Kymi, Finland, on October 7, 1923. He began working in films as an actor while in his teens, appearing in small roles in Lapseni on Minun... (1940), Tuomari Martta (1943), Toukokuun Taika (1948), Princess Ruusunen (1949), The Night Is Long (1952), and The Unknown Soldier (1955). He also began working as a camera operator in the late 1940s. Harkimo was soon serving as director of photography on such films as Aaltonen’s Missus Takes Charge (1949), Professor Masa (1950), Kaunis Veera eli Ballaadi Saimaalta (1950), Radio Tekee Murron (1951), The Night Is Long (1952), Gregory Peck Kavi Suomessa (1953), Sininen Viikko (1954), Pastori Jussilainen (1955), Sven Tuuva the Hero (1958), Pekka ja Patka Neekereina (1960), Toivelauluja (1961), Oksat Pois... (1961), Pahkahullu Suomi (1967), and Girl of Finland (1967).

2007 • Obituaries

complished poker player and served as a poker consultant for the ESPN television series Tilt in 2005.

John Harkness

HARNICK, JAY Jay Harnick, the founder of the children’s theater company Theaterworks/USA, died after a long illness in a Manhattan, New York, nursing home on February 27, 2007. He was 78. Harnick was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 8, 1928. He moved to New York after graduating from the University of Illinois. He began his career on stage as a performer in small roles in such Broadway musicals as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), Alive and Kicking (1950), and John Murray Anderson’s Almanac (1953). He was a founder of Theaterworks/USA in 1961 and served as its artistic director until his retirement in 2000. Theaterworks became the leading touring children’s theater group in the country, producing over 100 productions including an adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit. Harnick was married to actress Barbara Barrie from 1964 until his death.

Osmo Harkimo

HARKNESS, JOHN Canadian film critic John Harkness died of a heart attack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 18, 2007. He was 53. Harkness was born in Montreal, Canada, on August 7, 1954. He began writing film reviews for Now weekly in 1981, and also wrote articles for the publications Sight and Sound and Take One. Harkness was a founding member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. He was also the author of a popular reference book on the Oscars, The Academy Awards Handbook. Harkness was also an ac-

Jay Harnick

HARRINGTON, CURTIS Legendary director Curtis Harrington, noted for his horrifically elegant films, died of complications from a stroke at his home in Los Angeles, on May 6, 2007. He was 80. He was born in Los Angeles, on September 17, 1926. He studied film at the University of Southern California and

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the University of California at Los Angeles. He moved to Paris in the 1950s, where he wrote a book about filmmaker Josef von Sternberg. He became involved with other avante garde filmmakers, including Kenneth Anger, and appeared in his 1954 cult film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome. Harrington began assisting producer Jerry Wald in the 1950s and worked as an assistant producer on the films The Harder They Fall (1956), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), Peyton Place (1957), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), and Mardi Gras (1958). He rose to associate producer later in the decade, with the films Hound-Dog Man (1959), Return to Peyton Place (1961), and The Stripper (1963). In the early 1960s Harrington became a protege of Roger Corman and wrote and directed his first feature, a bizarre saga of a murderous mermaid, Night Tide, in 1961, starring Dennis Hopper. He directed the 1965 science fiction film Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet under the pseudonym John Sebastian, utilizing footage from Eastern European films to supply the special effects. He also directed and wrote the science fiction horror saga Queen of Blood (1966) and the off-beat psychological thriller Games (1967) starring James Caan. He continued with a series of Grand Guignol classics, including Who Slew Auntie Roo? (1971), What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971) starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters, and The Killing Kind (1973). He also directed the tele-films How Awful About Allan (1970), The Cat Creature (1973), Killer Bees (1974), The Dead Don’t Die (1975), and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978). He also directed episodes of The Legend of Jesse James, Baretta, Wonder Woman, Tales of the Unexpected, Logan’s Run, Vega$, Sword of Justice, Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty, Darkroom, The Colbys, and the new version of The Twilight Zone. He was displeased with his 1977 horror film Ruby when the ending was changed by the producers. His last feature film was Mata Hari in 1985. He largely retired from filmmaking in the mid–1980s, but appeared in a small role of a party guest in the 1998 bio-drama about the life of director James Whale, Gods and Monsters. His final film which he directed and starred in, Usher, based on Edgar Allen Poes The Fall of the House of Usher, was released in 2002 and screened at several film festivals.

Curtis Harrington

HARRIS, DENNY Award-winning commercial director Denny Harris died of cancer in Glenville, North Carolina, on March 5, 2007. He was 76. Harris was born on July 10, 1930. He also wrote and directed the 1980 horror film The Silent Scream, starring Rebecca Balding, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Barbara Steele.

Denny Harris (his film Silent Scream)

HARRIS, MARK Mark Harris, who was noted for writing such baseball novels as Bang the Drum Slowly, died of complications from pneumonia, a broken hip, and Alzheimer’s disease in a Santa Barbara, California, hospital on May 30, 2007. He was 84. Harris was born in Mount Vernon, New York, on November 19, 1922. His first novel, Trumpet to the World, was published in 1946. Harris penned over a dozen novels including the baseball books The Southpaw (1953), Bang the Drum Slowly (1956), A Ticket for a Seamstitch (1957), and It Looked Like Forever (1979). Bang the Drum Slowly, about a catcher dying of Hodgkin’s disease, was adapted for a 1973 film starring Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarty. Harris also wrote such non-fiction works as City of Discontent: An Interpretive Biography of Vachel Lindsay (1963), Mark the Glove Boy, or The Last Days of Richard Nixon (1964), and Saul Bellow: Drumlin Woodchuck (1980). His final work was a 1994 collection of baseball essays entitled Diamond.

Mark Harris

159 HART, JOHNNY Cartoonist Johnny Hart, who was a creator of the popular comic strips B.C. and The Wizard of Id, died of a stroke at his drawing board at his home in Endicott, New York, on April 7, 2007. He was 76. Hart was born in Endicott on February 18, 1931. He served in the U.S. Air Force and began drawing cartoons for the military publication Stars and Stripes. He left the military in 1954 and sold his first freelance cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post. Hart created the comic strip B.C., set in prehistoric times, in 1958. He later teamed with fellow cartoonist Brant Parker to create The Wizard of Id, about a diminutive tyrant and his court, in 1964. Both strips were hugely successful with B.C. appearing in over 1300 newspapers and The Wizard of Id appearing in over 1000. The Wizard of Id was adapted for an animated television special in 1969, and several B.C. animated television specials aired including B.C.: The First Thanksgiving (1973) and B.C.: A Special Christmas. Hart earned five awards from the National Cartoonists Society during his career.

Johnny Hart

HATCH, SIR DAVID Sir David Hatch, who served as managing director of BBC Radio from 1987 to 1993, died in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, on June 13, 2007. He was 68. Hatch was born in England on May 7, 1939. He began his career on stage performing in the revue shoe A Clump of Plinths

2007 • Obituaries

(aka Cambridge Circus) in the West End and Broadway in 1963. He was featured in the radio series I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again in 1964. Hatch became a producer with the BBC in the mid–1960s, working on such series as Just a Minute, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Hello Cheeky!, and Week Ending. He continued to work in radio, heading up Radio 2 and Radio 4 in the 1980s. He became managing director of BBC Radio in 1987. Hatch left the BBC in 1993, and served as Chairman of the National Consumer Council from 1996 to 2000. He headed the Parole Board for England and Wales from 2000 to 2004, and was knighted for his efforts in 2004.

HAWTHORNE, JIM Comic radio and television personality Jim Hawthorne died of congestive heart failure in Santa Barbara, California, on November 6, 2007. He was 88. Hawthorne was born in Victor, Colorado, on November 20, 1918. He began his career in radio in 1940 before joining the Army during World War II. After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and joined KXLA in 1943. He had achieved national recognition with his unpredictable, and often wacky, show by 1947. He also released several records during the late 1940s and 1950s, including “Serutan Yob” (1948), a hillbilly style parody of Nat King Cole’s popular song “Nature Boy.” In 1950 Hawthorne produced and starred on The Hawthorne Thing, a radio show that began at NBC’s Hollywood studio, and led him into a career in television. From 1950 to 1952, he hosted This Is Hawthorne, a late-evening talk show, and launched the comedic weather segment, Hawthorne Looks at the Weather. In 1965 he moved to Honolulu, where he created and was the original host of the popular children’s television show Checkers and Pogo. He moved to Denver in 1970 and served as promotion and program director at radio station KOA, and created, wrote, and hosted a daily news magazine for KOA-TV. He retired in 1985, though he continued to make appearances on radio. Hawthorne relocated to the Buena Vista Care Center in Santa Barbara, California, where he produced several local cable-access variety shows.

Jim Hawthorne

Sir David Hatch

HAYES, DREW Comic artist and writer Drew Hayes, who created the Poison Elves comic book, died

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of a heart attack while suffering from pneumonia in Bellingham, Washington, on March 21, 2007. He was 37. Hayes was born on July 20, 1969. He began selfpublishing the comic book series I, Lusiphur in 1991, and changed the title to Poison Elves after 20 issues. Sirius Entertainment began publishing the title in 1995. Hayes completed his final issue with #79 in September of 2004. Most of the titles run were collected in a series of 10 trade paperbacks.

Drew Hayes

HAZELHOFF ROELFZEMA , ERIK Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, a Dutch World War II hero whose exploits were the basis for the film Soldier of Orange, died of heart failure at his home in Ahualoa, Hawaii, on September 26, 2007. He was 90. Hazelhoff Roelfzema was born in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) on April 3, 1917. The son of a coffee plantation manager, he later accompanied his family back to the Netherlands. He left the Netherlands after the Nazi invasion during World War II and ended up in London where he worked with the British intelligence services Dutch section. Hazelhoff Roelfzema worked actively with the Dutch Resistance, undertaking numerous covert missions to his homeland during the war. He later flew reconnaissance missions over Germany with Britain’s Royal Air Force. He served as an aide-de-camp to the exiled Queen Wilhelmina upon her return to the Netherlands in 1945. He moved to the

United States in the early 1950s, where he became a citizen. He worked as a writer for NBC and Radio Free Europe. His wartime exploits received international recognition following the publication of his 1971 autobiography Soldier of Orange. His story was adapted by director Paul Verhoeven for a 1970 film, starring Rutger Hauer as the young hero.

HAZLEHURST, RONNIE Composer Ronnie Hazlehurst, who wrote and conducted the theme music for numerous BBC television productions, died in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, England, on October 1, 2007. He was 79. Hazlehurst was born in Duckinfield, Cheshire, England, on March 13, 1928. He began his career in music as a young man, performing with George Chambers’ band in the late 1940s. He worked with Granada TV in the 1950s, before moving on to the BBC. He composed the music for the series The Likely Lads and It’s a Knockout, and for the 1965 tele-play Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton. Hazlehurst became head of music for BBC’s light entertainment division in 1968. He went on to compose the themes and incidental music for numerous television productions, including The Two Ronnies, The Picnic, I Didn’t Know You Cared, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Blankety Blank, To the Manor Born, Sink or Swim, Only Fools and Horses, Roger Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Yes Minister, Jack of Diamonds, The Magnificent Evans, Uncle of the Bride, Big Day at Dream Acres, Yes, Prime Minister, Wyatt’s Watchdogs, and Last of the Summer Wine.

Ronnie Hazlehurst

Erik Haelho› Roelfzema

HAZLEWOOD, LEE Songwriter Lee Hazlewood, who was best known for writing Nancy Sinatra’s hit song “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” died of renal cancer in Henderson, Nevada, on August 4, 2007. He was 78. Hazlewood was born in Mannford, Oklahoma, on July 9, 1929. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and began working as a radio disc jockey after his discharge. He scored his first hit as a songwriter with rockabilly singer Sanford Clark’s recording of “The Fool” in 1956. Teaming with guitarist Duane Eddy, Hazlewood penned such hit songs as “Boss Guitar,” “Shazam!,” “Rebel Rouser,” and “40 Miles of Bad Road.” He produced the solo album “Trouble Is a Lonesome Town” in 1963. He soon began

161 working with Nancy Sinatra and wrote the #1 hit single “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” in 1966. He also wrote the songs “How Does That Grab Ya, Darlin’” and “Sugar Town” for Nancy Sinatra, and performed with her on several duets including “Some Velvet Morning.” He also wrote the Dean Martin hit “Houston,” and appeared in several films including The Sweet Ride (1968), The Moonshine War (1970), and Smoke (1971). Hazlewood moved to Sweden in the early 1970s where he wrote and produced the television show Cowboy in Sweden. He was largely retired from show business until the 1990s, when a new generation of musicians discovered him and recorded covers of his songs. He returned to touring and recording himself, and released his final album, Cake of Death, earlier in 2007.

Lee Hazlewood

HEATH, LAURENCE Television writer and producer Laurence Heath died in Los Angeles on January 9, 2007. He was 78. Heath was born in the Bronx, New York, on February 19, 1928. He began working in television in the 1960s, scripting episodes of Mannix, The Invaders, and Hawaii Five-O. He was a writer, producer, and story consultant for the Mission: Impossible series in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Heath also wrote and produced the series The Magician (1973) and Khan! (1975), and the tele-film Call to Danger (1973). He also scripted the tele-films and mini-series Most Wanted (1976), Seventh Avenue (1977), Ski Lift to Death (1978), The Beasts Are on the Streets (1978), Steeletown (1979), Stunts Unlimited (1980), The Memory of Eva Ryker (1980), Code Red (1981), Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls (1981), Christopher Columbus (1985), Sins (1986), and Judith Krantz’s Dazzle (1995). He also wrote the 1989 film Triumph of the Spirit, and scripted numerous episodes of Murder, She Wrote in the 1990s. HEFFRON, RICHARD T. Prolific television and film director Richard T. Heffron died in Seattle, Washington, on August 27, 2007. He was 76. Heffron was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 6, 1930. He began working in television in the 1960s, helming episodes of The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Banacek, The Rockford Files, and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. He directed numerous tele-films and mini-series during his career including Do You Take This Stranger? (1971),

2007 • Obituaries

Toma (1973), Outrage (1973), The Morning After (1974), Newman’s Law (1974), The California Kid (1974), Locusts (1974), The Honorable Sam Houston (1975), I Will Fight No More Forever (1975), Death Scream (1975), Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977), See How She Runs (1978), True Grit: A Further Adventure (1978), A Rumor of War (1980), A Whale for the Killing (1981), A Killer in the Family (1983), V: The Final Battle (1984), Anatomy of an Illness (1984), The Mystic Warrior (1984), North and South (1985), Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story (1986), Convicted: A Mother’s Story (1987), Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (1987), Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) making a rare onscreen appearance in the role of Duchene, Broken Angel (1988), Pancho Barnes (1988), Tagget (1991), The Baron (1995), Deadly Family Secrets (1995), and Danielle Steel’s No Greater Love (1996). Heffron also directed a handful of feature films including the music documentary Fillmore (1972), Trackdown (1976), Futureworld (1977), Outlaw Blues (1977), Foolin’ Around (1980), the 1982 Mike Hammer thriller I, the Jury, and The French Revolution (1989) which he also scripted.

HEMMING, EVA Finnish dancer and actress Eva Hemming died in Turku, Finland, on January 15, 2007. She was 84. Hemming was born in Finland on January 12, 1923. She began appearing in films the late 1930s, with such credits as Syyllisiako? (1938), Poretta (1941), Jos Oisi Valtaa... (1941), Onnellinen Ministeri (1941), Katariina ja Munkkiniemen Kreivi (1943), Countess for a Night (1945), Pikajuna Pohjoiseen (1947), Haaviston Leeni (1948), Dancing on Graves (1950), and Kolmiapila (1953).

Eva Hemming

HENDERSON, BILLY Billy Henderson, cofounder of the R&B band the Spinners, died from complications of diabetes in a Daytona Beach, Florida, healthcare facility on February 2, 2007. He was 67. Henderson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 9, 1939. He and four of his high school friends formed the Spinners in the 1950s while living in Ferndale, Michigan, a Detroit suburb. The band first signed on with Motown and moved to Atlantic Records in 1972 where they scored such hits as “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “One of a Kind

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(Love Affair),” “Then Came You” and “The Rubberband Man.” The Spinners were also seen in the 1979 feature film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh and on such television programs as Cher, The Mike Douglas Show, Bandstand, Disco ’77, Grease Day USA, Saturday Night Live and Laverne & Shirley. The Spinners were nominated for six Grammy Awards and continued to perform together until Henderson left the group in 2004 due to a legal dispute with the group’s corporation and business manager.

(1996), and This Is as Far as I Go (1999). His final album, Stories for Sale, was released in 2005. He had suffered in recent years from asbestosis, which was believed to have been the result of his construction work earlier in life.

HENRY, LES British comedian and harmonica player Les Henry died in England on January 12, 2007. He was 86. He was born Henry Leslie in England on October 20, 1920. He learned to play the harmonica as a child and led his own harmonica band in the late 1930s. He was featured as a solo act with Bryan Michie’s Radio Stars in 1939. Henry entertained the troops during World War II, and formed his own trio, The Three Monarchs, with Eric York and Jimmy Prescott after the war. He starred as Cedric in the comedy musical group, which performed at venues throughout Europe. They were also seen in the 1959 film Europe by Night, and appeared frequently on television during the 1960s and 1970s. The Three Monarchs disbanded in 1981, but Henry continued to entertain as a solo act for the remainder of his life. He was seen on television in episodes of Hi-De-Hi! and Tales of the Unexpected.

Billy Henderson

HENNESSY , CHRISTIE Irish singer and songwriter Christie Hennessy died of asbestosis in a London hospice on December 11, 2007. He was 62. Hennessy was born in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, on November 19, 1945. He was raised in a musical family and worked as a laborer on construction sites as a young man. Moving to London, he began playing in several bands and wrote his first song in 1968. He recorded The Green Album in 1972 and was soon performing regularly on John Peel’s radio program. As a songwriter, he scored a popular success when Christy Moore sang his “Don’t Forget Your Shovel” in 1983. “Jealous Heart” was a hit for Maire Brennan in 1992, and Frances Black recorded his “All The Lies That You Told Me” in 1995. Hennessy himself recorded a series of popular albums, including The Rehearsal (1992), A Year in the Life (1993), Lord of Your Eyes (1994), The Box

Christie Hennessy

Les Henry

HERALD, PETER V. Film producer and production manager Peter V. Herald died of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Los Angeles on February 17, 2007. He was 86. Herald was born in Berlin, Germany, on December 20, 1920, and immigrated to the United States in 1937. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, and worked with the U.S. military government in Germany through the early 1950s. Herald met Walt Disney while in Europe and worked as Disney’s production supervisor for Europe from 1960 to 1966. He was an associate producer on the Disney films Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) and Emil and the Detectives (1964). Herald moved to Los Angeles in 1967 where he continued to work in films. He served as production manager and sometimes producer on such films as There Was a Crooked Man... (1970), The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974), W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Alex & the Gypsy (1976), Silver Streak (1976), Star Wars (1977), Foul Play (1978), Nightwing (1979), Doctor Detroit (1983), D.C. Cab

163 (1983), Stick (1985), Outrageous Fortune (1987), and Married to It (1991).

HERBERT, DON Don Herbert, who starred as 1950s television science guru Mr. Wizard, died of bone cancer at his home in Bell Canyon, California, on June 12, 2007. He was 89. Herbert was born in Waconia, Minnesota, on July 10, 1917. He was a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and completed more than fifty bombing missions. After the war he worked on radio as an actor and writer. He began the series Watch Mr. Wizard in Chicago on NBC in 1951. Over the next 14 years he demonstrated scientific experiments to youngsters in the television audience. He was usually aided by young assistants on the show, which used common household objects to illustrate scientific principals. The program earned a Peabody Award in 1953 and continued to air on NBC through 1965. Herbert hosted several similar shortlived series in the 1960s including Experiment and How About. Watch Mr. Wizard was revived by NBC briefly in 1971, and Herbert returned to television with Mr. Wizard’s World on Nickelodeon in 1983.

2007 • Obituaries

frequently in German films and television productions from the 1950s. Hetterle was seen in the films Drei Madchen im Endspiel (1956), Thomas Muntzer (1956), Spur in die Nacht (1957), Maibowle (1959), Leute mit Flugeln (1960), Encounters in the Dark (1960), Ein Sommertag Macht Keine Liebe (1961), Das Rabaukenkabarett (1961), Das Zweite Gleis (1962), Geheimarchiv an der Elbe (1963), Solange Leben in Mir Ist (1965), Trotz Alledem! (1972), Einfach Blumen aufs Dach (1979), Antigone (1992), and Hans Warns: My 20th Century (1999).

HEWETT, CHRISTINE British actress and model Christine Hewett, who appeared as a space girl in the original Star Wars cantina sequence, died of cancer in England on September 18, 2007. She was 64. Hewett was born on August 11, 1943. She was featured in a small role in the film version of The Who’s rock opera Tommy in 1976, and guest-starred in episodes of Space: 1999 and Doctor Who. The blonde actress was outfitted with a black beehive hairstyle for her brief role in 1977’s Star Wars, playing a character later identified as Brea Tonnika. She was also seen in the films Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Strike It Rich (1990), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Die Another Day (2002), and De-Lovely (2004).

Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard)

HETTERLE, ALBERT German actor Albert Hetterle died in Berlin, Germany, on December 17, 2006. He was 88. Hetterle was born in Peterstal, Odessa, Ukraine, on October 31, 1918. He performed

Albert Hetterle

Christina Hewitt

HICKS, SIMON Judo expert and theatrical designer Simon Hicks died of complications from a

Simon Hicks

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brain tumor in Bristol, England, on March 7, 2007. He was 51. Hicks was born in Bristol on July 29, 1955. He studied stage design in London, and began the Video Casting Directory for actors in the late 1970s. Hicks was also an accomplished judo coach who had earned a 6th Dan Black Belt from the British Judo Association. He was the founder of Fighting Films in 1988, which created judo films featuring events in Olympic Games and Judo World Championships. He also made a series of technical films on the sport. Hicks served as a production designer for several films including Leon the Pig Farmer (1993), One More Kiss (1993), and Nectar (2006).

HILBERMAN , DAVID Animator David Hilberman died of complications from an infection in Stanford, California, on July 5, 2007. He was 95. Hilberman was born on December 18, 1911. He began working as a layout artist for Walt Disney Studios in the late 1930s. He worked on such animated films as Ugly Duckling (1939) and Bambi (1942). He was instrumental in organizing the animators’ strike at Disney in 1941 before leaving the studio. He subsequently joined the UPA animation studio. Hilberman was black-listed during the 1950s when he was denounced as a Communist by Disney. He left the United States for several decades, returning in the 1980s. He later worked as a layout artist for the carton series The Kwicky Koala Show and Smurfs, and the animated film Once Upon a Time (1993).

composition at several universities in the 1970s and 1980s. His later albums include Dusk (2001), A Beautiful Day (2002), and Time Lines (2006).

Andrew Hill

HILL, DAVID “TEX” World War II fighter pilot David Lee “Tex” Hill died at his home in Terrell Hills, Texas, of congestive heart failure on October 11, 2007. He was 92. Hill was born in Kwangju, Korea, on July 13, 1915, and was raised in Texas. He trained as a Naval aviator and joined the Flying Tigers in 1941. He fought with distinction with the volunteer group of aviator stationed in China during World War II. He was the recipient of such honors as the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the British Flying Cross, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and six Chinese combat decorations. John Wayne’s character, Capt. Jim Gordon, in the 1942 film The Flying Tigers, was based on Hill. He returned to Texas after the war, where he became the commander of the Texas Air National Guard with the rank of brigadier general. He was contacted by former fellow Flying Tiger, film producer Merian C. Cooper, in 1948, and was persuaded to fly to Africa to capture a baby gorilla for use in Cooper’s 1949 film Mighty Joe Young. Hill was featured in interviews in the 2005 documentary I’m King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper. He retired from the Air National Guard in 1968, but continued to tour with airshows around the world. He also authored his autobiography, Tex Hill: Flying Tiger.

David Hilberman

HILL, ANDREW Jazz pianist Andrew Hill died of lung cancer at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey, on April 20, 2007. He was 75. Hill was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 30, 1931. He began playing the piano at the age of 13 and studied under Paul Hindemith while in his teens. He performed as a sideman to such jazz stars as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis during the 1950s. He moved to New York in 1961 to perform with singer Dinah Washington. Hill began performing his own compositions in the early 1960s and made a series of recordings for Blue Note including the acclaimed “Point of Departure.” He worked with such artists as Bobby Hutcherson, Elvin Jones, Woody Shaw, and Eric Dolphy. He taught musical

David “Tex” Hill

165 HILL, HELEN Experimental filmmaker and animator Helen Hill was shot to death by an intruder during a break-in at her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 4, 2007. She was 36. Her husband, Dr. Paul Gailunas, was also shot, but survived the attack. Hill was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on May 9, 1970. She studied experimental animation at the California Institute of Arts. She taught animation at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design after moving to Canada. She and her husband moved to New Orleans in 2001. Hill created the animated shorts Madame Winger, Mouseholes, and Bohemian Town. She also wrote the book Recipes for Disaster: A Handcrafted Filmmaking Cookbook.

2007 • Obituaries

Hearst (1988), Downtown (1990), and Happy Anniversary, Punk! (2007).

Maury Hill

Helen Hill (with husband Dr. Paul Gailunas and their child)

HILL, MAURY Maurice “Maury” Hill, who was a writer and performer in the 1950s sci-fi series Space Patrol, died of heart complications in Los Angeles on July 12, 2007. He was 89. Hill was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on March 1, 1918. He moved to New York after serving in the U.S. Army, and began performing in small theatrical productions. He made his Broadway debut in 1948 in a small role in Mr. Roberts. He also appeared in such early television productions as Kraft Television Theatre, Studio One, and Suspense. He went to Hollywood in the early 1950s to join the cast of Space Patrol as Captain Hayward. He also worked on the series as a writer. Hill was also seen in episodes of I Love Lucy, Dragnet, Soldiers of Fortune, Lux Video Theatre, How to Marry a Millionaire, Suspicion, Tales of Wells Fargo, Zorro, Miami Undercover, Vacation Playhouse, Get Smart, Alias Smith and Jones, McMillan and Wife, Shaft, Archer, Mannix, Serpico, Alice, Delvecchio, The Man from Atlantis, 240-Robert, Little House on the Prairie, A Man Called Sloane, Trapper John, M.D., Remington Steele, Crossroads Cafe, L.A. Heat, and Murder, She Wrote. His other television credits include roles in the tele-films The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976), Terraces (1977), The Scarlett O’Hara War (1980), and Mark, I Love You (1980). He was also featured in several films during his career including Tobor the Great (1954), Bengazi (1955), The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956), Back from Eternity (1956), Glass Houses (1972), Airplane! (1980), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Patty

HINZE, MATTHIAS German actor Matthias Hinze died in Berlin, Germany, of a reported suicide on April 14, 2007. He was 38. Hinze was born in Berlin on February 7, 1969, the son of actor Lothar Hinze. He was featured on German television in such series as Klasse fur Sich, Eine, Teufels Grossmutter, Nordlichter, and Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten. He was also seen as Manfred Rommel in the U.S. mini-series War and Remembrance in 1988. Hinze was also a voice actor, dubbing such performers as Matt Damon, James Marsden, and Jason Behr for German audiences.

Matthias Hinze

HITCHING, SUSANNAH Actress and author Susannah Hitching died of breast cancer at her brotherin-law’s house in Spain on June 8, 2007. She was 43. Hitching was born in England on April 1, 1964. She attended drama school and began her career on stage in the 1980s, appearing in such productions as Amadeus, The Doll’s House, and Wind in the Willows. She also appeared on British television in such productions as Hit the Pitch (1989), Stanley and the Women (1991), and The Alchemists (1999), and in episodes of Inspector Morse, Drop the Dead Donkey, Ben Elton: The Man from Auntie, Hamish Macbeth, and Casualty. She retired from

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acting after her marriage to photographer Josh Barratt. Under the name Suzy Barratt, she and her young sister, Polly Beard, created the popular books I’m Bored and I’m Bored ... Again! as a guide to families wanting to play games together. The two sisters also began an advice column for The Times in 2005 on entertaining children.

Martin’s Laugh-In, The Brady Bunch, Sanford and Son, Charlie’s Angels, McCloud, Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy, Life Goes On, and One West Waikiki. He also appeared in the films Joe’s Apartment (1996) and First Daughter (1997), and was a voice performer in the animated feature Aloha, Scooby-Doo (2005). Ho remained a popular performer in Hawaii throughout his life, performing his final concert several days before his death.

HOBL, PAVEL Czech film director Pavel Hobl died in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 20, 2007. He was 71. Hobl was born in Prague on June 20, 1935. He began working in films in the early 1960s, and wrote and directed the 1960 short film Fantazie pro Levou Ruku a Lidske Svedomi. Hobl produced, directed, and scripted 1964’s Do You Keep a Lion at Home?, and also appeared on screen in a small role. His other film credits include The Borrowed Face (1965), The Great Unknown (1970), and 30 Panen a Pythagoras (1977).

Susannah Hitching

HO, DON Hawaiian singer Don Ho, who was noted for his rendition of “Tiny Bubbles,” died of heart failure in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 14, 2007. He was 76. He had suffered from heart problems over the past several years and had received a pacemaker in the fall of 2006. Ho was born in Honolulu on August 13, 1930. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and began performing at his family’s bar on Oahu, Honey’s, after his discharge. He became a very popular performer throughout Hawaii and appeared at the Coconut Grove in Hollywood in 1966. He was noted for his rendition of such songs as “Tiny Bubbles,” “With All My Love,” “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” and many others. He was soon playing nightclubs in Las Vegas and making appearances on such television variety shows as The Hollywood Palace, This Is Tom Jones, The Andy Williams Show, The Tonight Show, and Dinah. He hosted his own series, The Don Ho Show in 1976, and made cameo appearances on such series as Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Hawaiian Eye, Rowan &

Don Ho

Pavel Hobl

HODGE, MAX Television writer Max Hodge died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund House in Woodland Hills, California, on July 17, 2007. He was 91. Hodge was born in Matherville, Illinois, in 1916. He served in the US Navy during World War II and studied at The Pasadena Playhouse after the war. He worked as a producer and writer for Oldsmobile’s lavish industrial shows in the 1950s. He began writing frequently for television in the 1960s, scripting episodes of such series as Valentine’s Day, Dr. Kildare, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. on which he also served as associate producer from 1966 to 1967, Batman creating the character of bat-villain Mr. Freeze, Hondo, Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, M.D., Alias Smith and Jones, Cannon, Ironside, the animated The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Barbary Coast, The Waltons, Eight Is Enough, Police Woman, CHiPs, and Palmerstown, U.S.A. Hodge also scripted the 1973 telefilm A Dream for Christmas. HOFFMAN, LEE Author Lee Hoffman died on February 6, 2007. She was 74. She was the author of numerous western novels including 1967’s The Valdez Horses. The novel earned her the Spur Award and was adapted for a 1973 film starring Charles Bron-

167 son and Jill Ireland. She was also active in science fiction fandom, publishing the fanzines Quandry and Science-Fiction Five-Yearly from the 1950s. She also wrote several science fiction novels including 1969’s The Caves of Karst. She also wrote historical romances under the name Georgia York.

Lee Ho›man

HOLDEN , STANLEY British ballet dancer and choreographer Stanley Holden died of complications from heart problems and colon cancer in Thousand Oaks, California, on May 11, 2007. He was 79. He was born Stanley Waller in London on January 27, 1928. He joined the Sadler’s Wells Ballet, later known as the Royal Ballet, in 1944 at the age of 16. He performed as a character dancer in productions of The Sleeping Beauty (1946) as Puss in Boots, John Cranko’s Harlequin in April (1951), and Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee (1960). He was also featured in Ashton’s 1968 production of Enigma Variations before retiring from the Royal Ballet the following year. He moved to Los Angeles in 1970, where he taught at the Stanley Holden Dance Center until 2001. He also returned to the stage in ballets around the country, particularly in productions of La File Mal Gardee and Coppelia. Holden also choreographed the 1989 ballet Dmitri with a libretto by Woody Allen.

2007 • Obituaries

HOLDER, BOSCOE Trinidadian dancer and choreographer Boscoe Holder died in Newtown, Trinidad, on April 21, 2007. He was 85. He was born Arthur Aldwyn Holder in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on July 16, 1921. He learned the music, songs and dances of Trinidad at an early age and was producing shows there by the late 1930s. He was a founding member of the Trinidad Art Society in 1943, and entertained U.S. troops stationed there during World War II. He traveled to New York to teach at the Katherine Dunham School in 1947, and settled in London the following year after his marriage to dancer Sheila Clarke. He formed the dance troupe Boscoe Holder and His Caribbean Dancers, with his wife as the lead performer. They were featured in their own television series, Bal Creole, in 1950. Holder remained a popular performer in cabarets and on television over the next two decades. He starred as Emperor Jones in an Armchair Theatre production on television in 1958, and was featured in episodes of The Saint and Danger Man. He was also featured in several films including The Love Lottery (1954), Storm Over Jamaica (1958), Sapphire (1959), and Round Trip (1967). He choreographed calypso numbers for the 1959 film Tiger Bay starring Hayley Mills, and created voodoo rituals for the horror films Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) and Beast of Morocco (1966). Holder returned to Trinidad in 1970 where he became an acclaimed painter. He was the oldest brother of acclaimed actor and dancer Geoffrey Holder and appeared in the 2002 documentary about his brother, Geoffrey Holder: The Unknown Side.

Boscoe Holder

Stanley Holden

HOLLAND, TONY British television writer Tony Holland, who was best known as the co-creator of the popular soap opera EastEnders, died of complications from injuries he received in a fall in England on November 21, 2007. He was 67. Holland was born in Shoeburyness, England, on January 18, 1940. He began writing for television in the 1960s, working as a writer and script editor for the series Z Cars. He became closely associated with producer-director Julia Smith while working on the 1975 series Angels and the two created EastEnders in 1985. Holland also worked as a script editor on the series Life and Death of Penelope, Cold Warrior and The District Nurse. He and Smith left

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EastEnders after only four years, but returned to the BBC to create another soap set at a Spanish resort, Eldorado. The series premiered in July 1992 to universally bad reviews. Holland’s career was damaged from the failure of the series, though he later worked as a writer for the Swedish soap opera Snoken in the mid–1990s.

ing the 1960s, died of prostate cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital on January 13, 2007. He was 70. He was born Doyle Floyd Hendricks in Perks, Oklahoma on June 30, 1936. He was playing in small clubs in Bakersfield, California, when he was invited to take over Merle Haggard’s spot in Buck Owen’s band in 1963. He performed on many of Owen’s biggest hits including “Act Naturally,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “Buckaroo,” and “Together Again.” He also backed Owens on the television series Hee Haw from 1969 until leaving the group in 1971. Holly subsequently embarked on a solo career, recording several hits including “Queen of the Silver Dollar” and “Lila.” He retired from touring in the 1980s to open a musical instrument shop near Nashville.

Tony Holland

HOLLWEG, WERNER German opera singer Werner Hollweg died of amyotropic lateral sclerosis in Breisgau, Germany, on January 1, 2007. He was 70. He was born in Solingen, Germany on September 13, 1936. He began training as a singer in the late 1950s, and made his debut with the Vienna Chamber Opera in 1962. He performed at opera houses throughout Germany over the next several years. He soon gained an international reputation performing Belmonte in operas in Vienna, Munich, Edinburgh, and Salzburg. He made his debut in London’s Covent Garden in La Clemenza di Tito in 1976. He was noted as a leading interpreter of Mozart’s operas through the 1980s. Hollweg also began directing operas, staging and starring in productions of Cherubini’s Medee (1986) and York Holler’s The Master and Margarita (1989) at the Paris Opera.

Doyle Holly

HOLT, WILLY French film production designer Willy Holt died in Paris on June 22, 2007. He was 85. Holt was born in Quincy, Florida, on November 30, 1921. He began his career in films in the 1950s, serving as an art director or production designer for such directors as Fred Zinnemann, Rene Clement, Luis Malle, John Frankenheimer, Roman Polanski, and Woody Allen. His numerous film credits include Les Quatre Mousquetaires (1953), The Train (1964), Up from the Beach (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966) which earned him an Academy Award nomination, Two for the Road (1967), The Sergeant (1968), Staircase (1969), The Lady

Werner Hollweg

HOLLY, DOYLE Doyle Holly, who played bass guitar with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos dur-

Willy Holt

169 in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), The Scarlet Buccaneer (1971), The Annuity (1972), The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Down-in-the-Hole Gang (1974), The Destructors (1974), Rosebud (1975), Love and Death (1975), The Gypsy (1975), Boomerang (1976), Maxim’s Porter (1976), Man in a Hurry (1977), Julia (1977), The Other One’s Mug (1979), An Almost Perfect Affair (1979), Dead Certain (1981), Le Pere Noel est une Ordure (1982), Five Days One Summer (1982), The Ruffian (1983), Tout le Monde Peut se Tromper (1983), A Friend of Vincent (1983), Les Enrages (1985), Target (1985), A State of Emergency (1986), Goodbye, Children (1987), May Fools (1990), La Pagaille (1991), Bitter Moon (1992), The Thirst for Gold (1993), and My Man (1996). Holt also appeared in small roles in several films including For a Cop’s Hide (1981), Woody Allen’s Zelig (1983), Place Vendome (1998), and The Ninth Gate (1999).

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and Laburnum Grove (1936), and starred as Constance, Mozart’s wife, in Dean’s 1936 film Whom the Gods Love. She next appeared in the film The Mill on the Floss in 1937. In the late 1930s she starred in several television productions including another version of The Constant Nymph (1938), Nine Till Six (1938), London Wall (1938), Cornelius (1939), and Magic (1939). She also remained a leading stage performer, starring in J.B. Priestley’s Johnson Over Jordan in 1939. Though divorced from Dean, she worked with him during World War II entertaining soldiers with the Entertainments National Service Association. She continued to perform on stage after the war, and starred in the short film Escape from Broadmoor in 1948. She made her final stage performance on the West End in the play Serious Charge in 1955. Hopper was married to actor Peter Walter from 1951 until his death.

HOLTZMAN , BOBBI Actress and director Roberta “Bobbi” Holtzman died in Los Angeles after a long illness on December 31, 2007. She was 81. Holtzman was born in Everett, Washington, in 1926. She attended college, where she earned a degree in theatre arts. She worked as an acting coach and served on the faculty at California State University in Northridge. She was also a founder and director of the Northridge Theatre Guild from the late 1960s. Holtzman directed numerous production at theaters throughout Southern California. She also appeared on stage on such plays as Awake and Sing (1982) and Eleemosynary (1996). She made several appearances on television, guest starring in episodes of NYPD Blue and Ally McBeal. Victoria Hopper

HORNE, RICHARD Richard Horne, a children’s author and illustrator known as Harry Horse, was found dead at his home in Sheltland, Scotland, on January 10, 2007. He was 46. He and his wife, Mandy, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, died in an apparent suicide pact. Horne was born in Coventry, England, on May 9, 1960. His first children’s book, Opopogo, My Journey with the Loch Ness Monster, was published in 1983. He also wrote a series of books that included The Last Polar Bears, which was adapted as a television carBobbi Holtzman

HOPPER, VICTORIA British actress Victoria Hopper died in New Romney, Kent, England, on January 22, 2007. She was 97. Hopper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on May 24, 1909. She moved to England with her family in the early 1920s, and began studying acting and singing. She began her stage career in a production of Martine in 1933. Director Basil Dean cast her as Tess Sanger in his 1933 film adaptation of The Constant Nymph, and the following year she starred in Dean’s film Lorna Doone. Hopper married Dean after completion of the film. She appeared in the films The Lonely Road (1936)

Richard Horne

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toon in 2000. Horne was a political cartoonist for several newspapers including The Scotsman and Sunday Herald from the late 1980s. He also illustrated the centenary edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the children’s book Magus the Lollipop Man. Horne designed and created the computer game Drowned God in 1993.

following year. Both singers chose other partners and continued to perform as Dale and Grace, with Connie Sattenfield teaming with Houston. The original duo briefly reunited in the mid–1980s.

HOSHIYAMA, HIROYUKI Japanese anime writer Hiroyuki Hoshiyama died in Japan on February 7, 2007. He was 62. Hoshiyama was born in Tokyo on May 13, 1944. He began working in anime in the late 1970s, writing for the Mobile Suit Gundam series. He also scripted such anime productions as Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981), Those Obnoxious Aliens (1981), Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space (1982), Techno Police (1982), Megazone 23 (1985), Lily C.A.T. (1987), and Dirty Pair (1987). HOSSACK , GRANT British composer and arranger Grant Hossack died of cancer in England on January 6, 2007. He was 68. Hossack was born in England on November 28, 1938. He began working in London’s West End in the 1960s as a musical director for theatrical productions. He worked on such shows as They’re Playing Our Song, A Chorus Line, Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story. He was also conductor and orchestrator for the BBC Radio Orchestra’s series Songs from the Shows. Hossack was musical adviser for the series The Onedin Line in 1971, and composed the music for the television drama series Nanny in 1981.

Dale Houston (with Grace Broussard)

HOVEY, ANN Actress Ann Hovey died in Arizona on August 25, 2007. She was 95. Hovey was born in Mount Vernon, Indiana, on July 29, 1912. She headed to Hollywood in the early 1930s to embark upon a career in films. She made her debut in 1932’s The Kid from Spain with Eddie Cantor. Hovey also appeared in small roles in the films 42nd Street (1933), The Little Giant (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Private Detective 62 (1933), Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933), Wild Boys of the Road (1933), and Journal of a Crime (1934). She was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1934, and appeared with her twelve fellow “Baby Stars” in the films Kiss and Make-Up (1934) and Young and Beautiful (1934). Hovey was also seen in Circus Shadows (1935) with Kane Richmond and Behind the Headlines (1936). She subsequently signed a contract with RKO, where she starred in the 1936 western The Glory Trail. She remained at RKO for the films On Again Off Again (1937), Super-Sleuth (1937), Annapolis Salute (1937), and Danger Patrol (1937). She retired from films after appearing in the 1938 comedy Flirting with Fate with Joe E. Brown.

Grant Hossack

HOUSTON , DALE Singer Dale Houston, who was half of the vocal duo Dale and Grace that recorded several rock and roll hits in the 1960s, died in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on September 27, 2007. He was 67. Houston was born in Seminary, Mississippi, on April 23, 1940. He began singing at an early age and had a modest hit with the song “Lonely Man” in 1958. After several years of writing such songs as “Bird with a Broken Wing” and “That’s What I Like About Us,” he teamed with singer Grace Broussard to record the #1 hit “I’m Leaving It Up to You” in 1963. The duo appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and toured with his Caravan of Stars. They scored another hit with “Stop and Think It Over” in 1964 before splitting the

Ann Hovey

171 HUBNER, KURT German theatrical director and actor Kurt Hubner died in Munich, Germany, on August 23, 2007. He was 90. Hubner was born in Hamburg, Germany, on October 30, 1916. He was theatrical manager and artistic director at the Bremen Theatre from 1962 to 1973. He subsequently managed the Freie Volksbuhne in Berlin until 1986. He continued to direct plays on a freelance basis and taught at Munich’s Theatre Academy. Hubner was also featured as an actor in the films I’m an Elephant, Madame (1969), Death Is My Trade (1977), and The Rosegarden (1989), and on television in productions of Old Shaky (1966), Die Messe der Erfullten Wunsche (1971), Phantasten (1979), Variation (1983), Das Zweite Leben (1990), Pappa ante Portas (1991), Die Rachegottin (1992), and Maus und Katz (1993).

Kurt Hubner

HUDSON, POOKIE Pookie Hudson, who was the lead singer of the doo wop group the Spaniels, died of complications of thymus cancer at his home in Capitol Heights, Maryland, on January 16, 2007. He was 72. He was born Thornton James Hudson in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 11, 1934. He began singing in church choir before putting the Spaniels together while in high school. Hudson wrote the group’s 1954 hit “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight,” which was also a hit for the McGuire Sisters soon afterwards. The Spaniels also recorded the popular songs “Peace of

2007 • Obituaries

Mind,” “Let’s Make Up,” and “Baby, It’s You.” Hudson left the group in the 1960s but was unsuccessful in a solo career. He fell on hard times for the next two decades. He returned to performing in the 1980s, touring with other survivors of the Spaniels on the nostalgia circuit. They recorded the album 40th Anniversary in 1991, and Hudson continued to perform until shortly before his death.

HUFFMAN, MYRNA KAY Film and television production coordinator Myrna Kay Huffman died in Bullhead City, Nevada, after a brief illness on February 7, 2007. She was 64. Huffman was born on August 17, 1942. She was production coordinator for the television series Moonlighting from 1985 to 1986. She also worked on the television series Werewolf and the tele-film Timestalkers in 1987. Huffman was also involved in the production of several films including Doc Hollywood (1991), All I Want for Christmas (1991), Gideon (1999), and Luckytown (2000). HUGHEY, JOHN Steel guitar player John Hughey, who toured with Conway Twitty and recorded with Elvis Presley, died of heart complications in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on November 18, 2007. He was 73. Hughey was born in Elaine, Arkansas, on December 27, 1933. He began his professional career in the early 1950s performing with Slim Rhodes and the Mother’s Best Mountaineers. He developed a playing style that emphasized the high tones of the steel guitar that gave it a crying sound. He toured with Conway Twitty for nearly 20 years, and recorded songs with such stars as Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, and the Allman Brothers. He also toured and recorded with Vince Gill for over a decade, and frequently performed with the Nashville-based Western swing band the Time Jumpers.

John Hughey

HUIJS, HARRIE Dutch actor Harrie Huijs died in Zuthphen, the Netherlands, on February 20, 2007. He was 51. Huijs was born in Tegelen, the Netherlands, on April 29, 1955. He was best known for starring as Dracula in the 2006 film Dracula’s Family Visit. He was also featured on Dutch television in the series De Hemelpaort in 2007. Pookie Hudson

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Harrie Huijs

Peter Hume

HUMBARD , R EX Pioneering televangelist Rex Humbard died in a hospital in Atlantis, Florida, on September 21, 2007. He was 88. Humbard was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on August 13, 1919. His parents were both Pentecostal evangelists and Rex followed in their footsteps. His Sunday services began being televised in the early 1950s, with the broadcasts called The Cathedral of Tomorrow. Humbard built a $4 million church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 1958 from which he broadcast his ministry. His preaching was often accompanied by the gospel singing of his wife, Maude Aimee, and the Cathedral Quartet. His syndicated program was broadcast on more than 600 stations by the 1970s. His fans included Elvis Presley, and Humbard presided over the singer’s funeral in 1977. He largely retired from the air in the 1980s and moved his family ministry to Florida.

HUMPHREY, CAVADA Broadway actress Cavada Humphrey died on July 11, 2007. She was a leading Broadway performer from the 1940s, appearing in such productions as The House in Paris (1944), King Henry VIII (1946), What Every Woman Knows (1946), A Pound on Demand/Androcles and the Lion (1946), Alice in Wonderland (1947), As the Girls Go (1948), The Devil’s Disciple (1950), Time Remembered (1957), You Can’t Take It with You (1965), and Candida (1970). She also had a small role in the 1948 film The Naked City. Humphrey was married to actor and playwright Jerome Kilty from 1956. She appeared on television from the 1950s in such series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Studio One, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Kraft Television Theatre, Camera Three, NET Playhouse, and Under the Hammer. She was featured as Miss Flannery in the 1967 film musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, and was Psychic Investigator Janet Findley in several episodes of the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows in 1968.

Rex Humbard

HUME , PETER Peter Hume, a Canadian wrestling champion who appeared in the 1979 comedy film Meatballs, died at his home in Mechanicville, New York, on October 22, 2007. He was 54. Hume was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 13, 1953. He was national university wrestling champion in 1977. He was featured as a character called The Stomach in the film Meatballs starring Bill Murray, and was remembered for shouting the line “What, no mustard?,” during a hotdog eating contest in the comedy.

HUNT, GARETH British actor Gareth Hunt, who starred as Mike Gambit in The New Avengers television series in the late 1970s, died of pancreatic cancer in England on March 13, 2007. He was 64. He was born Alan Leonard Hunt in London on February 7, 1943, and was the nephew of British character actress Martita Hunt. He began his career on British television in the early 1970s, appearing in episodes of such series as A Family at War, The Organization, Doctor Who, Bless This House, The Hanged Man, Softly Softly, and Space: 1999. Hunt was also seen in the 1972 film For the Love of Ada, and the 1975 tele-film The Brotherhood. He appeared regularly as Footman Frederick Norton on the popular British series Upstairs, Downstairs from 1974 to 1975. Hunt joined Patrick McNee and Joanna Lumley in the action series The New Avengers in 1976, starring for two seasons as secret agent Mike Gambit. He also appeared in the films Licensed to Love and Kill (aka The Man from S.E.X) (1979), The World Is Full of Married Men (1979), Funny Money (1982), Gabrielle and the Doodleman (1984), the horror spoof Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984), the Pet Shop Boys film It Couldn’t Happen Here (1987), A Chorus of Disapproval (1988), The Forgotten Wells (1990), Fierce Creatures

173 (1997), The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo (1998), Parting Shots (1999), Two’s Company (2005), and The Riddle (2007). He was also featured in television productions of The House on Garibaldi Street (1979), The Business of Murder (1981), That Beryl Marston...! (1981) as Gerry Bodley, And the Wall Came Tumbling Down segment of Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense in 1987, A Hazard of Hearts (1987), The Lady and the Highwayman (1989), A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990), The Castle of Adventure (1990), the sit-com Side by Side (1992) as Vince Tulley, and Harry and the Wrinklies (1999). His other television credits include episodes of Minder, The Detectives, The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna, The New Adventures of Robin Hood, EastEnders, Night & Day, New Tricks, and Doctors. Hunt was also known in England for his Nescafe coffee commercials in the 1980s, and his numerous stage appearances. He had been in poor health since suffering a heart attack in 1999.

Gareth Hunt

HUNTER, JOE Joe Hunter, who led the Motown house band The Funk Brothers, died in Detroit, Michigan, on February 2, 2007. He was 79. Hunter was born in Jackson, Tennessee, on November 19, 1927. He moved to Detroit in his early teens, and was soon performing at local clubs. He was hired by Berry Gordy to lead the Motown studio band in 1958. The Funk Brothers contributed musically to such hit recordings

2007 • Obituaries

as Marv Johnson’s “Come to Me” (1959), Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ “Shop Around” (1960), Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heatwave” (1963), and Marvin Gaye’s “Pride and Joy” (1963). Hunter left Motown in 1963 to work as a pianist and arranger for such stars as Aretha Franklin, Edwin Starr, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Big Maybelle. He was playing piano at a Detroit lounge by the 1980s, when he and the band began to get overdue recognition for their role in Motown’s success. Hunter wrote his autobiography Musicians, Motown and Myself in 1996, ans was featured in Paul Justman’s 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. The Funk Brothers earned two Grammy Awards for the soundtrack album and were given a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

HUTT, WILLIAM Leading Canadian stage actor William Hutt died of leukemia in a Stratford, Ontario, Canada, hospital on June 27, 2007. He was 87. Hutt was born in Toronto, Canada, on May 2, 1920. He served as a field medic in Europe during World War II, and decided to become an actor after the war. He made his professional stage debut in Ontario in 1948. Hutt joined the Stratford Shakespeare Festival during its first year in 1953. He continued to perform with the Stratford for the next 52 years, starring in such productions as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and The Tempest as Prospero. He also performed on stage in London and New York, and appeared on Broadway in Edward Albee’s Tiny Alice in 1964. He starred as Canadian Prime Minister John MacDonald on the television mini-series The National Dream in 1974. He was also seen in television productions of Macbeth (1960), Cyrano de Bergerac (1962), Henry V (1966), The Elephant Man (1982), Much Ado About Nothing (1987), Long Day’s Journey into Night (1996), Emily of New Moon (1998), and The Trojan Horse (2007). He also appeared in episodes of the series The Starlost and Twice in a Lifetime, and played the recurring role of Charles in Slings and Arrows in 2006. Hutt was also featured in several films including The Fixer (1968), The Shape of Things to Come (1979) as the voice of Lomax, The Wars (1983), Covergirl (1984), and The Statement (2003).

William Hutt Joe Hunter

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HUTTON, BETTY Singer and actress Betty Hutton, who starred in numerous film musical during the 1940s and 1950s, died of complications from colon cancer at her home in Palm Springs, California, on March 12, 2007. She was 86. She was born Elizabeth June Thornburg in Battle Creek, Michigan, on February 26, 1921. She and her sister, Marion, began singing while in their teens and Betty joined Vincent Lopez’s band as a singer in 1936. She performed with the band for several years, and was also featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show. She went to Hollywood the following year, where she made her film debut in 1942’s The Fleet’s In. A dynamic blonde performer, she became noted for her brassy voice and energetic style. She continued to appear in such films as Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), Happy Go Lucky (1943), Let’s Face It (1943), The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) as Trudy Kockenlocker, a young woman who turns up pregnant after a whirlwind marriage and can’t remember who her husband is, And the Angels Sing (1944), Skirmish on the Home Front (1944), Here Come the Waves (1944), Incendiary Blonde (1945) as famed nightclub entertainer Texas Guinan, The Stork Club (1945), Cross My Heart (1946), The Perils of Pauline (1947) as silent film star Pearl White, Dream Girl (1948), and Red, Hot and Blue (1949). She starred as Annie Oakley in the film version of Irving Berlin’s hit musical Annie Get Your Gun in 1950, and was Holly in Cecil B. DeMille’s film circus spectacular The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952. She was also seen in Let’s Dance (1950), Sailor Beware (1952), Somebody Loves Me (1952) as singer Blossom Seeley, and Spring Reunion (1957). Hutton starred in a 1954 television production of Satins and Spurs. She starred in the self named The Betty Hutton Show, playing Goldie Appleby, from 1959 to 1960. She also guest starred in episodes of The Greatest Show on Earth, Burke’s Law, Gunsmoke, and Baretta. She was also seen briefly on Broadway in the musical Fade Out, Fade In in 1965. Addiction to pills and alcohol largely ended her career in the 1960s. Having lost her entire fortune by the 1970s, she took a job as cook and housekeeper at a Roman Catholic Church in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. With the help of the priest at St. Anthony’s Church Hutton was able to overcome her addictions and returned to performing in night clubs.

She also entered colldge where she earned a masters degree in psychology. She was a drama teacher at Emerson Collage at Boston in the late 1980s. She was also the subject of an lengthy interview by Robert Osborne for Private Screenings on Turner Classic Movies in 2000.

HUXLEY, LAURA Laura Huxley, the widow and biographer of Aldous Huxley, died of cancer at her home in Los Angeles on December 13, 2007. She was 96. She was born Laura Archera in Turin, Italy, on November 2, 1911. She came to the United States in 1937 as a concert violinist, performing at Carnegie Hall with the New York Women’s Symphony Orchestra. She remained in the United States during World War II, and became a student of psychology and alternative medicine. She met Aldous Huxley, the famed author of the futuristic novel Brave New World, and his wife, Maria, in the late 1940s when she was involved in a documentary film production. She became close to the Huxleys, and she and Aldous married in 1956, a year after the death of his wife. They remained together until Aldous Huxley’s death from cancer in November of 1963. She reportedly eased his passage by injecting him with LSD, at his request, as he was dying. She wrote a memoir of their years together, This Timeless Moment: A Personal View of Aldous Huxley, published in 1968. She was also the author of several self-help books, and was the founder of a foundation dedicated to the welfare of children in the late 1970s. Laura Huxley was also featured in several documentary films including Aldous Huxley: Darkness and Light (1993) and Drug-Taking and the Arts (1994).

Laura Huxley

Betty Hutton (from Annie Get Your Gun)

IDELSON, BILL Television actor and writer Bill Idelson died on December 31, 2007. He was 87. Idelson was born in Forest Park, Illinois, on August 21, 1920. He began his career as a juvenile actor on radio in Chicago in 1931 as Skeezix in Gasoline Alley. He starred in Vic and Sade, as the title character’s young son Rush, from 1932 to 1942. He left the series to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He returned to radio after the war, appearing in One Man’s Family, The Truitts, Those Websters, and Woman in My House. He began working in television in the late 1940s, star-

175 ring as Bill Abbott in the 1949 series Mixed Doubles, and taking over the role of Cliff Barbour in the television version of One Man’s Family. He also appeared in episodes of Telephone Time, Steve Canyon, Dragnet, Peter Gunn, Leave It to Beaver, The Twilight Zone, Hennesey, Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, Zane Grey Theater, My Three Sons, The Jack Benny Program, The Virginian, Perry Mason, The Bill Dana Show, My Favorite Martian, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Dick Van Dyke Show in the recurring role of Sallie’s boyfriend Herman Glimscher, The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Suddenly Susan, Will & Grace, and The War at Home. He reprised his role as Herman Glimscher in the 2004 reunion telefilm The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. He also began scripting television episodes in the early 1960s, writing for such series as The Flintstones, The Twilight Zone, Lawman, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Andy Griffith Show, The Mothers-in-Law, Get Smart, Accidental Family, Bewitched, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Love, American Style, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Anna and the King, The Bob Newhart Show which he also produced, Happy Days, M*A*S*H, The Montefuscos, and Punky Brewster. He also wrote the tele-films Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1975) and Beans of Boston (1979). Idelson was featured in a small role in the 1961 film The Last Time I Saw Archie, and scripted the 1963 horror film The Crawling Hand. He authored several books including The Story of Vic and Sade about his radio days, and Gibby, a biography and war memoir. His daughter, television writer and producer Ellen Idelson, predeceased him in 2003.

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Un Trio de Tres (1960), House of the Frights (1963), Bring Me the Vampire (1963), Un Angel de mal Genio (1964), La Banda del Fantasma Negro (1964), El Rostro de la Muerte (1964), Un Padre a Todo Maquina (1964), Las Lobas del Ring (1964), The Coyness of Love (1965), Autopsy of a Ghost (1968), Diamantes, Oro, y Amor (1973), El Patrullero 777 (1978), Munecas de Medianoche (1979), Las Tentadoraqs (1980), Unos Granujas Decentes (1980), Burlesque (1980), El Gran Perro Muerto (1981), Las Glorias del Gran Puas (1984), La Banda del Golondrino (1988), Pancho el Sancho (1988), El Bar de los Nacos (1989), Papito Querido (1991), A Oscuras me da Risa (1995), and Que Bonita Familia: Papa 2000 (2000). Iglesias also starred in the television series Mi Secretaria (1975), El Hospital de la Risa (1986), Todo de Todo (1994), and Rencor Apasionado (1998).

Pompin Iglesias

IMBRIE, ANDREW Classical composer Andrew Imbrie died at his home in Berkeley, California, on December 5, 2007. He was 86. Imbrie was born in New York City on April 6, 1921. He played the piano from an early age, and later studied under Nadia Boulanger, Robert Casadesus, and Roger Sessions. After serving as a translator of Japanese in the later years of World War II, he earned a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1947. He subsequently joined the faculty there, and also taught at Harvard, Brandeis, the University of Chicago, and Bill Idelson

IGLESIAS, POMPIN Mexican actor Pompin Iglesias died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on March 3, 2007. He was 82. Iglesias was born in Bogota, Colombia, on December 9, 1924. He began performing in the 1940s, and was featured in such films as Cuando los Hijos Odian (1950), Retorno al Quinto Patio (1951), La Marquesa del Barrio (1951), Me Traes de un Ala (1953), Amor de Locura (1953), Las Carinosas (1953), The Thief (1954), La Gitana Blanca (1954), Al Diablo las Mujeres (1955), Serenade in Mexico (1956), Three and a Half Musketeers (1957), School for Mothers-in-Law (1958), El Aguila Negra vs. los Diablos de la Pradera (1958), My Wife Needs a Husband (1959), The Super-Sissy (1959),

Andrew Imbrie

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the San Francisco Conservatory. He composed Serenade for Flute, Viola and Piano in 1952, and wrote his first opera, Three Against Christmas (later renamed Christmas in Peebles Town) in 1964. He was best known for his lyrical 1976 opera Angle of Repose. Imbrie continued to teach through the 1990s, and completed his final composition, Sextet for Six Friends, earlier in 2007.

INFUHR, TEDDY Child actor Teddy Infuhr died in Thousand Oaks, California, on May 12, 2007. He was 70. Infuhr was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 9, 1936. He moved to Los Angeles with his family as an infant and made his film debut at the age of five in the 1942 comedy The Tuttles of Tahiti with Charles Laughton. He was seen in numerous films over the next dozen years, notably as Larry in the 1944 Sherlock Holmes feature The Spider Woman with Basil Rathbone and Gale Sondergaard, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) whose death as a child continues to haunt his brother, played by Gregory Peck. He also appeared as Benjamin Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle comedy film series. Infuhr was also featured in such films and shorts as Pardon My Sarong (1942), The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943), Hers to Hold (1943), The Iron Major (1943), Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943), The North Star (1943), She’s for Me (1943), Madame Curie (1943), The Kitchen Cynic (1944), Youth Runs Wild (1944), San Diego I Love You (1944), Heavenly Days (1944), The Unwritten Code (1944), Bowery to Broadway (1944), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), The Clock (1945), That’s the Spirit (1945), Dangerous Partners (1945), That Night with You (1945), The House I Live In (1945), Because of Him (1946), Gay Blades (1946), Roaring Rangers (1946), Sentimental Journey (1946), Song of Arizona (1946), The Virginian (1946), The Return of Rusty (1946), Till the End of Time (1946), Little Miss Big (1946), Three Wise Fools (1946), Follow That Blonde (1946), Sister Kenny (1946), The Strange Woman (1946), Affairs of Geraldine (1946), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), My Brother Talks to Horses (1947), The Egg and I (1947), For the Love of Rusty (1947), Desperate (1947), The Son of Rusty (1947), Driftwood (1947), Her Husband’s Affairs (1947), The Bishop’s Wife (1947), Campus Honeymoon (1948), Phantom Valley (1948), The Bride Goes Wild (1948), My Dog Rusty (1948), They Live by Night (1948), Rusty Leads the Way (1948), The Return of October (1948), The Boy with Green Hair (1948), The Sun Comes Up (1949), Fighting Fools (1949), Ma and Pa Kettle (1949) as Benjamin Kettle, West of El Dorado (1949), Mr. Soft Touch (1949), Brimstone (1949), Madame Bovary (1949), Rusty’s Birthday (1949), And Baby Makes Three (1949), The Traveling Saleswoman (1950), Blondie’s Hero (1950), The Good Humor Man (1950), Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950), The Underworld Story (1950), Summer Stock (1950), The Killer That Stalked New York (1950), California Passage (1950), Grounds for Marriage (1951), Gene Autry and the Mounties (1951), Cause for Alarm! (1951), Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951), David and Bathsheba (1951), The Hills of Utah (1951), Valley of Fire (1951), Too Young to Kiss (1951), Talk About a Stranger (1952), Scaramouche (1952), Ma and Pa Kettle

at the Fair (1952), The Juggler (1953), Mister Scoutmaster (1953), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), and Blackboard Jungle (1955). Infuhr also appeared on television in episodes of The Gene Autry Show, The Cisco Kid, and The Abbott and Costello Show before retiring from acting in the mid–1950s. He subsequently worked as a chiropractor for nearly fifty years. Infuhr had been a popular guest at several Memphis Film Festivals in recent years.

Teddy Infuhr (left, with Gale Sondergaard and Basil Rathbone from the Sherlock Holmes film The Spider Woman)

INGLIS, ELIZABETH Elizabeth Inglis, who was sometimes billed as Elizabeth Earl in films in the 1930s and 1940s, died at her home in Santa Barbara, California, on August 25, 2007. She was 94. She was born Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins in Colchester, England, in 1913. She was featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 thriller The 39 Steps, and starred as Adele Ainsworth in William Wyler’s 1940 drama The Letter. Her other film credits include Borrowed Clothes (1934), Landslide (1937), Thunder in the City (1937), Museum Mystery (1937), My Love Came Back (1940), River’s End (1940), and Tonight and Every Night (1945). Inglis later married NBC television executive Pat Weaver and was the mother of actress Sigourney Weaver. She appeared with her daughter in a small role in the 1986 sequel Aliens.

Elizabeth Inglis

177 INGRAM, GAIL Radio and television writer Gail Ingram Clement died of lung cancer at her home in San Diego, California, on April 13, 2007. She was 82. Clement was born in New York City on July 3, 1924. She began her career in radio in the late 1940s, working with her husband, writer and director Harry Ingram, on such series as The Shadow. She began writing for television in the 1950s, scripting episodes of such series as I Remember Mama, My Three Sons, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Millionaire, National Velvet, One Step Beyond, and Family Affair. She left television and moved with her family to San Diego in the late 1960s. INGRAM, LUTHER Legendary R&B singer Luther Ingram died of heart and kidney failure in Belleville, Illinois, on March 19, 2007. He was 69. Ingram was born in Jackson, Tennessee, on November 30, 1937. He was best known for his hit song “If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don’t Want to Be Right),” which topped the R&B charts at #1 in 1972. His other popular songs include “Ain’t That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)” and “I’ll Be Your Shelter.” He also performed with Ike Turner, opened for Issac Hayes, and co-wrote the hit song “Respect Yourself ” for the Staple Singers. In 1972, Ingram appeared on the television programs Bandstand and Soul Train, and was also seen in the 1973 film Wattstax. He was also seen onscreen in the 2002 film Only the Strong Survive.

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turned. He remained Mr. Humphries until the series ended in 1985. He reprised the role in a follow-up series set in a hotel, Grace & Favour, in 1992 and 1993. Inman also made guest appearances in episodes of Take a Letter Mr. Jones, Rod and Emu’s Saturday Special, French and Saunders, Full Mountie, Doctors, and Revolver. He was also featured in cameo roles in the films The Tall Guy (1989) and The Mumbo Jumbo (2000). He continued to play pantomime dames on stage until illness ended his career in 2004.

John Inman

Luther Ingram

INZERELLA, JOHN Film make-up artist John Inzerella died of cancer on April 23, 2007. He was 70. Inzerella was born on June 18, 1936. He worked in films and television from the early 1970s, providing makeup on such film as Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972), Tom Sawyer (1973), That’s Entertainment, Part II (1976), The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976), The Amazing Dobermans (1976), Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977), The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), Backfire (1987), and Mad Dog Time (1996). Inzerella was also makeup artist for the tele-films Murdock’s Gang (1973), Black Bart (1975), The Return of Captain Nemo (1978), Stunt Seven (1979), Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980), Bare Essence (1982), Hunter (1984), A Walton Easter (1997), and Escape from Atlantis (1998). He also worked on such series as Bosom Buddies, ER, and Charlie Grace.

INMAN, JOHN British actor John Inman, who was best known for his role as the flamboyantly camp department store clerk Mr. Humphries in the popular television sit-com Are You Being Served?, died in a London hospital after a long illness with Hepatitis A, on March 8, 2007. He was 71. Inman was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, on June 28, 1935. He began his career as a window dresser in Manchester while in his teens. He also began performing on stage and excelled in pantomime productions. He began his long-running role as Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, who became the comic focal point of Are You Being Served?, in 1972. Noted for his mincing walk and fluttering gestures, he also appeared in the 1977 film version of the show. He briefly left the series to star as Neville Sutcliffe in Odd Man Out in 1977 but soon re-

John Inzerella

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178

ISH, KATHRYN Actress Kathryn Ish died of heart failure in Santa Barbara, California, on December 31, 2007. She was 71. Ish was born in California on February 18, 1936. She was an active performer on stage during the 1950s, appearing in several Off Broadway productions. She married fellow actor, Richard Stahl, in 1959 and the two headed to San Francisco where they were part of the improvisational comedy group the Committee. She also appeared on television in episodes of such series as The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne and Shirley, and WKRP in Cincinnati. Ish also appeared in the tele-films The Love Boat (1976) and Death of Richie (1977). She was featured as the Secretary of Education in the 1996 film The American President. She and Stahl remained married until his death in 2006.

(1986), Don Matsugoro’s Big Adventure (1988), Ankou (1991), Kura (1995), Moonlight Jellyfish (2004), and Captain Tokio (2007).

ITO, JERRY Asian-American actor Jerry Ito died of complications from stomach cancer and pneumonia at his home in Los Angeles on July 7, 2007. He was 79. He was born Gerald Tamekichi Ito in New York City on July 12, 1927. He became a popular performer and master of ceremonies in Tokyo after World War II with his fluency in both English and Japanese, which led to roles in film and stage productions. He was best known for his performance as Clark Nelson, the villainous explorer whose kidnapping of the Fairie Twins from Infant Island brought the wrath of a giant moth down on Tokyo in Toho’s Mothra (1961). He was also featured in the films Hey Pineapple (1960), The Last War (1961), the cult horror film The Manster (1962) as Police Superintendent Aida, Interpol Code 8 (1963), Walleyed Nippon (1963), The Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman (1963), You Can Succeed, Too (1964), The Kowloon Assignmnet (1977), and the 1978 science fiction film Message from Space.

Kathryn Ish

ISHIDATE, TETSUO Japanese actor Tetsuo Ishidate died of an aneurysm at his home in Atami, Japan, on June 1, 2007. He was 64. Ishidate was born in Yokosuka, Japan, on July 31, 1942. He was active onscreen from the early 1960s, appearing in such films as Blood and Diamonds (1964), Shirotori (1965), Longing for Love (1966), Portrait of Chieko (1967), Our Dear Buddies (1970), To Love Again (1971), Go for It! Young Guy (1975), and Pink Lady’s Motion Picture (1978). Ishidate was also noted for his roles in the television dramas Wife Is 18 Years Old (1970) and Don’t Call Me Papa (1972). He also appeared in the films For Business

Jerry Ito (with the Fairy Twins, Emi & Yumi Ito, from Mothra)

Tetsuo Ishidate

Mario Jackson

JACKSON, MARIO Actor Mario Jackson was shot to death at a motorcycle club in South Los Angeles on May 6, 2007. He was 45. Jackson was born on

179 August 14, 1961. He began working in films in the late 1990s, appearing in Bullworth (1998) and Baby Boy (2001). He was recently featured on television in an episode of Bones.

JACKSON, MICHAEL British writer Michael Jackson, whose expertise on brewed beverages led him to be called the Beer Hunter, was found dead of a heart attack at his home in London on August 30, 2007. He was 65. Jackson was born in England on March 27, 1942. He was instrumental in inspiring interest in beers and brewing from the 1970s with his critiques of the amber elixirs. He was the author of several books on the subject including World Guide to Beer and The Great Beers of Belgium. He also hosted the Discovery Channel documentary series The Beer Hunter, which examined beers throughout the world.

2007 • Obituaries

James left the group when they became known as the Moody Blues and before they had their first major hit with “Go Now” in late 1964. He then formed a new band, the Nicky James Movement. That band became known as the Move when James left shortly before their big hit “Night of Fear.” During his career James also performed with such artists as Roy Wood, Tom Jones, Graham Nash, Carl Wayne, Mike Pender, and Bev Bevan.

JAMES, PETER Psychic investigator Peter James, who claimed to speak with the dead, joined them after suffering a heart attack on July 31, 2007. He was 71. James was born on September 24, 1935. He claimed to have encountered ghosts from an early age and began working in the field of psychic phenomena in earnest the late 1970s. He was best known for his regularly scheduled tours of the Queen Mary, a ship that he claimed was haunted by various restless spirits. The tours began in 1991 and continued until shortly before his death. James was also featured in numerous episodes of the Sci-Fi channel’s Sightings for eight seasons.

Michael Jackson

JAMES, NICKY Nicky James, a British pop star who performed in an early incarnation of the popular British band the Moody Blues, died in Tipton, England, after suffering from a brain tumor on October 15, 2007. He was 64. He was born Mick Nicholls in Tipton, England, on April 19, 1943, and later moved to Scarborough. He began performing in the early 1960s with Denny Laine in Denny and the Diplomats, and soon after sang with Ronny and the Senators. He subsequently joined Laine in the Moody Blues Five.

JAMESON, PAULINE British actress Pauline Jameson died in England after a long illness on April 8, 2007. She was 86. Jameson was born in Heacham, Norfolk, England, on June 5, 1920. She began her career on stage in the late 1930s and appeared in numer-

Nicky James

Pauline Jameson

Peter James

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180

ous productions over the next fifty years. She was also a frequent performer in British films and television, making her film debut in 1948’s Esther Waters. Her other film credits include Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), The Queen of Spades (1949), The Black Knight (1954), The Millionairess (1960), Two Living, One Dead (1961), Crooks Anonymous (1962), The Punch and Judy Man (1963), I Could Go on Singing (1963), Doctor in Distress (1963), Murder Most Foul (1964), Sky West and Crooked (1966), Night Watch (1973), Joseph Andrews (1977), and Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia) (1977). She was also featured in television productions of The Spoils of Poynton (1970), Lillie (1978), The Woman in White (1982), and Honour, Profit and Pleasure (1985). She was also seen on television in episodes of Armchair Theatre, One Step Beyond, Undermind, Public Eye, Callan, The Adventures of Don Quick, The Ten Commandments, Hadleigh, Pig in the Middle, Bulman, and Poirot.

JARRETT, BELLA Stage actress Bella Jarrett died at her home in Greenwich Village, New York, on October 19, 2007. She was 81. Jarrett was born in Adairsville, Georgia, on February 9, 1926. She began her acting career in the 1950s, performing with local theater groups in Atlanta, Houston, Boston and Washington D.C. She made her debut on Broadway in the 1970s, appearing in productions of Once in a Lifetime (1978) and Lolita (1981). She also appeared Off-Broadway in productions of Welcome to Andromeda (1973), Racine’s Phaedra (1993) and The Good Natur’d Man (1993). Jarrett appeared in small roles in such television soap operas as All My Children, Another World and One Life to Live. She was also seen in the films Hellfighters (1968), Arthur (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), and The Lonely Guy (1984). She was featured as Miss Klein in the 1980 film Jane Austen in Manhattan.

man (1993), Kadhalan (1994), and Indian (1996). He also served as cinematographer on the films Vaali (1999), Hera Pheri (2000), Kushi (2000), Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar (2001), Hulchul (2004), Sandal Kozhi (2005), Sachein (2005), and Bhagam Bhag (2006). Jeeva also began directing films with 2001’s 12 B which he also scripted. He also helmed Run (2004), and wrote and directed Ullam Ketkumae (2005) and Unnale (2007).

Jeeva

JENI, RICHARD Comedian Richard Jeni died in a Los Angeles hospital from an apparent suicide attempt after shooting himself in his face at his home on the morning of March 10, 2007. He was 49. Jeni was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 31, 1957. He began his career as a stand-up comic and first achieved national recognition with his Showtime special Richard Jeni: Boy from New York City in 1989. Subsequent specials included Richard Jeni: Platypus Man (1992), Richard Jeni: Crazy from the Heat (1995), and Richard Jeni: A Good Catholic Boy (1997). Platypus Man evolved into a UPN television series that lasted one season in 1995. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, and was featured on the television gameshows Hollywood Squares and The Match Game. He was also seen in episodes of the sit-coms Married ... with Children and Everybody Hates Chris, and voiced characters for the animated Dr.

Bella Jarrett

JEEVA Indian Tamil film director and cinematographer died in Moscow, Russia, of a heart attack on June 26, 2007. He was 43. He was in Moscow directing the film Dhaam Dhoom at the time of his death. Jeeva was born in India on September 21, 1963. He began working in films as an assistant cameraman before becoming a cinematographer in the early 1990s. He worked with director Shankar on such films as Gentle-

Richard Jeni

181 Katz, Professional Therapist and Batman. Jeni was featured as Charlie Schumaker in the 1994 film The Mask starring Jim Carrey. He also appeared in the films Bird (1988), National Lampoon’s Dad’s Week Off (1997), An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998), and The Aristocrats (2005). Jeni wrote comedy material for Chris Rock for the 2005 Academy award presentations. His most recent special, Richard Jeni: A Big Steaming Pile of Me, aired on HBO in 2005.

JENKINS, GEORGE Oscar-winning production designer George Jenkins died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on April 6, 2007. He was 98. Jenkins was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 19, 1908. He began his career in the 1930s designing sets for theatrical productions. He worked on Broadway as an assistant to designer Jo Mielziner, and served as sets and lighting designer for the 1944 comedy I Remember Mama. He earned three Tony nominations during his career for his work on Broadway. Jenkins was brought to Hollywood by Samuel Goldwyn the following year where he was art director for the film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He continued to work in films as an art director or production designer on such films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Bishop’s Wife (1947), A Song Is Born (1948), Enchantment (1948), Roseanna McCoy (1949), At War with the Army (1950), The San Francisco Story (1952), The Miracle Worker (1962), Mickey One (1965), Up the Down Staircase (1967), Wait Until Dark (1967), No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), The Subject Was Roses (1968), Me, Natalie (1969), The Angel Levine (1970), The Pursuit of Happiness (1971), Klute (1971), 1776 (1972), The Paper Chase (1973), The Parallax View (1974), Funny Lady (1975), and Night Moves (1975). Jenkins earned an Academy Award for his work on Alan Pakula’s 1976 Watergate conspiracy thriller All The President’s Men. His later film credits include Comes a Horseman (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), Starting Over (1979), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Rollover (1981), Sophie’s Choice (1982), the 1984 tele-film The Dollmaker, Dream Lover (1986), Orphans (1987), See You in the Morning (1989), and Presumed Innocent (1990). JENKINS, LEROY Free-jazz violinist and composer Leroy Jenkins, who became an acclaimed musician during the 1970s, died of lung cancer in Manhattan, New York, on February 24, 2007. He was 74. Jenkins was born on March 11, 1932, and grew up in Chicago’s South Side. He began playing the violin at the age of seven and was soon performing at churches in the city. He was often accompanied by young pianist Ruth Jones, who later went on to achieve her own success as singer Dinah Washington. While in high school, Jenkins was taught by the legendary jazz instructor Walter Dyett, and he studied numerous instruments while in college. He taught music in Mobile, Alabama, for four years, until returning to Chicago in 1964. He joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.) and formed the Creative Construction Company with fellow musicians Anthony Braxton, Steve McCall, and Leo Smith. The two organizations joined together to go international and toured

2007 • Obituaries

Paris from 1969 to 1970. Jenkins returned to the U.S. in 1970, and formed the Revolutionary Ensemble with bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper and the trio toured together for the next six years. In the mid– 1970s, Jenkins became a bandleader, wrote music for classical ensembles, led the group Sting, and recorded a series of albums. He also wrote musical compositions for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Kronos Quartet, and other ensembles. He gained recognition for such music-theater works as The Mother of Three Sons and The Negros Burial Ground, collaborating with Ann T. Green, Fresh Faust, a jazz hip-hop opera, and The Three Willies, a multimedia opera. In recent years, Jenkins worked with the Trio Interest with pianist Myra Melford and saxophonist Joseph Jarmin and reunited with the Revolutionary Ensemble in 2004.

Leroy Jenkins

JENSON, ROY Veteran character actor Roy Jenson, who was best known for his roles as rugged bad guys in film and television, died of cancer in Los Angeles on April 24, 2007. He was 80. Jenson was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on February 9, 1927, and came to Los Angeles with his family when he was a child. Jenson served in the U.S. Navy, then played professional football before entering films as a stuntman. He appeared in small roles and performed stunts in numerous films from the early 1950s. Jenson’s film credits include Westward the Women (1952), Operation Secret (1952), The Caine Mutiny (1954), Saskatchewan (1954), River on No Return (1954), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Operation Mad Ball (1957), Hell on Devil’s Island (1957), The Missouri Traveler (1958), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), The Last Hurrah (1958), Ride Lonesome (1959), Al Capone (1959), Warlock (1959), Career (1959), These Thousand Hills (1959), The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960), Bells Are Ringing (1960), 13 Ghosts (1960), Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960), North to Alaska (1960), Flaming Star (1960), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960), The Fiercest Heart (1961), Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961), Marines, Let Go (1961), The George Raft Story (1961), Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962), Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962), The Great Escape (1963), McLintock! (1963), Four for Texas (1963), How the West Was Won (1962), Law of the Lawless (1964), Stage to Thunder Rock (1964), Baby the

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182

Rain Must Fall (1965), 36 Hours (1965), Black Spurs (1965), The Rounders (1965), The Great Race (1965), Morituri (1965), Blindford (1965), Daniel Boone: Frontier Trail Rider (1966), Our Man Flint (1966), Harper (1966), Apache Uprising (1966), Red Tomahawk (1967), Hostile Guns (1967), Walterhole #3 (1967), The Bandits (1967), The Ambushers (1967), Will Penny (1968), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Jigsaw (1968), Five Care Stud (1968), A Stranger in the House (1968), Number One (1969), Paint Your Wagon (1969), Fools (1970), Halls of Anger (1970), Sometimes a Great Notion (1971), Big Jake (1971), Journey Through Rosebud (1972), Brute Corps (1972), Cry for Me, Billy (1972), The Getaway (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Nightmare Honeymoon (1973), Soylent Green (1973), Dillinger (1973), The Way We Were (1973), The Outfit (1973), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), Chinatown (1974) as Claude Mulvihill, the thuggish helper of knife-wielding Roman Polanski, 99 & 44 ⁄ 100% Dead (1974), Breakout (1975), The Wind and the Lion (1975), Framed (1975), Breakheart Pass (1975), The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), The Car (1977), Telefon (1977), The Gauntlet (1977), Every Which Way but Loose (1978), Tom Horn (1980), Foolin’ Around (1980), The Mountain Men (1980), Bustin’ Loose (1981), Demonoid (1981), Honkytonk Man (1982), Red Dawn (1984), Day of the Survivalist (1986), Cherry 2000 (1987), The Night Stalker (1987), Deadly Stranger (1988), W.B., Blue and the Bean (1989), Solar Crisis (1990), and The Set Up (1995). He was also seen frequently on television, appearing in the tele-films Powderkeg (1971), A Tattered Web (1971), Truman Capote’s the Glass House (1972), Kung Fu (1972), Call to Danger (1973), The Red Pony (1973), Hit Lady (1974), The Abduction of Saint Anne (1975), Force Five (1975), Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Helter Skelter (1976), How the West Was Won (1977), King (1978), Nightside (1980), Last of the Great Survivors (1984), Kung Fu: The Movie (1986), Police Story; The Watch Commander (1988), and Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999). Jenson also guest-starred on television of episodes of The Restless Gun, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Five Fingers, Hong Kong, Adventures in Paradise, The Brothers Brannagan, Peter Gunn, Perry Mason, Cain’s Hundred, The Bob Cummings Show, Checkmate, The Rogues, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, I

Roy Jenson

Spy, Honey West, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twelve O’Clock High, Wild Wild West, The Monroes, The Fugitive, T.H.E. Cat, The Invaders, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Big Valley, Hondo, The Andy Griffith Show, I Spy, Felony Squad, Tarzan, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek as Cloud William in “The Omega Glory” episode, Cimarron Strip, The Virginian, The Outcasts, Daniel Boone, The High Chaparral, The F.B.I., The Silent Force, Sarge, Nichols, Cannon, Search, Kung Fu, The Magician, Chase, Mannix, The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta, Gibbsville, Little House on the Prairie, Kojak, The Rockford Files, Charlie’s Angels, How the West Was Won, Fantasy Island, Vega$, The Dukes of Hazzard, Father Murphy, Bret Maverick, The A-Team, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I., and Simon & Simon.

JEONG DA-BIN South Korean actress Jeong Da-bin was found dead of an apparent suicide at the home of her boyfriend in Seoul, South Korea, on February 10, 2007. She was 26. Jeong was born in South Korea on March 4, 1980. She began acting in films and television in 2000, with such film credits as Moyuru Tsuki: The Legend of Gingko (2000), The Good Fellow (2003), and He Was Cool (2004). She also starred on television in New Non Stop (2002), Trio (2002), The Full Sun (2003), Non Stop 3 (2003), Rooftop Room Cat (2003), and My Sister in Law Is 19 (2004).

Jeong Da-bin

JETER, JAMES Character actor James Jeter died in Houston, Texas, on March 4, 2007. He was 85. Jeter was born in Houston on September 15, 1921. He was featured in such films as The Sand Pebbles (1966), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Christian Licorice Store (1971), Oklahoma Crude (1973), The Four Deuces (1976), The Big Bus (1976), Bound for Glory (1976), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), Black Sunday (1977), F.I.S.T. (1970), Matilda (1978), Fast Break (1979), The Hollywood Knights (1980), The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle (1980), A Change of Season (1980), Brian DePalma’s Blow Out (1981), The Border (1982), Cohen and Tate (1989), and A Perfect World (1993). He also appeared frequently on television from the 1960s, with roles in such series as My Favorite Martian, Wild Wild West, I Spy, Batman, Land of the Giants, Nanny and the Professor, The High Chaparral, Mayberry R.F.D., Bonanza,

183 Dusty’s Trail, The Waltons, Gunsmoke, Apple’s Way, Harry O, Mary Tyler Moore, The Family Holvak, Switch, Delvecchio, Emergency!, Quincy, The Rockford Files, Family, CBS Library, Little House on the Prairie in the recurring role of blacksmith Hans Dorfler, Hart to Hart, Knots Landing, CHiPs, Father Murphy, The Fall Guy, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Hunter. Jeter also appeared in the tele-films The Young Country (1970), The Family Kovack (1974), Hurricane (1974), A Shadow in the Streets (1975), Delancey Street: The Crisis Within (1975), Death Scream (1975), Katherine (1975), The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977), A Woman Called Moses (1978), The French Atlantic Affair (1979), The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980), Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991), The Habitation of Dragons (1992), and Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994).

James Jeter

JEWELL, RICHARD Richard Jewell, a security guard who went from hero to bombing suspect to tragic victim of over-exuberant legal forces and the media in the wake of a bomb explosion during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, died of complications from diabetes at his home in Woodbury, Georgia, on August 29, 2007. He was 44. Jewell was born in Danville, Virginia, on November 17, 1962. Jewell’s notoriety began in July of 1996 when he alerted police to an abandoned knapsack in Atlanta’s Centennial

2007 • Obituaries

Olympic Park while working as a security guard. His alertness and quick thinking helped clear the area and save lives before the knapsack exploded, killing one and injuring over 100. His heroic image was quickly tarnished when the FBI labeled him as their primary suspect. Jewell was subjected to continued torment by the justice department and the media over the following three months before being officially cleared of all charges. He sued several media outlets for the indignities he suffered and received some monetary settlements. Jewell made a cameo appearance in Michael Moore’s 1997 comedy documentary The Big One. He was also a guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1997.

JIMINEZ, SERGIO Mexican actor and director Sergio Jimenez died of a heart attack in Mexico City on January 2, 2007. He was 69. Jimenez was born in Mexico City on December 17, 1937. He starred in numerous films and television productions from the 1960s including The Outsiders (1967) as El Gato, Crown of Tears (1968), Emiliano Zapata (1970), The Change (1971), La Generala (1971), The Two Brothers (1971), One Way (1973), Coronation (1976), The Black Widow (1977), The Rattlesnake (1977), En la Trampa (1979), Constelaciones (1980), La Pachanga (1981), Angel del Barrio (1981), The Flying Pony (1982), Acorralado (1984), Tona Machetes (1985), Mexicano Tu Puedes! (1985), Atrapados en la Coca (1990), Alarido del Terror (1991), El Extensionista (1991), Loose Hair (1991), Perdoname Todo (1995), and Reclusorio (1997). Jimenez was also featured on television in such productions as Puente de Amor (1969), Velo de Novia (1971), El Carruaje (1972), La Hiena (1973), Muchacha de Barrio (1979), El Derecho de Nacer (1981), El Maleficio (1983), La Traicion (1983), Cursed Inheritance (1986), Encadenados (1986), El Engano (1986), Senda de Gloria (1987), Baila Conmigo (1992), La Mundanza (1996), La Antorcha Encendida (1997), and De Pocas, Pocas Pulgas (2003). Jimenez began directing telenovelas in the 1980s, helming such popular series as Manana es Primavera (1983), El Engano (1986), La Mundanza (1996), Vivo por Elena (1998), Mujeres Enganadas (1999), and La Fea mas Bella (2006).

Sergio Jimenez Richard Jewell

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184

JIMINY JO Jiminy Jo, an albino rat who starred in the horror film Ratula, died of complications from a tumor on July 12, 2007. She was 41 ⁄ 2. Jiminy was trained by Aarin Prichard and appeared in several local television productions. One-eyed, and afflicted with an over-sized tumor on her neck, Jiminy appeared in the leading role in the 2005 independent feature Ratula.

by Gil Weston for their third album, Screaming Blue Murder. The band went on tour in America with such bands as Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, the Scorpions, and Blue Oyster Cult. Johnson left the band in 1984 after the release of their fourth album, Play Dirty, and moved to Los Angeles where she lived for the next ten years. She returned to Britain in 1993 where she rejoined Girlschool and recorded a live album in 1995. Her final recording, Not That Innocent: 21st Anniversary, was released in 2001. Johnson toured with the band until 2005 when poor health forced her to retire.

JOHNSTON, ALEX British actor Alex Johnston died in a London hospital on October 21, 2007. He was 69. Johnston was born in Fintray, near Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1937. He was trained as a pharmacist before turning to the stage as a member of the Swan Theater in Worcester, England. He continued to perform at theatrical venues throughout the country from the 1970s. Johnston also performed the role of Harry Booker in The Archers radio series for several years. He was featured on television in episodes of several series including Closing Ranks, Cribb, Coronation Street, Lady Killers, and Rumpole of the Bailey. Jiminy Jo

JOHNSON, KELLY Kelly Johnson, guitarist and founder of the British all-girl heavy metal band Girlschool, died from spinal cancer on July 15, 2007. She was 49. Johnson was born on June 20, 1958. She and schoolfriends Enid William, performing vocals and bass, and Kim McAuliffe, playing guitar and adding vocals, formed the band Painted Lady in 1975. The group added Denise Dufort on drums and changed their name to Girlschool in 1978. They released their first single, “Take It All Away,” in 1978 and was soon touring with noted heavy metal band Motorhead. The Girlschool released their debut album, Demolition, in 1980. Their wild guitar playing style and leather-clad outfits soon earned them a cult following and they recorded “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” under the name Headgirls, in 1981. Their second album, Hit ’n’ Run, was also released that year and was followed by sold out tours with the bands Black Sabbath and Rush. Enid Williams left Girlschool in 1982 and was replaced

JOLLEY, ELIZABETH Australian writer Elizabeth Jolley died in Perth, Australia, after a long illness on February 13, 2007. She was 83. She was born Monica Elizabeth Knight in Birmingham, England, on June 4, 1923. She moved to Australia with her husband, librarian Leonard Jolley, in 1959. Her early efforts at writing fiction met with scant success with publishers until the late 1970s, when her collections Five Acre Virgin and The Traveling Entertainer were published. Her first novel, Palomino, was published in 1980. She wrote over a dozen novels during her career including Mr. Scobie’s Riddle (1984), Miss Peabody’s Inheritance (1984), Milk and Honey (1986), The Well (1987), The Sugar Mother (1988), My Father’s Moon (1989), Cabin Fever (1991), The Orchard Thieves (1995), and An Innocent Gentleman (2001). Many of her novels were darkly comic and were sometimes described as Australian Gothic. A television adaptation of her story The Last Crop aired in 1990 and her novel The Well was filmed in 1997.

Elizabeth Jolley Kelly Johnson

185 JONES, ARTHUR Adventurer and filmmaker Arthur Jones, who was best known for inventing the Nautilus exercise machine, died at his home in Ocala, Florida, on August 28, 2007. He was 80. Jones was born in Arkansas on November 22, 1926, and raised in Oklahoma. He served in the Navy during World War II, and began trafficking in wild animals after the war. His penchant for filming some of the animals resulted in a wildlife television show. He also produced, directed, and wrote the 1962 film Savage! (aka Mission to Hell ). Jones’ interest in fitness and exercise equipment led to the construction the Nautilus, originally called the Blue Monster, in the late 1960s. His invention revolutionized health clubs and made him a wealthy man. He sold his interest in the Nautilus in 1986.

Arthur Jones

JONES , BUCK Country singer Buck Jones died after being struck by an intoxicated motorist as he walked along an interstate service road in Greenville, Texas, on March 17, 2007. He was 33. He was born Adrian Neil Jones in Houston, Texas, on November 28, 1973. Jones was a resident of Nashville and released his debut album Lucky Star in 2005.

2007 • Obituaries

1910. He began his career on stage in the late 1920s, appearing in various West End productions. He made his Broadway debut in Margaret Kennedy’s Escape Me Never in the early 1930s. He remained a leading stage performer for the next seven decades. Jones also had a lengthy film career, appearing in such features as Money Talks (1932), Faithful Hearts (1932), Alexander Korda’s The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934) as Count Orlov, Leave It to Blanche (1934), Escape Me Never (1935), First a Girl (1935), Line Engaged (1935), The Mill on the Floss (1937), The Wife of General Ling (1937), Return of a Stranger (1937), A Yank at Oxford (1938), The Four Just Men (1939), Young Man’s Fancy (1940), Sons of the Sea (1941), So This Was Paris (1942), The Day Will Dawn (1942), Uncensored (1942), Henry V (1944) as the Earl of Salisbury, The Wicked Lady (1945), The Rake’s Progress (1945), They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), Miranda (1948) opposite Glynis Johns as a mermaid, Good Time Girl (1948), Look Before You Love (1948), Once Upon a Dream (1949), Honeymoon Deferred (1950), Star of My Night (1954), Scarlet Web (1954), The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954) with Dirk Bogarde, Face in the Night (1957), Account Rendered (1957), The Truth About Women (1957), Not Wanted on Voyage (1957), Kill Her Gently (1957), Hidden Homicide (1959), The Crowning Touch (1959), Edgar Wallace’s Strangler’s Web (1965), and Decline and Fall ... of a Birdwatcher (1968). Jones appeared frequently on British television from the 1950s, with roles in productions of When in Rome (1959), By Invitation Only (1961), Freedom in September (1962), Blithe Spirit (1964), Boy Meets Girl: Love with a Few Hairs (1967), Black Arrow (1972), Fall of Eagles (1974), The Comedy of Errors (1978), Macbeth (1979) as Duncan, Scarf Jack (1981), The Three Sisters (1981), and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982). He was also featured in episodes of The New Adventures of Martin Kane, Invisible Man, Maigret, No Hiding Place, Kraft Mystery Theater, International Detective, R3, Secret Agent, The Troubleshooters, Man in a Suitcase, Thirty-Minute Theatre, The Avengers, Strange Report, Doomwatch, Paul Temple, The Persuaders, The Lotus Eaters, Public Eye, and Spy Trap. Jones performed frequently with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford from the mid–1970s until his retirement at the age of 90. He was widowed in 1985 with the death of his

Buck Jones

JONES , GRIFFITH British actor Griffith Jones died in England on January 30, 2007. He was 96. He was born Harold Jones in London on November 19,

Gri‡th Jones

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wife, Robin. He is survived by a daughter and son, actors Gemma Jones and Nicholas Jones.

JONES, MARCIA MAE Child actress Marcia Mae Jones died of pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on September 2, 2007. She was 83. Jones was born to an acting family in Los Angles on August 1, 1924. She began her career in films as the age of two, appearing in Mannequin (1926), Smile, Brother, Smile (1927), The Bishop Murder Case (1930), King of Jazz (1930), Street Scene (1931), The Champ (1931), Birthday Blues (1932), Mush and Milk (1933), Doctor Bull (1933), Bombshell (1933), Imitation of Life (1934), A Dog of Flanders (1935), These Three (1936), Gentle Julia (1936), and The Garden of Allah (1936). Red-headed with freckles, Jones soon became noted for her roles as less than pleasant children such as Shirley Temple’s wheelchair-bound friend Klara Sesemann in 1937’s Heidi and Mary Sawyer in 1938’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Her other film credits include Two Wise Maids (1937), Mountain Justice (1937), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), Lady Behave! (1937), Mad About Music (1938), Barefoot Boy (1938), The Little Princess (1939), The Flying Irishman (1939), and Meet Dr. Christian (1939). During the 1940s Jones continued her career in films in more mature roles. She was seen in Dr. Kildare’s Strange Case (1940), Tomboy (1940), Anne of Windy Poplars (1940), Haunted House (1940), The Old Swimmin’ Hole (1940), Nice Girl? (1941), The Gang’s All Here (1941), Let’s Go Collegiate (1941), Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942), The Youngest Profession (1943), Nobody’s Darling (1943), Top Man (1943), Nine Girls (1944), Lady in the Death House (1944), Snafu (1945), The Fabulous Fraud (1948), Street Corner (1948), Trouble Preferred (1948), Tucson (1949), Arson, Inc. (1949), The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1950), Hi-Jacked (1950), The Star (1952), and Chicago Calling (1952). Jones also appeared in episodes of such early television series as Your Show Time, Life with Buster Keaton, and Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok before abandoning her career for over a decade to raise a family. She returned to acting in the mid–1960s, appearing on television in episodes of Mister Ed, Family Affair, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., My Three Sons, Cannon, Shazam!, The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones.

Marcia Mae Jones

She also appeared in character roles in a handful of films including Rogues’ Gallery (1968), Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), the 1972 tele-film The Great American Tragedy, The Way We Were (1973) with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, and the 1974 horror film The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe.

JONES, PATTIE DARCY Singer Pattie Darcy Jones died at her home in Hopatcong, New Jersey, on June 16, 2007. She was 54. She was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1953. She was best known for her work as a backup singer, performing with Cher on tours and in the television productions Cher: Live in Concert from Las Vegas (1999) and Cher: The Farewell Tour (2003). She also toured with singers Petula Clark, Darlene Love, Joe Cocker, and Bette Midler, and was featured in a small role in Midler’s 1991 film For the Boys. She starred in the 1985 Broadway musical revue Leader of the Pack, and in the musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe from 1995 to 2000.

Pattie Darcy Jones

JORDAN, ROBERT Fantasy writer James Oliver Rigney, Jr., who wrote the bestselling series The Wheel of Time under the pen name Robert Jordan, died of the blood disease amyloidosis in Charleston, South Carolina, on September 16, 2007. He was 58. Rigney was born in Charleston on October 17, 1948. He served with distinction as an army helicopter gunner in Vietnam in the late 1960s. After his discharge, he earned a degree in physics at the Citadel and worked as a nuclear engineer. He began writing full-time in the late 1970s, penning three historical novels under the pseudonym Reagan O’Neal, The Fallon Blood (1980), The Fallon Pride (1981) and The Fallon Legacy (1982). He also continued the adventures of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian in the early 1980s, and wrote the novelization for the film Conan the Destroyer in 1984. He was best known for his multi-volume series The Wheel of Time, which began with 1990’s The Eye of the World. The fantasy epic, which he published under the name Robert Jordan, included The Great Hunt (1990), The Dragon Reborn (1991), The Shadow Rising (1992), The Fires of Heaven (1993), The Love of Chaos (1994), A Crown of Swords (1996), The Path of Daggers (1998), Winter’s Heart (2000), Crossroads at Twilight (2003),

187 and Knife of Dreams (2005). A final volume, A Memory of Light, remained unfinished by him at the time of his death.

2007 • Obituaries

(1947), Les Maris de Leontine (1947), Le Furet (1949), Mystere a Shanghai (1950), Le Crime du Bouif (1952), Le Petit Jacques (1953), The Red and the Black (1954), Not Delivered (1958), The Gambler (1958), La Ligne de Mire (1960), and La Demoiselle de Coeur (1963). Jourdan was also an associate producer of the films Dark Journey (1962) and Hotel Paradiso (1966). He became a leading opera director, founding the Theatre Francais de la Musique and L’Association Pour le Theatre Imperial to promote French operas. He also directed film and television productions of numerous operas including Tristan and Isolde (1974), Aida (1977), Fidelio (1979), Ciboulette (1982), Manon Lescaut (1990), La Legende de Joseph en Eg ypte (1990), Henry VIII (1991), Christobal Colomb (1992), La Perichole (1995), Mignon (1996), Mede (1996), Les Noces de Figaro (1997), La Jolie Fille de Perth (1998), Pelleas et Melisande (1999), Les Diamants de la Couronne (1999), and Noe (2005).

Robert Jordan

JORDAN, RON Radio disk jockey and singer died of heart failure after being hospitalized for anaphylactic shock in a Hays, Kansas, hospital on September 17, 2007. He was 58. Jordan was born on March 26, 1949. He led the early ’60s band Ronnie and the Devilles, recording several local hits including “Oh Love” and “Cindy’s Carousel.” He was also active as a radio disk jockey in the Memphis area from 1963 through the early 1970s. The sometimes controversial Jordan also worked in radio in Indianapolis, Little Rock and San Diego over the next decade. Pierre Jourdan

JUMAILI, RASSIM AL- Iraqi comedian Rassim Al-Jumaili died in Syria of kidney failure on December 1, 2007. He was 69. Al-Jumaili was born in a poor district of Bagdad in 1938. He served in the army in the mid–1960s where he performed in the military theater. He became a popular stage performer by the early 1980s and was best known for his comedic roles. He was seen in stage, television and film production. Al-Jumaili fled Iraq in 2003 to escape the escalating vi-

Ron Jordan

JOURDAN, PIERRE French actor and opera director Pierre Jourdan died of cancer in Fleurines, France, on August 16, 2007. He was 74. He was born Pierre Gendre in Cannes, France, on September 21, 1932. The brother of actor Louis Jourdan, he began his film career as an actor in the early 1940s with such credits as La Femme que j’ai le Plus Aimee (1942), Le Mariage de Chiffon (1942), Midnight in Paris (1942), The Blue Veil (1942), The Benefactor (1942), The Count of Monte Cristo (1943), Immortal France (1943), Monsieur des Lourdines (1943), Lucrece (1943), Monsieur de Falindor

Rassim al-Jumaili

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olence in the country. He was featured in the 2003 television productions Zaman: The Man from the Reeds. His final role was in the series The Leader, playing a sarcastic dictator in a parody of the post–Saddam government.

JUSTICE , J IMMY Actor and singer Jimmy Justice died suddenly while performing on stage in Barcelona, Spain, on January 31, 2007. He was 75. Justice was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 31, 1931. He studied theatre and opera at the Juilliard School of Music and performed on the local stage in Erie in productions of Showboat and Anything Goes. He was soon appearing on Broadway in such musicals as Hello Dolly with Pearl Bailey, Timbuktu, and Sweet Bird of Youth. Justice also starred in several films including Memorial Valley Massacre (1988) and Beverly Hills Brats (1989). He was also noted as a composer and musician for numerous stage productions. He was touring Europe performing Looking for Josephine Baker at the time of his death.

Riders (1994), Los Angeles Without a Map (1998), Highway Society (2000), Kuningas Hidaws (2000), Mel Gibson’s The Patriot (2000), Bait (2000), Proof of Life (2000), Tango Cabaret (2001), Hannibal (2001), Evolution (2001), Windtalkers (2002), Honey Baby (2003), Pelikaanimies (2004), Revolution (2006), Mystery of the Wolf (2006), and A Christmas Story (2007)

Paul Jyrala

KALT, JORG Austrian film director Jorg Kalt committed suicide in Vienna, Austria, on July 1, 2007. He was 40. Kalt was born in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France, on January 11, 1967. He studied at the University of Zurich and Prague’s film school FAMU in the early 1990s. He wrote and directed the short film Eternity Starts Here in 1993, and he attended the Vienna Film Academy from 1994 through 2001. He made his feature film debut writing and directing 2005’s Crash Test Dummies. He also scripted the 2007 film Immer nie am Meer. Jimmy Justice

JYRALA , PAUL Finnish sound editor Paul Jyrala died in Jarvenpaa, Finland, on July 12, 2007. He was 66. Jyrala was born in Espoo, Finland, on July 9, 1941. He was the recipient of five Jussi Awards, the national film award of Finland, for his work in sound editing and design. He worked on numerous films in Finland and, later in his career, Hollywood as well. His film credits include Girl of Finland (1967), Hot Cat? (1968), Black on White (1968), The Marvellous Adventures of a TV Man (1969), Portraits of Women (1970), Anna (1970), The Castle of Cloads (1970), The Shadow of a City (1971), The Count (1971), The Unhanged (1971), Poor Little Maria (1972), Age Class (1976), Lorna (1976), The Year of the Hare (1977), The Kiljunen Family (1981), Toto (1982), The King Without a Heart (1982), Jon (1983), Angela’s War (1984), The Clan Tale of the Frogs (1984), The White Dwarf (1986), The Snow Queen (1986), Helsinki-Naples All Night Long (1987), Plainlands (1988), The Moonlight Sonata (1988), The Winter War (1989), Nemesis (1993), When the Devil Rode Into the Blacksmith’s House and Gave the Blacksmith’s Wife a New Nose (1993), Knights (1993), Brain Smasher ... A Love Story (1993), The Romanov Stones (1993), Sunset

Jurg Kalt

KAMATA, TOR McRonald Kamaka, who wrestled professionally as the imposing ring villain Tor Kamata, died of complications from heart disease in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, on July 23, 2007. He was 70. Kamaka, though billed in the ring as being from Japan, was Hawaiian by birth. He was a leading mat heel from the mid–1960s, sometimes competing

189 under the name Mr. Moto. He held numerous wrestling titles including the Southern Tag Team belts with Tojo Yamamoto in 1965, the AWA Tag Team Title with Mitsu Arakawa in 1967 and 1968, and the NWA Central States Tag Team Title with Luke Brown in 1969. He held the Stampede North American Title in Calgary, Canada, several times in the early 1970s. Kamata wrestled in the WWWF in the early 1970s, where he was managed by Fred Blassie, and frequently battled Bob Backlund. He was noted for uttering his catchphrase “no chancee,” when he was interviewed by ring announcers. He captured the British Empire Title in New Zealand in 1982, wrestling as King Kamaka. He also held the Australasian Tag Team Title in New Zealand with Ox Baker in 1982 before retiring from the ring.

2007 • Obituaries

and short-story collections including the award-winning Kitney Pakistani in 2003. He also wrote numerous television series including Darpan, Chandrakanta, Ek Kahani, and Yug.

KANE, JEANNE Jeanne Kane, one of the singing Kane Triplets, died of a gunshot wound to the head in Pleasant Plains, New York, on January 30, 2007. Her husband, an ex–NYPD officer was later charged with her murder. She was 58. Jeanne and her sisters, Lucille and Maureen, were born on May 16, 1948. They began performing as children and continued to sing and record through the mid–1970s. The Kane Triplets appeared on such television series as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Benny Show, The Tonight Show, The Perry Como Special, and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. They were best known for singing their own unique version of the Mission: Impossible theme song.

Tor Kamata

KAMLESHWAR

Indian Hindi writer Kamleshwar died of a heart attack after undergoing bypass surgery in New Delhi, India, on January 27, 2007. He was 75. Kamleshwar was born in Mainpuri, India, on January 6, 1932. He began his career writing screenplays for Doordarsham. His novel Storm was adapted to film in 1975. He also wrote such Hindi-language films as Mausam (1975), Ram and Belram (1980), Saajan Ki Saheli (1981), Souten (1983), Rang Birangi (1983), Yeh Desh (1984), Laila (1984), and Souten Ki Beti (1989). He was the author of more than thirty novels

Kamleshwar

Jeanne Kane (with fellow Kane Triplets Lucille and Maureen)

KANZE, HIDEO Japanese actor Hideo Kanze died of intestinal cancer in Tokyo, Japan, on June 8, 2007. He was 79. Kanze was born in Tokyo on August 3, 1927. He was active in the Noh dramatic circle from the 1950s, directing and preforming on stage in operas and musicals. Kanze also appeared frequently in films from the 1960s, with such credits as The Pitfall (1962), Ningen (1962), The Face of Another (1966), Violence at

Hideo Kanze

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190

Noon (1966), Lost Sex (1966), Libido (1967), The Black Cat (1968), Strong Women, Weak Men (1968), Shokkaku (1970), Evil Spirits of Japan (1970), Kanawa (1972), Summer Soldiers (1972), Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975), The Life of Chikuzan (1977), The Strangling (1979), Edo Porn (1981), Rikyu (1989), A Last Note (1995), House of Sleeping Beauties (1995), and Will to Live (1999).

KAPP, COLIN British science fiction writer Colin Kapp died on August 3, 2007. He was 79. Kapp began writing short stories for such magazines as Analog, Galaxy, and New Worlds in 1958. His early stories included several in his Unorthodox Engineers series. His first novel, Transfinite Man, was published in 1964. He also wrote the popular Cageworld series that included the novels Search for the Sun! (1982), The Lost Worlds of Cronus (1982), The Tyrant of Hades (1984), and Star Search (1984). His other novels include The Patterns of Chaos (1972), The Wizard of Anharitte (1973), The Survival Game (1976), Menalone (1977), The Chaos Weapon (1977), The Ion War (1978), and The Timewinders (1980).

Natwarlal (1979), Dada (1979), Dhongee (1979), Destination (1979), Black Stone (1979), The Burning Train (1980), Red Rose (1980), Raksha (1981), Professor Pyarelal (1981), Destiny (1981), Nature (1981), Rocky (1981), Made for Each Other (1981), Johny I Love You (1982), Ashanti (1982), Dharam Kanta (1982), The Call (1983), Do Gulab (1983), Chor Police (1983), Souten (1983), Jeet Hamaari (1983), Justice Chaudhury (1983), Coolie (1983), Sharaabi (1984), Kaamyaab (1984), Duniya (1984), Divorce (1984), Laila (1984), Love Marriage (1984), Saaheb (1985), Zamana (1985), The Morning Train (1986), Lovelier Than Heaven (1986), Chameli’s Marriage (1986), Ages (1986), Dare (1987), Will Power and Hard Work (1987), Zalzala (1988), Mar Mitenge (1988), Tamacha (1988), Agnee (1988), Kanoon Apna (1989), Storms (1989), Touhean (1989), Jawani Zindabad (1990), Dil (1990), Fateh (1991), Pratikar (1991), Dharam Sankat (1991), Tirangaa (1992), The Heart Knows the Truth (1992), Sangram (1993), Insaniyat Ke Devta (1993), Badi Bahen (1993), Gopi Kishan (1994), The Honor of the House (1994), Raja (1995), We Two (1995), Reality (1995), Loafer (1996), Virasat (1997), Mere Sapno Ki Rani (1997), Hitler (1998), Mann (1999), Gair (1999), Khauff (2000), Chhupa Rustam: A Musical Thriller (2001), and Raja Bhaiya (2003). He made his final film appearance in Raman Kumar’s Sarhad Paar in 2006.

Colin Kapp

KAPPU , SATYEN Indian character actor Satyen Kappu died of massive cardiac arrest in Mumbai, India, on October 27, 2007. He was 76. Kappu began his career on stage with the Indian People’s Theatre Association in 1952. He appeared in numerous plays and became a popular character actor in films in the early 1960s. His many film credits include Kabuliwala (1961), Love Letter (1962), Khilona (1970), Kati Patang (1970), Immortal Love (1971), Seeta and Geeta (1972), Two Yards Under the Ground (1972), Your Country (1972), Anuraag (1972), The Madness of Youth (1972), Keemat (1973), An Oath on India (1973), Hanste Zakhm (1973), The Chain (1973), Discovery (1973), False Coins (1974), Honour (1974), Crazy Heart (1974), Dost (1974), Doosri Sita (1974), Bidaai (1974), The Nameless (1974), Imprisonment (1975), I’ll Die for Mama (1975), The Holy Year (1975), Flames of the Sun (1975), The Big Thief (1976), Jeevan Jyoti (1976), Fakira (1976), The Betrayal (1977), Dream Girl (1977), Immaan Dharam (1977), The Other Man (1977), Nalayak (1978), Bhola Bhala (1978), The Door (1978), Don (1978), Mr.

Satyen Kappu

KASZAS, ATTILA Hungarian actor Attila Kaszas died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Budapest, Hungary, on March 23, 2007. He was 47. Kaszas was born in Sala, Czechoslovakia, on March 16, 1960. He was a leading stage, film, and television actor from the early 1980s. Kaszas performed on stage with the Vigszinhaz Theater in Budapest from 1984 until 1999. He was featured in such films as Cha-Cha-Cha (1982), Az Elet Muziskaja — Kalman Imre (1984), Witches’ Sabbath (1984), Diary for My Children (1984), A Masik Ember (1987), Titania, Titania, Avag y a Dublorok Ejszakaja (1988), God Walks Backwards (1992), Prinzenbad (1993), School of Sensitivity (1996), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) as the voice of the Prince, Uvegtigris (2001), The Bridgeman (2002), Hukkle (2002), A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda (2003), Uvegfal (2005), Sertett (2005), Pumpheads (2006), and 56 Drops of

191 Blood (2007). Kaszas starred as Tade in the television series Patika from 1994 to 1995. He also appeared in television productions of Feher Rozsda (1982), Macbeth (1982), Nyolc Evszak (1987), Tukorgomb (1990), Indian Nyar (2006), Fancsiko es Pinta (2006), Arpad Nepe (2006), and A Kisertes (2007).

2007 • Obituaries

cember 27, 2007. He was 85. Kawalerowicz was born in Gwozdziec, Poland (now Gvozdets, Ukraine) on January 19, 1922. He began his career in films as an assistant director in the late 1940s, working on such films as Forbidden Songs (1947), The Last Stop (1948), The Steel Hearts (1948) which also featured him in a small role as a German officer, and Devil’s Ravine (1950). He made his directorial debut with 1952’s The Village Mill. He also helmed such features as the two-part Celullose (1954) and Under the Phrygian Star (1954), Shadow (1956), Real End of the Great War (1957), Baltic Express (1959), Joan of the Angels (1961) about the alleged demonic possession of a convent in the French town of Loudun in the 17th Century, the epic Pharaoh (1966) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, The Game (1968), Maddalena (1971), Death of a President (1978), Chance Meeting on the Atlantic (1980), The Inn (1983), The Hostage of Europe (1989), Bronstein’s Children (1991), Why? (1996), and Quo Vadis (2001).

Attila Kaszas

KAUSLAND , G RETHE Norwegian actress and singer Grethe Kausland died of lung cancer in Norway on November 16, 2007. She was 60. Kausland was born in Norway on July 3, 1947. She began her career as a child actress at the age of five, often billed as Lille Grethe Nielsen. She had a hit recording with the 1955 song Teddyen Min. She was also seen in the films Smuglere I Smoking (1957), Far til Fire og Onkel Sofus (1957), Selv om de er Sma (1957), Far til Fire og Ulveungeme (1958), Ugler I Mosen (1959), and To pa Topp (1965). Kausland represented Norway in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest. She remained a leading cabaret performer and actress. Kausland’s other film credits include Tut og Kjor (1975), Vi Spillopper (1979), and Stork Staring Mad (1994). She also appeared in the television productions Bernt (1996), Karl & Co (1998), Jul i Blafjell (1999), Jul pa Manetoppen (2002), and Bradrene Dal og Mysteriet med Karl XIIs Gamasjer (2005).

Jerzy Kawalerowicz

KAYE, MARY Jazz guitarist and singer Mary Kaye, who led the popular Las Vegas lounge act the Mary Kaye Trio in the 1950s and 1960s, died of heart and respiratory failure in a Las Vegas hospital on February 17, 2007. She was 83. She was born Mary Ka’aihue in Detroit, Michigan, on January 9, 1924. Her father was an entertainer who performed under the name

Grethe Kausland

KAWALEROWICZ, JERZY Polish film director Jerzy Kawalerowicz died in Warsaw, Poland, on De-

Mary Kaye (with brother Norman Kaye and Frank Ross)

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192

Johnny Ukulele. She began playing with her father’s band, the Royal Hawaiians, at the age of 12, but later left the group to form her own jazz trio. She adopted the name Mary Kaye after World War II when her brother, Norman, joined the trio. The group’s best known incarnation included the two siblings and comic Frank Ross as its members. The Mary Kaye Trio became one of the first groups to be billed as a lounge act, playing the 1–6 A.M. shift on a stage in the bar area for late night patrons. The trio recorded a dozen albums that included such popular tunes as “My Funny Valentine” and “April in Paris.” They also appeared in the films Cha-Cha-Cha-Boom (1956) and Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1956). The trio broke up in 1966 over business differences, though Mary Kaye continued to perform in a singles act through the 1970s.

KAYE, NORMAN Australian actor and entertainer Norman Kaye died in Sydney, Australia, after a long illness on May 29, 2007. He was 80. He was born in Melbourne, Australia, on January 17, 1927. Kaye began his career on stage in the early 1960s as a performer and composer after working many years as an elementary school music teacher. He began a longstanding collaboration with director Paul Cox in 1967 and the two men worked on numerous film and stage productions over the next forty years. Kaye also appeared frequently on Australian television from the late 1960s, appearing in episodes of such series as Hunter, Riptide, Ryan, Division 4, Shannon’s Mob, Homicide, The Bluestone Boys, Ride on Stranger, Prisoner, Winners, Dancing Daze, Call Me Mister, The Flying Doctors in the recurring role of William Randall, A Country Practice, Law of the Land, Water Rats, Good Guys Bad Guys, Wildside, and Murder Call. He was also seen in such television productions as Power Without Glory (1976), The Last Outlaw (1980), ..Deadline.. (1982), The Cowra Breakout (1984), I Own the Racecourse (1986), Tusitala (1986), Handle with Care (1986), The Riddle of the Stinson (1987), The Shiralee (1987), True Believers (1988), Bangkok Hilton (1989), Bordertown (1995), Frontier (1997), and Without Warning (1999). Kaye also appeared in numerous films during his career, with such credits as The Journey (1972), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Inside Looking Out (1977), Kostas (1979), A Dangerous Summer (1981), The Killing of Angel Street (1981), Lonely Hearts (1982), Man of Flowers (1983), Buddies (1983), Careful, He Might Hear You (1983), Where the Green Ants Dream (1984), Unfinished Business (1985), Relatives (1985), Flight into Hell (1985), Cactus (1986), Frenchman’s Farm (1987), Hungry Heart (1987), Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1988), Boundaries of the Heart (1988), Island (1989), Golden Braid (1990), A Woman’s Tale (1991), Turtle Beach (1992), The Nun and the Bandit (1992), Touch Me (1993), The Custodian (1993), The Nostradamus Kid (1993), Broken Highway (1993), Bad Boy Bubby (1994), Exile (1994), Lust and Revenge (1996), Heaven’s Burning (1997), Paws (1997), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Innocence (2000), Moulin Rouge! (2001) as Nicole Kidman’s doctor, and Human Touch (2004). Kaye, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2000, was the subject of the doc-

umentary The Remarkable Mr. Kaye made by his friend and collaborator Paul Cox in 2006.

Norman Kaye

KEATON, BUSTER, JR. Buster Keaton, Jr., the son of silent film comic Buster Keaton, died in Santa Ynez, California, on April 14, 2007. He was 84. He was born Joseph T. Keaton in Los Angeles on June 2, 1922, the son of Buster Keaton and actress Natalie Talmadge. He was seen as the infant Willie McKay, the character played by his father as an adult, in the 1923 film Our Hospitality.

Buster Keaton, Jr.

KELLOGG, DEWEY Actor Dewey Kellogg died in El Cajon, California, on June 17, 2007. He was 69. Kellogg was born in Iowa on August 10, 1937. He was featured in several films including Pontiac Moon (1994) and Dance with the Devil (1997). KELLY, BARBARA Actress Barbara Kelly, who was a regular panelist on the British version of the television quiz show What’s My Line? in the 1950s, died in London on January 15, 2007. She was 82. Kelly was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on October 5, 1924. She worked as a fashion model and was part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s repertory company from the early 1940s. She married actor Bernard Braden in 1942 and came to England with him in 1949, where she continued her career as an actress.

193 After appearing with Vivien Leigh in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire, she became a regular panelist on What’s My Line? in 1950. With moderator Eamonn Andrews and fellow panelist Gilbert Harding, she entertained television audiences throughout the decade. She also appeared with her husband on the radio variety shows Breakfast with Braden and Bedtime with Braden, and the television series An Evening at Home with Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly in 1951. She also appeared in several films including The Desert Hawk (1950), A Tale of Five Cities (1951), Castle in the Air (1952), Love in Pawn (1953), Glad Tidings (1953), Jet Storm (1959), and The Flying Fontaines (1959). She remained a popular performer on British television through the 1960s, appearing on such programs as Kelly’s Eye, Criss Cross Quiz, and Leave Your Name and Number. She also starred with her husband and their daughter, Kim, in the sit-com B & B in 1968. She rejoined Eamonn Andrews for a short-lived new version of What’s My Line? in 1984. She joined her husband to form Prime Performers in the 1970s, which supplies speakers for commercial clients. She worked with Prime Performers until after her husband’s death in 1993, and formed a new company, Speakerpower, in 2000.

2007 • Obituaries

Ridge Hour, died of complications from heart disease at his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on September 5, 2007. He was 76. Kennedy was born in Augusta, Georgia, on November 3, 1930. He worked as an Arthur Murray dance instructor before earning a doctorate in theology. He founded his congregation in 1959, and Kennedy’s use of radio and television expanded his following greatly. His Coral Ridge Hour aired for many years, with Kennedy pontificating on various issues from an evangelical Christian point of view. He joined with Jerry Falwell to form the Moral Majority in 1979, and supported the group’s extreme conservative political agenda. Kennedy was largely inactive after suffering from cardiac arrest in December of 2006.

KENT , RALPH Disney artist Ralph Kent, who spent decades as the administrator for Mickey Mouse merchandise, died of complications from esophageal cancer at his home in Kissimmee, Florida, on September 10, 2007. He was 68. He was born Ralph Kwiatowski in Buffalo, New York, on January 28, 1939. He studied art and served two years in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s, illustrating military training films. He began working for Disneyland in 1963 after his discharge. Kent produced marketing material for such attractions as the Jungle Cruise, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Pirates of the Caribbean. He moved to Florida in the early 1970s to work at Walt Disney World. He designed souvenirs and collectibles and became the director of Walt Disney Imagineering East. Kent was also known as “the Keeper of the Mouse,” insuring that artists depicting the character kept up to standards. He was one of the few authorized to sign Mickey’s signature.

Barbara Kelly

KENNEDY, D. JAMES Evangelical Christian minister and broadcaster D. James Kennedy, who founded the pioneering television ministry The Coral

Ralph Kent

D. James Kennedy

KERR, DEBORAH Leading lady Deborah Kerr, who starred in such memorable films as The King and I and From Here to Eternity, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease in Suffolk, England, on October 16, 2007. She was 86. She was born Deborah Jane Kerr-Trimmer in Helensburg, Scotland, on September 30, 1921. She studied acting and dancing in England and began her career on stage in the late 1930s. She made her film debut in a small role in Michael Pow-

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Deborah Kerr

ell’s Contraband in 1940. Kerr continued her career on screen in England, appearing in such films as Major Barbara (1941), Love on the Dole (1942), Penn of Pennsylvania (1942), Hatter’s Castle (1942), The Day Will Dawn (1942), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) in three roles, Perfect Strangers (1945), and I See a Dark Stranger (1946). She received a New York Film Critics Award for her role as Sister Coldagh, a missionary nun in the Himalayas, in the 1947 film Black Narcissus. She subsequently came to Hollywood where she appeared opposite Clark Gable in the 1947 MGM film The Hucksters. Kerr remained a leading star in the United States, appearing in If Winter Comes (1947), Edward, My Son (1949) earning an Academy Award nomination for her role as Spencer Tracy’s alcoholic wife, Please Believe Me (1950), King Solomon’s Mines (1950) with Stewart Granger, Quo Vadis (1951) as Lygia, The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) as Princess Flavia, Thunder in the Beast (1952), Young Bess (1953) as Catherine Parr, Young Caeser (1953) as Portia, and Dream Wife (1953). Most of Kerr’s characters to date had been of the prim and proper type, but her screen image was transformed in her steamy role as an adulterous wife in 1953’s From Here to Eternity. She and Burt Lancaster were joined together in cinematic history by their steamy love scene on an ocean swept Hawaiian beach. She also starred opposite Yul Brynner in the 1956 film version of the popular Broadway musical The King and I, and was Cary Grant’s lover in the 1957 romance An Affair to Remember. Kerr’s other film credits in the 1950s and 1960s including The End of the Affair (1955), The Proud and Profane (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956) reprising her Broadway performance, Heaven Knows,

Deborah Kerr (with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity)

Mr. Allison (1957), Kiss Them for Me (1957), Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Separate Tables (1958) with David Niven, The Journey (1959), Count Your Blessing (1959), Beloved Infidel (1959), The Sundowners (1960) earning yet another Oscar nomination, The Grass Is Greener (1960), The Naked Edge (1961), the film adaptation of Henry James’ supernatural classic The Innocents (1961), The Chalk Garden (1964), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Marriage on the Rocks (1965), Eye of the Devil (1966), the 1966 James Bond spoof Casino Royale as Lady Fiona McTarry and Agent Mimi, Prudence and the Pill (1968), The Gypsy Moths (1969), and The Arrangement (1969). Kerr largely retired from the screen in 1969, moving to Switzerland and Spain. She made occasional stage performances and appeared in several television productions in the 1980s, including A Song at Twilight (1982), Witness for the Prosecution (1982), A Woman of Substance (1984), Reunion at Fairbrough (1985), and Hold the Dream (1986). She made her final film appearance in the 1985 feature The Assam Garden. Kerr’s survivors include her husband, author and screenwriter Peter Viertel, and two daughters.

KESNER, JILLIAN Actress Jillian Kesner died of complications from a staph infection in a hospital near her home in Rancho Mirage, California, on December 5, 2007. She was 57. Kesner was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on November 17, 1950. She began working as an actress in the mid–1970s, appearing on television in an episode of S.W.A.T. She was featured in Gary Graver’s 1976 exploitation film The Student Body, and she and Graver later married. She continued to appear in such films as Starhops (1978), Cirio Santiago’s 1981 kickboxing film Firecracker, Raw Force (1982) which combined kung fu and zombies, Trick or Treats (1982), Moon in Scorpio (1987), Evil Town (1987), Beverly Hills Vamp (1988), Jaded (1989), Roots of Evil (1992), Subliminal Seduction (1996), and Inferno (1998). Kesner was also seen on television in episodes of The Blue Knight, Happy Days, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Co-Ed Fever, The Rockford Files, The Ropers, Three’s Company, Mork and Mindy, and T.J. Hooker. He also worked with her husband as a production coordinator on many of his films including Night Eyes 4 (1996), Sexual Roulette (1996), Bikini Traffic

Jillian Kessner (with husband Gary Graver)

195 School (1997), The Escort (1997), Masseuse 3 (1998), Black Widow Escort (1998), Angel in Training (1999), The Kid with X-Ray Eyes (1999), The Neighbor’s Wife (2001), and Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (2005). She and Graver remained married until his death in 2006.

KESTOWCICZ , ZYGMUNT Polish actor Zygmunt Kestowicz died in Warsaw, Poland, on March 14, 2007. He was 86. Kestowicz was born in Szaki, Lithuania, on January 24, 1921. He was active in films from the 1950s, appearing in such features as The Bus Leaves at 6:20 (1954), The Chase (1954), Shadow (1956), The Depot of the Dead (1959), Adam’s Two Ribs (1964), Mexico Tomorrow (1966), Paris–Warsaw Without Visa (1967), The Deluge (1974), In the Days Before Spring (1975), Rough Treatment (1978), Secret of Enigma (1979), and Korczak (1990). He was also noted for his work in children’s television series including Friday with Pankracy and Time for Telesfor. He starred as Wladyslaw Lubicz in the series Klan in the 1990s.

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known, W. Somerset Maugham, Catweazle, Worzel Gummidge, The Double Deckers, Crimewatch, Inspector Morse, Play for Today, On the Busses, The Onedin Line, Z Cars, Oh, Father!, Boy Dominic, The Good Life, Dominic, The Georgian House, The Howerd Confessions, How’s Your Father?, The Famous Five, Juliet Bravo, In Loving Memory, That’s My Boy, Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, Paradise Postponed, All Creatures Great and Small, and Heartbeat. Kettlewell was long active in church activities and founded the church-based theatrical group, the St. Augustine’s Players, in the 1960s. She remained active as an actor and director with the group for most of the remainder of her life.

Ruth Kettlewell

Zygmunt Kestowicz

KETTLEWELL, RUTH British character actress, Ruth Kettlewell, died in London on July 17, 2007. She was 94. She was born Ruth Anne Berry in Worchester, England, on April 13, 1913. She served in the Woman’s Land Army during World War II and pursued a career on stage after the war. She initially performed with the Windsor Repertory Theatre and was appearing in West End productions by the late 1950s. Kettlewell made her film debut in 1959, appearing in small roles in Room at the Top and Friends and Neighbours. Her other film credits include Sons and Lovers (1960), The Yellow Teddybears (aka Gutter Girls) (1963), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Hope and Keen’s Crazy House (1970), No Blade of Grass (1970), Zeppelin (1971), Professor Popper’s Problem (1974), The Black Panther (1977), Adventures of a Private Eye (1977), Crystalstone (1988), Great Balls of Fire! (1989), and Funny Bones (1995). Kettlewell also performed frequently on television, often portraying portly matrons. She was featured in the 1991 tele-film Heading Home, and appeared in episodes of The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre, The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling, Comedy Playhouse, The Wednesday Play, All Gas and Gaiters, Detective, Out of the Un-

KHRENNIKOV, TIKON Russian composer and musician Tikon Khrennikov died in Moscow on August 14, 2007. He was 94. Khrennikov was born in Yelets, Russia, on June 10, 1913. He began playing musical instruments at an early age and studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the early 1930s. He soon wrote his first symphony and composed several popular song for a 1936 production of Much Ado About Nothing. He composed his first opera, Into the Storm based on Nikolai Virta’s novel Loneliness, in 1939. Khrennikov became celebrated for his musical score for the 1941 film They Met in Moscow, which included the popular “Song of Moscow.” He was awarded the Stalin Prize for his compositions, and was named Secretary of

Tikon Khrennikov

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the Union of Soviet Composers in 1948. He continued to work frequently in films throughout his career, scoring Six O’Clock in the Evening After the War (1944), The Train Goes East (1949), Miners of the Don (1950), Dream of a Cossack (1951), True Friends (1954), The Captain’s Daughter (1959), Ballad of a Hussar (1962), Tovarishch Arseni (1965), No Password Necessary (1967), Ruslan and Ludmila (1972), Afterthought Had Hit You, Congratulations! (1977), Lyubovyu za Lyubov (1983), and Dva Tovarishcha (2001). His numerous musical works also include ten operas, three symphonies, six ballets, and many other songs and chamber works.

KIDD, MICHAEL Legendary choreographer Michael Kidd died of cancer in New York City on December 23, 2007. He was 92. He was born Milton Greenwald in Brooklyn, New York, on August 12, 1915. He began studying dance in the mid–1930s and attended the School of American Ballet. He danced in the 1936 film Happy Days Are Here Again and served as choreographer for dance numbers for 1937’s Another Dawn. He performed in such ballets as Billy the Kid (1939) and Pocahontas (1939), and directed and performed in the 1942 revival of Billy the Kid. He was a dancer to Jerome Robbin’s choreography for the ballets Interplay (1945) and Fancy Free (1946). Kidd won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the 1947 Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow. He earned four subsequent Tonys for Guys and Dolls (1950), Can-Can (1953), Li’l Abner (1956), and Destry Rides Again (1959). He also received Tony nominations for the Broadway productions Subways Are for Sleeping (1961), Skyscraper (1965), The Rothschilds (1970), and The Goodbye Girl (1993). Kidd also worked in Hollywood, choreographing for such films as Where’s Charley? (1952), The Band Wagon (1953), Knock on Wood (1954), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) which earned him acclaim for his energetic dance numbers, Guys and Dolls (1955), Li’l Abner (1959). Kidd was featured as Angie Valentine in the 1955 film It’s Always Fair Weather, and directed and choreographed the 1958 musical comedy Merry Andrew, starring Danny Kaye. He choreographed the films Star! (1968) and Hello, Dolly! (1969), and the 1978 telefilm Actor, which also featured Kidd in the role of the adult Paul Muni. He also performed in the 1975 film

Michael Kidd

Smile, was featured as Pop Popchik in the 1978 comedy Movie Movie, and was Dr. Westford in Blake Edward’s 1989 comedy Skin Deep. Kidd was given an honorary Academy Award “in recognition of his services to the art of dance in the art of the screen” in 1996.

KIELTYKA , WILTOLD “VITEK ” Polish drummer Wiltold “Vitek” Kieltyka, who was a founding member of the death metal band Decapitated, was seriously injured when the band’s tour bus collided with a truck on route to Gomel, Belarus, on October 29, 2007. He suffered severe head injuries and was hospitalized in Novozybkov, Russia, where he died on November 2, 2007. He was 23. Kieltyka was born in Poland on January 24, 1984, the younger brother of fellow musician Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka. He joined Decapitated in 1996 at the age of 12 and performed on their albums The Eye of Horus (1998), Winds of Creation (2000), The First Damned (2000), Nihility (2002), The Negation (2004) and Organic Hallucinosis (2006). He also performed with the bands Dies Irae and Panzer X.

Wiltold Kieltyka

KIMATIAN, PAUL Film writer and producer Paul Kimatian died of cancer in Los Angeles on April 28, 2007. He was 61. Kimatian was born on December 24, 1945. He began his career in films working as a still photographer on such Martin Scorcese features as Taxi Driver (1976) and New York, New York (1977).

Paul Kimatian

197 He served as production manager and appeared in a small role in the 1978 science fiction action film Deathsport (1978) and was executive producer on the 1980 scifi film Without Warning. Kimatian was a producer and assistant director on the films Street Music (1981), Hot Dog ... The Movie (1984), and Never on Tuesday (1988). He wrote and produced the 1995 tele-film The Wharf Rat and the 2002 feature Deuces Wild. He also served as executive producer for the 2003 film The Great Gabble.

2007 • Obituaries

(1964), Don’t Forget to Wipe the Blood Off (1966), Don’t Let the Angels Fall (1969), Who Has Seen the Wind (1977), Shadow Dancing (1988), Last Night (1998), Picture Claire (2001), and A Promise (2002). King was married to actor Gordon Pinsent from 1962 until her death. She is survived by Pinsent and their daughter, actress Leah Pinsent.

KIM JOO-SEUNG Korean actor Kim JooSeung died of pancreatic cancer in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, hospital on August 13, 2007. He was 45. Kim was born in South Korea on September 3, 1961. He made his film debut in the early 1980s and was a leading actor over the next two decades appearing in such films as March of a Tomboy (1986) and Love Lesson on Campus (1988). Kim also produced dramas for film and television from the 1990s. His final credit was the 2005 series Ice Girl. Charmion King

Kim Joo-Seung

KING, CHARMION Canadian actress Charmion King, who was known as the Grand Dame of the Canadian Theatre, died in Canada on January 6, 2007. She was 81. King was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 25, 1925. She began her career on stage while attending the University of Toronto. She appeared regularly in plays by Shakespeare at the Stratford Festival and was noted for her roles in the works of Anton Chekhov. King made her only appearance on Broadway in a production of Robertson Davies’ Love and Libel in 1960. She also appeared frequently on television from the late 1950s, with roles in such series as The Adventures of Tugboat Annie, The Forest Rangers, Seaway, Room 222, McMillan and Wife, House of Pride as Mary Kirby, Katts and Dog, The Twilight Zone, The Hitchhiker, Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Traders, and Wind at My Back. She was also featured in television productions of Anne of Green Gables (1985) as Aunt Josephine, and 1987’s Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, Broken Lullaby (1994), My Own Country (1998), and Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001). King also appeared in a handful of films during her career including Nobody Waved Good-Bye

KING, DONNA Donna King Conkling, one of the singing King Sisters, died of complications from asthma and cancer in Plano, Texas, on June 20, 2007. She was 88. She was born Donna Olivia Driggs in Sanford, Colorado, on September 3, 1918. Three of her sisters, Maxine, Luise and Alyce, began performing together in high school and made their radio debut in 1931. They soon changed their name from the Driggs Sisters to the King Sisters, and were performing in Los Angeles with bandleader Horace Heidt by 1934. Donna and sister Yvonne soon joined the group. They later sang with a band led by Alvino Rey, who had married Luise. They recorded several popular songs in the early 1940s including “In the Mood” and “Nighty Night.” They also performed in several films including Sing Your Worries Away (1942), Follow the Band (1943), Larceny with Music (1943), Meet the People (1944), On Stage Everybody (1945), and Cuban Pete (1946). Donna married recording executive James B. Conkling in 1943 and left the group later in the decade. She later appeared in

Donna King (second from left, with sisters Vonnie, Alyce and Luise)

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a small role in the 1959 horror film The Hideous Sun Demon, produced by her brother-in-law, actor Robert Clarke. She rejoined her sisters and other family members for The King Family television show in the mid–1960s. Donna was widowed when Conkling died in 1998. Her survivors include sisters Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne, five children, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

KING , LORETTA Actress Loretta King Hadler, who starred in Ed Wood’s 1955 cult classic Bride of the Monster died at her home in Century City, California, on September 10, 2007. She was 90. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 20, 1917. She was cast as Janet Lawton in Wood’s Bride of the Monster starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson. She also appeared in television in productions of Dr. Harvey W. Wiley and The Pirate and the Lawyer on Hallmark Hall of Fame in 1955. She resumed acting in the 1970s after her marriage to Herman Hadler, appearing in the films Johnny Tough (1974) and Joey (1977). She was also seen in the 1996 documentary The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood, Jr. King was portrayed by actress Juliette Landau in Tim Burton’s 1994 biographical film of the director, Ed Wood.

in a Boca Raton, Florida, hospital on December 8, 2007. He was 63. King was born in New Jersey in 1944, the son of Charles King, who founded the syndicated programming distribution company King World Productions Inc. in 1964. Roger King worked in newspaper sales and radio and television production before become chairman of King World in 1977. King World became a leading distributor of first-run syndicated programming, launching such popular series as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart Living, and Inside Edition. Syndicated versions of the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! were also produced, as well as the syndicated sale of reruns of such network programs as CSI: Crime Scene Investigations, Touched by an Angel, Everybody Loves Raymond, Survivor, and The Amazing Race. King World Productions merged with CBS Television in 2000, and King became chief executive officer of distribution at CBS.

KING, DAME THEA British classical clarinetist Dame Thea King died in London on June 26, 2007. She was 81. King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, on December 26, 1925. She studied the piano and clarinet and worked as a teacher and chamber musician. She was principal clarinetist for the English Chamber Orchestra from 1964 to 1999, and also played with the Sadler’s Wells Opera Orchestra and the London Mozart Players during her career. King was professor of clarinet at the Royal College of Music from 1961 to 1987 and taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1988 until her death. She was created a Dame of the British Empire in 2001.

Loretta King

KING, ROGER Television syndication executive Roger M. King died of complications from a stroke Dame Thea King

Roger M. King

KING, YOLANDA Yolanda King, the eldest child of the Rev. Martin Luther and Coretta King, who was an actress and motivational speaker, died of a heart condition in Santa Monica, California, on May 15, 2007. She was 51. King was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on November 17, 1955. She was committed to her father’s vision of nonviolent social change and justice from an early age. She was the founder of Higher Ground Productions, which orchestrated her motivational speaking appearances. She began her acting career playing Rosa Parks in the 1978 television mini-series about her father, King. She was also featured in the

199 films Hopscotch (1980), Fluke (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) as Reena Evers, Drive By: A Love Story (1997), and Odessa (2000). Yolanda also appeared in the tele-films Death of a Prophet (1981) as Malcolm X’s widow Betty Shabazz, No Big Deal (1983), America’s Dream (1996), Selma, Lord, Selma (1999), Funny Valentines (1999), and The Secret Path (1999). Her other television credits include episodes of JAG, Any Day Now, Liberty’s Kids: Est. 1776, and Strong Medicine.

2007 • Obituaries

KIRKWOOD, PAT British actress Pat Kirkwood died in a nursing home in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, on December 25, 2007. She was 86. Kirkwood was born in Pendleton, Manchester, England, on February 24, 1921. She began her professional career as a singer on BBC radio’s The Children’s Hour at the age of 14. She made her stage debut the following year in 1936 as the Schoolgirl Songstress. She was soon appearing in such films as Save a Little Sunshine (1938), Me and My Pal (1939), Come on George! (1939), Band Wagon (1940), and Flight from Folly (1945). She subsequently headed to Hollywood, where she starred in MGM’s No Leave, No Love (1946). The film’s lack of success led to a nervous breakdown and suicide attempt by Kirkwood. She recovered and resumed her career on stage in such musical productions as Starlight Roof (1947) and Noel Coward’s Ace of Clubs (1950). She was also seen in the films Once a Sinner (1950), Stars in Your Eyes (1956), and After the Ball (1957), and starred in the television variety series The Pat Kirkwood Show in 1954.

Yolanda King

KIRKVAAG, TROND Norwegian comic actor and writer Trond Kirkvaag died of colorectal cancer in Norway on November 16, 2007. He was 61. Kirkvaag was born in Norway on June 21, 1946. He began working at the Norwegian television network NRK in 1968, appearing on the series Smile to the Hidden Camera. He often worked with fellow comics Knut Lystad and Lars Mjoen, and created such programs as The Buffalo Bluff Wall-to-Wall International Tour (1973), the satirical news program Newnews (1976), The Dal Brothers (1979), Diplomatix (1985), MRK TeeVee (1988), KLMs After Play (1992), and The Rise and Fall of an Olympic Village (1994). He also wrote and appeared in the 1985 film Something Completely Different, and created the comedy programs Trotto Libre (1996) and a skit series for the Showtalk program in 2000.

Trond Kirkvaag

Pat Kirkwood

KITAMURA, KAZUO Japanese actor Kazuo Kitamura died of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital on May 6, 2007. He was 80. Kitamura was born in Tokyo on March 11, 1927. He performed on stage with the Bungakuza theatrical troupe from the early 1950s. Kitamura also appeared frequently in films, including several by his longtime friend, director Shohei Imamura. His many film credits include Anyakoro (1959), Evening Stream (1960), Till Tomorrow Comes (1962), Heaven and Hell (1963), The Insect Woman (1963), Samurai Vagabond (1964), The Scent of Incense (1964), Intentions of Murder (1964), Akujo (1964), Yearning (1964), Kwaidan (1964) as Hoichi the Earless, The Procurer (1965), White Rose of Hong Kong (1965), Warm Current (1966), The Emperor and the General (1967), Flame and Women (1967), Women and Miso Soup (1968), The Most Corrupted (1968), The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968), The Militarists (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) as Foreign Minister Matsuoka, Summer Soldiers (1972), Dog Flute (1978), Taro the Dragon Boy (1979), Vengeance Is Mine (1979), White Love (1979), The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979), Why Not? (1981), Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981), Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982),

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Lake of Illusions (1982), The Geisha (1983), Black Rain (1989), A Festival of Drams (1989), Kagero (1991), Amateur Singing Contest (1999), Darkness in the Light (2001), War Water Under a Red Bridge (2001), Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005), Henshin (2005), and Japan Sinks (2006).

Kazuo Kitamura

KLEINER, HARRY Screenwriter Harry Kleiner, who co-wrote the script for the 1966 science fiction classic Fantastic Voyage, died in Northbrook, Illinois, on September 17, 2007. He was 91. Kleiner was born in Tiflis, Russia (now Tbilissi, Georgia) on September 10, 1916. He came to Hollywood after World War II, where he began working in films as a writer. He wrote the story or script for such films as Fallen Angel (1945), The Street with No Name (1948), Red Skies of Montana (1952), Kangaroo (1952), Salome (1953), King of the Khyber Rifles (1953), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), Carmen Jones (1954), The Violent Men (1955), and House of Bamboo (1955). Kleiner served as a writer and producer for several films later in the decade including The Garment Jungle (1957), The Rabbit Trap (1959), Cry Tough (1959), and Ice Palace (1960). He also worked in television in the 1960s, scripting episodes of such series as Bus Stop, Target: The Corruptors, The Virginian, and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. Kleiner continued to write such films as A Fever in the Blood (1961), The Final Hour (1962), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Bullitt (1968) starring Steve McQueen, Le Mans (1971), the 1974 tele-film Judgement: The Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Extreme Prejudice (1987), and Red Heat (1988). KLEINOW , SNEAKY PETE Sneaky Pete Kleinow, who played the steel guitar with the Flying Burrito Brothers and worked on special effects for such films as The Empire Strikes Back and The Terminator, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in a Petaluma, California, nursing facility on January 6, 2007. He was 72. Kleinow was born in South Bend, Indiana, on August 20, 1934. He moved to California in the early 1960s, where he began working as a stop-motion animator for Art Clokey’s Gumby and Davey and Goliath cartoons, and the films The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) and The Seven Faces of Dr.

Lao (1964). Kleinow was playing steel guitar in small country bands when musician Gram Parsons invited him to join his new group, The Flying Burrito Brothers, in 1968. He performed on the albums The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969), Burrito Deluxe (1969), and Flying Burrito Brothers (1971), and appeared with the band in the 1970 concert film Gimme Shelter before the group split up in the early 1970s. Kleinow was considered one of the leading steel guitarists in the music business, playing in sessions with such artists as John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, and Fleetwood Mac. He formed a new band, Cold Steel, in 1974, which soon evolved into another version of the Flying Burrito Brothers. He continued to play and record with the group throughout the decade, and recorded a solo album, Sneaky Pete, in 1978. He also continued his work in films as part of the special effects crew for such features as The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Caveman (1981), Gremlins (1984), Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), The Right Stuff (1983), The Terminator (1984), The Return of the Living Dead (1985), The Puppetoon Movie (1987), RoboCop 2 (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Army of Darkness (1992), Nemesis (1993), Starship Troopers (1997), and Holes (2003). He also worked on the 1974 television series Land of the Lost, and the 1983 mini-series The Winds of War. Kleinow also remained active in music, recording the solo albums The Legend and the Legacy (1994) and Meet Sneaky Pete (2001). He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2006 and had spent six months in a care home before his death.

Sneaky Pete Kleinow

KLEY, CHANEY Actor Chaney Kley Minnis died in Venice, California, on July 24, 2007. He was 34. Kley was born in Colorado on August 20, 1972. He majored in drama in college and embarked upon an acting career in the late 1990s. He was best known for his role as Kyle Walsh in the 2003 horror film Darkness Falls. He also appeared in the films Legally Blonde (2001), The Skin Horse (2003), Stephen King’s Gotham Cafe (2005), Jimmy and Judy (2006), Mr. Blue Sky (2007), and One Way to Valhalla (2007). Kley was also seen on television in episodes of Buff y the Vampire Slayer, Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service,

201 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Las Vegas, and The Shield.

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derwent a liver transplant and numerous other surgeries that left him largely disabled, though he claimed till the end that he had no regrets about the way he lived his life.

Chaney Kley

KNIEVEL, EVEL Flamboyant motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel died of complications from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis at his condominium in Clearwater, Florida, on November 30, 2007. He was 69. He was born Robert Knievel, Jr., in Butte, Montana, on October 17, 1938. He was frequently in trouble with authorities from an early age and picked up the nickname “Evel.” He worked at various occupations, both legal and illegal, through the mid–1960s when he opened a Honda dealership in Moses Lake, Washington. For publicity he formed a traveling stunt show, Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils. He performed his first nationally noted stunt in Las Vegas in 1968, when he made an unsuccessful attempt to leap over the fountains in front of Caesars Palace. A bad landing resulted in massive injuries and numerous broken bones. He resumed his exploits after regaining consciousness a month later. His 150 foot and more motorcycles leaps over an ever expanding procession of cars brought him fame in the early 1970s. Knievel’s most spectacular attempt was to leap the Snake River Canyon in Idaho on a closed-circuit televised event in 1974. The leap was unsuccessful, though he survived the fall due to a parachute on his bike. His growing fame led to a feature film named after him, starring George Hamilton, in 1971. He was portrayed by Sam Elliott in the 1974 tele-film Evel Knievel. He himself appeared in cameo roles in the 1974 film Freebie and the Bean, and in episodes of The Sonny and Cher Show and The Bionic Woman. He starred as himself in the 1977 film Viva Knievel! Knievel continued to entertain crowds with leaps over double-decker buses and shark tanks. Frequent mishaps resulted in an ever growing list of injuries and broken bones. By the end of the decade, the daredevil’s financial fortunes had fallen and his son, Robbie, soon took over his father’s act. A decade of heavy drinking and bouts of depression took its toll on Evel but he made something of a comeback in the 1990s. He was featured in television commercials and made promotional appearances as a new generation of fans emerged. He contracted Hepatitis C due to blood transfusions required from his many accidents. He un-

Evel Knievel

KNIGHT, EVELYN Sultry songstress Evelyn Knight, who was a popular singer in the 1940s and 1950s, died of lung cancer at a nursing home in San Jose, California, on September 28, 2007. She was 89. She was born Evelyn Davis in Reedville, Virginia, on December 31, 1917, and began her career in Washington nightclubs under the name Honey Davis at the age of 16. She moved to New York in 1944, where, as Evelyn Knight, she headlined at top nightclubs. She released her debut single, “Dance with a Dolly (with a Hole in Her Stocking ),” the following year, which made the Top 10. In the late 1940s, Knight moved to Los Angeles, where she could be heard at hot celebrity nightclubs and sang alongside Tony Martin and Gordon MacRae. Between 1944 and 1951, she had 13 Top 40 hits, including “A Little Bird Told Me” and “Powder Your Face with Sunshine,” which both became #1 hits. Ms. Knight became known as the “The Lass with the Delicate Air.” During the early 1950s, she went on tour, appearing in top hotels and nightclubs throughout the country. She made her final hit, recording, “My Heart Cries for You,” a duet with country singer Red Foley, in 1951. She also recorded with Bing Crosby and

Evelyn Knight

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also performed on the television variety programs The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Ed Sullivan Show in the early 1950s. Knight returned to New York in the 1950s, working in the music publishing industry and was given a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1961 without her knowledge. In 1967, she moved to Phoenix, Arizona, were she lived in obscurity.

KNIGHT , KEITH Canadian actor Keith Knight died of brain cancer at his home in Toronto, Canada, on August 22, 2007. He was 51. Knight was born in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada, in 1956. He began his career performing in regional theater, making his professional debut with Theatre Ontario in 1978. He made his film debut in the 1979 comedy Meatballs, starring as camp counselor in training Larry Finkelstein, winner of the hot dog eating contest. Knight continued to appear in such films as Hog Wild (1980), the cult horror classic My Bloody Valentine (1981), Gas (1981), Class of 1984 (1982), Self Defense (1983), Of Unknown Origin (1983), Mr. Nice Guy (1987), Family Reunion (1988), Whispers (1989), Love & Murder (1991), Bar Life (2003), Owning Mahowny (2003), and Looking for Angelina (2005). Knight also appeared frequently on television, with roles in the telefilms Letting Go (1985), Whodunit (1986), The Prodigious Hickey (1987), Switching Goals (1999), and Lucky Day (2002). He was also seen in episodes of such series as Seeing Things, Katts and Dog, Street Legal, The Twilight Zone, War of the Worlds, Road to Avonlea, RoboCop, Liberty Street, Traders, Pecola, Queer as Folk, and Street Time. In recent years Knight worked frequently as a voice actor on such animated shows as The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland, Beetlejuice, Redwall, The Dumb Bunnies, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, The Blazing Dragons, Ace Ventura, Rupert the Bear, Franklin, and Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends.

came to the United States with his parents as a child. He worked as a New York City police officer until his retirement in 1969. He subsequently moved to California, where he began a second career impersonating Reagan after his wife entered him in a Reagan look-alike contest with the National Enquirer without his knowledge in 1980. Koch was soon making personal appearances as the president’s double. He was also seen in cameo roles as Reagan in several films including Back to the Future, Part II (1989), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), the tele-film Cosmic Slop (1994), and Panther (1995).

Jay Koch

KOCINIAK, JAN Polish actor Jan Kociniak died in Warsaw, Poland, on April 20, 2007. He was 69. Kociniak was born in Stryj, Poland (now Ukraine), on November 8, 1937. He began his acting career in the early 1960s and often performed on stage with the Atheneum Theatre in Warsaw. He appeared on screen in such films as A Place on Earth (1960), Dowry (1964), The Saragossa Manuscript (1965), Tank Force (1967), Love the Mermaids (1967), Paris–Warsaw Without Visa (1967), The Doll (1968), Troublesome Visitor (1971), Man —Woman Wanted (1973), Teddy Bear (1981), Lake of Constance (1986), Special Mission (1987), Controlled Conversations (1991), Ubu, the King (2003), and Rys (2007). He also appeared on Polish television productions of Trzy Mlyny (1984), Zlotopolscy (1998), Wiezy

Keith Knight

KOCH, JAY Jay Koch, who parlayed his resemblance to Ronald Reagan into a career impersonating the former president in films and personal appearances, died of heart failure after a lengthy battle with cancer at his home in Port Hueneme, California, on March 19, 2007. He was 81. He was born Julius Koch, Jr., in Rechnitz, Austria, on February 25, 1926, and

Jan Kociniak

203 Krwi (2001), Samo Zycie (2002), and Na Dobre i Na Zie (2005). Kociniak was also the Polish dubbing voice for Winnie the Pooh and other film and television productions.

KOKSHOORN, FRANS Dutch actor Frans Kokshoorn died in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands, on November 25, 2007. He was 87. Kokshoorn was born in The Hague, the Netherlands, on June 18, 1920. He was a leading stage, film and television performer from the 1960s. Kokshoorn was featured in such films as Hunted in Holland (1960), Fair in the Rain (1962), Rififi in Amsterdam (1962), No Panic (1973), Ciske the Rat (1984), and Flodder (1986). He also appeared on Dutch television in productions of Lijn Zonder Lengte (1961), Oorlogswinter (1975), Sil de Strandjutter (1976), and Pappie, Hier ben Ik (1991). He starred as BB in the series Bassie en Adriaan en de Diamant from 1979 to 1980. His other television credits include episodes of Floris, Barlow at Large, Q & Q as Vader Quarles van Ispen, Centraal Station, Hollands Glorie, Laden Maar, De Fabriek as Boer Voors, Dossier Verhulst as Accountant Weber, Rust Roest, Simon Winner, Unit 13, and Baantjer.

2007 • Obituaries

Peacemaker (1984), Mrs. vs. Miss (1985), Lemon Popsicle VI (1985), The Delta Force (1986), The Emperor’s New Clothes (1987), Beauty and the Beast (1987), Appointment with Death (1988), Hanna’s War (1988), Puss in Boots (1988), Hansel and Gretel (1988), Tongue in Cheek (1989), Banana Peel (1990) which he also scripted, A Man Called Sarge (1990), and Blink of an Eye (1992).

KONING, HANS Author Hans Koning died at his home in Easton, Connecticut, on April 13, 2007. He was 85. He was born Hans Koningsberger in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on July 12, 1921. He fought with the Dutch Resistance and the British Army during World War II. After the war he traveled the world before heading to Los Angeles in 1951. His first novel, The Affair, was published in 1958, and he soon began writing works of non-fiction as well. His 1961 novel A Walk with Love and Death was adapted to film by director John Huston in 1969, and starred Huston’s daughter Anjelica. Koning’s novel The Revolutionary was made into a film starring Jon Voight in 1970. Death of a Schoolboy was adapted for film in 1991, and The Petersburg-Cannes Express was filmed in Moscow in 2003. He was an active opponent of the Vietnam War during the 1960s, and a founder of the anti-war group Resist. Koningsberger, who shortened his name to Koning in the early 1970s, became a U.S. citizen in 1978. He was also the author of a controversial book about the discovery of America, Columbus: His Enterprise — Exploding the Myth, in 1976. He continued his attacks on Columbus in the followup work, The Conquest of America: How the Indian Nations Lost Their Continent, in 1993.

Frans Kokshoorn

KOL, ITZIK Israeli film and television producer Itzik Kol died of complications from pneumonia in a Kfar Saba, Israel, hospital, on July 8, 2007. He was 75. Kol was born in Petah Tikvah, Palestine, in 1932. He began working in films in 1960, assisting director Baruch Dienar on the feature They Were Ten. Kol worked as a stage director for several years before being named head of Herzliya Studios in the late 1960s. Kol served as a producer for such films as The Policeman (1970) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, The Provoation (1970), Peeping Toms (1972), Chamsin (1972), I Love You Rosa (1972), Big Eyes (1974), The Fox in the Chicken Coop (1978), and Sing Your Heart Out (1979). He also directed the 1977 film Save the Lifeguard, and produced the Israeli television series Zeh Hason Sheli, Sahek Ota, and Tesha Ba’ribu’a. He began working with Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus in the early 1980s, and eventually became CEO of their production company, Cannon Films. Kol was a producer for Dead End Street (1982),

Hans Koning

KONONOV, MIKHAIL Russian actor Mikhail Kononov died in Moscow on July 16, 2007. He was 67. Kononov was born in Moscow on April 25, 1940. He became a leading actor in films in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. His numerous film credits include The First Trolleybus (1963), Goodbye, Boys (1964), Chief Chukotky (1966), No Crossing Under Fire (1967), At War as at War (1968), Andrei Rublev (1969), The Beginning (1970), Hold on to the Clouds (1971), Hello and Goodbye (1972), Almanzor’s Rings (1972), Finest, the Brave

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Falcon (1975), Kapitan Nemo (1975), Story of an Unknown Actor (1976), While the Clocks Are Ticking (1976), Twenty Days Without War (1976), Love and Fury (1978), The Fortress (1978), A Taiga Story (1979), Siberiade (1973), In Search of the Wind (1979), Vasili and Vasilisa (1981), A Railway Station for Two (1982), Goldfishes (1983), Alone and Unarmed (1984), Old Times Pranks (1986), First Encounter — Last Encounter (1987), She Has a Broom, He Has a Black Hat (1987), The Christians (1987), The Feasts of Valtasar, or The Night with Stalin (1989), The Royal Hunt (1990), Memento Mori (1991), The Inner Circle (1991), The Great Ants Way (1992), A Beautiful Stranger (1993), Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs (1994), and Nexnaika na Lune (1997) as the voice of Grizzl. He also appeared on television in productions of The Long Recess (1972), The Comedy of Errors (1978), Engineer Barkasov’s Crazy Day (1983), Guest from the Future (1985), and V Kruge Pervom (2006).

Guitar Alive (1967) and For Singles Only (1968), and was featured on television in an episode of Airwolf.

KORTE, CHASE Aspiring actor Chase Korte died of injuries he received in an automobile accident in Los Angeles involving a drunk driver on February 10, 2007. He was 24. Korte was born in Elk River, Minnesota, on September 6, 1982. He moved to Hollywood in 2005 to embark on a career in films. Korte was featured in commercials and in several independent films including Gigi 12x5 (2005), Asleep in the Deep (2005), TTYL (2005), and Tiny Explosions (2006). He was in production on the unfinished film Peace Walker at the time of his death.

Chase Korte

KORDA, MARIA Actress Maria Korda died in Burbank, California, on May 8, 2007. She was 66. She was born in Torun, Poland, on August 8, 1940. She and her mother survived Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II. After their liberation they came to the United States, initially settling in Chicago. Korda later went to Las Vegas, where she worked as an entertainer. She also toured with the USO. She appeared in several films in the 1960s including The Fastest

KOSEWICZ, CHERYL Cheryl Kosewicz, a contestant on the short-lived CBS reality series Pirate Master, was found dead at her home in Sparks, Nevada, of an apparent suicide on July 27, 2007. She was 35. She was reportedly having difficulty dealing with the suicide of her boyfriend two months earlier. Kosewicz had served as a deputy district attorney at the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in Las Vegas for over six years. She had recently relocated to Reno, Nevada. Kosewicz was born on November 11, 1971. She was the fourth contestant eliminated from the Mark Burnett reality series, which was cancelled prior to its conclusion due to poor ratings.

Maria Korda

Cheryl Kosewicz

Mikhail Kononov

205 KOSMO, WANDA Brazilian actress and director Wanda Kosmo died in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 27, 2007. She was 76. Kosmo was born in Sao Bento do Sapucai, Brazil, in July of 1930. She began her career under the name Vanda Nerina, appearing in the films Caraca, Porta do Ceu (1950) and O Pao Que o Diabo Amassou (1957). She was active in television from the 1960s, appearing in such series as Perludio, A Vida de Chopin (1963), Se o Mar Contasse (1964), Gutierritos, o Drama dos Humildes (1964), O Pecado de Cada Um (1965), and Algemas de Ouro (1969). She also worked as a director on several television series. Kosmo continued to perform in films and television over the next two decades, appearing in the films As Mulheres Amam por Conveniencia (1972), Sob o Dominio do Sexo (1963), The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe (1974), O Sexualista (1975, A Praga (1980), Motel, Refugio do Amor (1980), Excitacao Diabolica (1983), and A Doutora e Boa Paca (1984). She also starred in the television productions Tilim (1970), Cara a Cara (1979), Roque Santeiro (1985), O Outro (1987), Ilha das Bruxas (1991), and Terez Batista (1992).

Wanda Kosmo

KOSSI, ENRIQUE Argentine actor Enrique Kossi died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 23, 2007. He was 76. Kossi was born in Buenos Aires in 1931. He began his career in show business as an acrobat and ice skater and made his theatrical debut in a production of Los Invertidos in 1956. He began appearing in films soon after, with such credits as Fantoche (1957), In Burning Darkness (1958), El Hombre y su Noche (1958), Prisoner 1040 (1958), Rosaura at 10 O’Clock (1958), The Fall (1959), and Los Acusados (1960). He starred as a soccer player in 1960’s El Crack and was usually cast as a villain in later roles. Kossi continued his career in such films as Interpol Ilamando a Rio (1961), Rebelde con Causa (1961), Mate Cosido (1962), Lindor Covas, el Cimarron (1963), Aconcagua (1964), Ahorro y Prestamo. Para el Amos (1965), Juan Manuel de Rosas (1972), La Aventura Explosiva (1977), Los Superagentes y la Gran Aventura del Oro (1980), Luna Caliente (1985), La Bailanta (1988), Floating Island (1989), and Delito de Corrupcion (1991). He also appeared frequently on Argentine television in such series as Alta Comedia, El Gato, Yolanda Lujan, Alguien

2007 • Obituaries

Como Usted, Districto Norte, Operacion Cero, and Claudia Moran.

Enrique Kossi

KOTSEV, KONSTANTIN Bulgarian actor Konstantin Kotsev died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in Sofia, Bulgaria, on August 4, 2007. He was 81. Kotsev was born in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 4, 1926. He studied at the K. Sarafov Film and Theater Academy and began his career on stage in the late 1950s. He performed with the State Satirical Theater from 1958 to 1984, and with the Sofia Theater from 1984 to 1990. Kotsev was also seen in numerous films during his career including Two Victories (1956), On a Small Island (1958), First Lesson (1960), A Investigation (1963), The Inspector and the Night (1963), The Chain (1964), Jesse James vs. Lokum Shekerov (1966), The Tied Up Balloon (1967), Swedish Kings (1968), The Penleve Case (1968), The White Room (1968), Little Secrets (1968), Birds and Greyhounds (1969), Armando (1969), Aesop (1970), There Is Nothing Finer Than Bad Weather (1971), Naked Conscience (1971), Hitchhiking (1972), The Quiet Fugitive (1972), Flight to the Ropotamo (1973), Eternal Times (1974), Houses Without Fences (1974), A Highway (1975), People from Afar (1977), Sunstroke (1977), Panteley (1978), Everybody and Nobody (1978), Warmth (1978), The Grand Piano (1979), Priest Vecherko’s Nights Wakefulness (1980), The Soloist (1980), Crime in Yellow (1981), Constantine the

Konstantin Kotsev

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Philosopher (1983), Black and White (1983), Balance (1983), Up in the Cherry Tree (1984), Question of Time (1984), Holy Week (1986), Time of Violence (1988), Homecoming (1989), Indian Games (1990), The Father of the Egg (1991), Pantudi (1993), and Rhapsody in White (2002).

KOURKOULOS, NIKOS Greek stage and film actor Nikos Kourkoulos died of cancer in Athens, Greece, on January 30, 2007. He was 72. Kourkoulos was born in Athens on December 5, 1934. He studied acting at the National Theatre of Greece and made his stage debut in a production of La Dame aux Camelias in 1958. He was also a popular film star from the late 1950s, appearing in such features as A Matter of Dignity (1957), Erotikes Istories (1959), Bouboulina (1959), Amaryllis (1959), I Kyria Dimarhos (1960), Katiforos (1961), Taxidi (1962), Orgi (1962), Lola (1964), Dipsa Gia Zoi (1964), Amfivolies (1964), Games of Desire (1964), Casablan (1964), Adistaktoi (1965), Koinonia, Ora Miden (1966), Katigoro Tous Anthropous (1966), Blood on the Land (1966), Assignment Skybolt (1968), Bandits in Rome (1968), Gymnol sto Dromo (1969), Oratotis Miden (1970), O Astrapoyannos (1970), Katahrisis Exousias (1971), Me Fovon Kai Pathos (1972), An Enemy of the Society (1972), Thema Syneidiseos (1973), The Trial of the Judges (1974), Smiling Afternoon (1979), Exodos Kindynou (1980), and To Fragma (1982). Kourkoulos was also a founder of the musical group Proskinio in the 1960s. He earned a Tony Award nomination for best supporting actor for his role in the 1967 Broadway musical Illya Darling with Melina Mercouri. He also performed on stage in productions of Arthur Miller’s View from the Bridge, Franz Kafka’s The Trial, and Bertold Brecht’s The Beggar’s Opera. He made his final stage appearance in the title role of Sophocles’ Philoktitis in 1991. Kourkoulos became the artistic director of the National Theatre of Greece in 1995.

a long association with fellow cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. The two filmed much footage of the Hungarian Revolution and subsequent invasion by the Soviet Union in 1956. He and Zsigmond escaped from Hungary and came to the United States in 1957. He began working as a cameraman on such low-budget films as What’s Up Front! (1964), The Time Travelers (1964) and The Nasty Rabbit (1964). Kovacs soon became a cinematographer, working with Ray Dennis Steckler on the 1964 cult classic Z-Film The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!!? (which also featured Kovacs in a small role). He went on to serve as director of photography on such films as Kiss Me Quick! (1964), The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill (1966), A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine (1966), Mondo Mod (1967), A Man Called Dagger (1967), Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), Mantis in Lace (1968), Psych-Out (1968), Peter Bogadnovich’s debut film Targets (1968) starring Boris Karloff, The Savage Seven (1968), Single Room Furnished (1968), A Day with the Boys (1969), Dennis Hopper’s landmark road film Easy Rider (1969), That Cold Day in the Park (1969), Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969), Hell’s Bloody Devils (1970), The Rebel Rousers (1970), Getting Straight (1970), Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces (1970), Alex in Wonderland (1970), The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), The Last Movie (1971), Pocket Money (1972), What’s Up, Doc? (1972), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), Steelyard Blues (1973), A Reflection of Fear (1973), Slither (1973), Paper Moon (1973), Huckleberry Finn (1974), For Pete’s Sake (1974), Freebie and the Bean (1974), At Long Last Love (1975), Shampoo (1975), Baby Blue Marine (1976), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), Nickelodeon (1976), New York, New York (1977), Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) assisting Zsigmond, F.I.S.T. (1978), The Last Waltz (1978), Paradise Alley (1979), Butch and Sundance: The Early Years (1979), The Rose (1979), The Runner Stumbles (1979), Heart Beat (1980), Inside Moves (1980), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Brian De Palma’s Blow Out (1981), Frances (1982), The Toy (1982) starring Richard Pryor, Crackers (1984), Ghostbusters (1984), Mask (1985) with Cher, Legal Eagles (1986), Little Nikita (1988), Say Anything... (1989), Shattered (1991), Radio Flyer (1992), Ruby Cairo (1993), Sliver

Nikos Kourkoulos

KOVACS, LASZLO Hungarian-American cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on July 22, 2007. He was 74. Kovacs was born in a village near Budapest, Hungary, on May 14, 1933. He attended the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest in the early 1950s where he began

Laszlo Kovacs

207 (1993), Wayne’s World 2 (1993), the video Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns ... And Then Some (1994), The Next Karate Kid (1994), The Scout (1994), Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), Copycat (1995), Multiplicity (1996), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Jack Frost (1998), Return to Me (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), Two Weeks Notice (2002), and Torn from the Flag (2006), a feature documentary about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

KOWALSKI, BERNARD Film and television director Bernard L. Kowalski died in Woodland Hills, California, on October 26, 2007. He was 78. Kowalski was born in Brownsville, Texas, on August 2, 1929. He began working in television as a second assistant director for the series Medic in 1954. He was soon helming episodes of such series as Boots and Saddles, Broken Arrow, M Squad, The Rifleman, The Rebel, The Westerner, Perry Mason, The Untouchables, The Dick Powell Show, Rawhide, Wild Wild West, The Virginian, The Monroes, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, and The Guns of Will Sonnett. Kowalski also began directing films in the late 1950s, with such screen credits as Hot Car Girl (1958), Night of the Blood Beast (1958), the 1959 cult classic Attack of the Giant Leeches, and Blood and Steel (1959). He was best known for his work in television, directing the tele-films Terror in the Sky (1971), Black Noon (1971), Women in Chains (1972), Two for the Money (1972), The New Healers (1972), The Woman Hunter (1972), In Tandem (1974), The Supercops (1975), Flight to Holocaust (1977), The Nativity (1978), Marciano (1979), Nick and the Dobermans (1980), Nightside (1980), Turnover Smith (1980), Miracle at Beekman’s Place (1988), and Nashville Beat (1990). He directed several more feature films including Krakatoa, East of Java (1969), Stiletto (1969), Macho Callahan (1970), and SSSSSSS (1973). Kowalski’s other television credits include episodes of such series as The Streets of San Francisco, Banacek, The Rockford Files, Columbo, Baretta, B.A.D. Cats, Shannon, Simon & Simon, CHiPs, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Devlin Connection, Whiz Kids, Blue Thunder, Airwolf, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I., Jake and the Fatman, Thunder in Paradise, Baywatch Nights, and Diagnosis Murder.

2007 • Obituaries

KOZLOWSKI , STEVEN Actor Steven Kozlowski died suddenly in Brooklyn, New York, on August 23, 2007. He was 30. Kozlowski was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 22, 1977. He made his film debut in a small role in the 1997 feature Good Will Hunting, and appeared as Jimmy Quinn in Southie in 1998. He was also seen in the films The God Man’s Sin (1999), Thirteen (2003), Holes (2003), Collateral (2004), Neo Ned (2005), and Hero Wanted (2007). Kozlowski also appeared on television in episodes of The Practice, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Guardian, NYPD Blue, Dragnet, Line of Fire in the recurring role of Leon, and Close to Home. KRANTZ, STEVE Producer Steve Krantz, who was the husband of best-selling author Judith Krantz, died of complications from pneumonia in a Los Angeles hospital on January 4, 2007. He was 83. Krantz was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 20, 1923. A graduate of Columbia College, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He was introduced to Judith Tarcher by Barbara Walters, who was a high school friend of Tarcher’s, and the two married in 1954. Krantz worked in television from the 1950s, writing for Arthur Godfrey and Milton Berle. He also served as executive producer of Steve Allen’s The Tonight Show, and was head of creative development at Columbia. He was an associate producer on several cartoon series featuring Spider-Man and the Marvel super-heroes in the mid–1960s. Krantz produced the x-rated animated feature Fritz the Cat, based on the underground comic of Robert Crumb in 1972. He also produced the animated Heavy Traffic (1973) and the sequel The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat (1974). He also produced the comedies Cooley High (1975), Which Way Is Up? (1977) starring Richard Pryor, and Swap Meet (1979), and wrote and produced the horror films Ruby (1977) and Jennifer (1977). After his wife became a best-selling novelist, he served as executive producer of tele-film and mini-series adaptations of her books, including Princess Daisy (1983), Mistral’s Daughter (1984), Sins (1986), Dadah Is Death (1988), Till We Meet Again (1989), Deadly Matrimony (1992), Torch Song (1993), House of Secrets (1993), Children of the Dark (1994), and Dazzle (1995). He also produced the series of tele-films featuring Jack

Bernard Kowalski Steve Krantz

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Reed, Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993), Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994), Jack Reed: One of Our Own (1995), and Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance (1997). Krantz also wrote several novels, including the 1979 best-seller Laurel Canyon.

KRAUSE, BRIGITTE German actress Brigitte Krause died in Berlin on April 29, 2007. She was 78. Krause was born in Berlin on March 9, 1929. She made her film debut in Die Buntkarierten in 1949. She was also featured in such films as Rotation (1949), Council of the Gods (1950), Einmal ist Keinmal (1955), Musterknaben (1959), Leute mit Flugeln (1960), Alwin der Letzte (1960), Das Verhexte Fischerdorf (1962), The Sons of Great Bear (1966), We Are Getting Divorced (1968), Verdacht auf Einen Toten (1969), Sleeping Beauty (1971), Sun Seekers (1971), Nelken in Aspik (1976), and Danke fur die Blumen (1988). Krause also appeared frequently on the German stage, and was seen on television in such series as Ferienheim Bergkristall and Polizeruf 110. She was married to actor Gerd Biewer and is survived by her daughter, actress Maxi Biewer.

Brigitte Krause

viding the German voice for such stars as Kelsey Grammer in Cheers, Eddie Murphy in Shrek, and Sam Waterston for Law & Order. Kronberg also dubbed such performers as Steve McQueen, Harrison Ford, Michael Landon, DeForest Kelley, and Jeremy Irons during his career. He was the voice of Mr. Mackey in South Park and Mayor Qimby and Sideshow Bob for The Simpson on German television. He also appeared in several German films including The Sinful Bed (1973), Hitler’s Gold (1975), Stern ohne Himmel (1980), and Scarmour (1997), and was featured on television in episodes of SOKO 5113, Lutz & Hardy, Der Alte, Derrick, Siska, and Macius.

KRONUS, JOHN George Caiazzo, who wrestled as John Kronus and was half of the ECW tag team champions The Eliminators, was found dead at his home in New Hampshire on July 18, 2007. He was 38. The 6'4" Caiazzo was born on January 13, 1969, and hailed from Cleveland, Ohio. He first teamed with Perry Saturn as the Eliminators in independent promotions in New England in the early 1990s. The competed in the USWA in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1994, and entered Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) the following year. The won the tag team titles on several occasions, feuding against such teams as the Dudley Boyz, the Gangstas, the Pitbulls, and Rob Van Dam and Sabu. They were noted for their finishing maneuver known as Total Elimination with Saturn kicking an opponent with a low leg sweep, and Kronus delivering a high kick. Saturn left the ECW in 1997, and Kronus briefly teamed with New Jack for another run at the titles. He remained with the company as a singles competitor until leaving in 1999. He subsequently wrestled in Rob Black’s XPW promotion in California and on the independent circuit. He had been largely inactive in recent years, though he returned to wrestle in several Hardcore Homecoming events at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia in 2005.

KRONBERG, RANDOLF German actor Randolf Kronberg died in Munich, Germany, on March 2, 2007. He was 64. Kronberg was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) on September 23, 1942. He was best known as a voice actor and dubber, pro-

John Kronus (right, with Eliminators partner Perry Saturn)

Randolf Kronberg

KRSTULOVIC, VLADIMIR Croatian actor and singer Vladimir Krstulovic died in Zagreb, Croatia, on February 16, 2007. He was 79. Krstulovic was born in Zagreb on May 29, 1927. He began his career

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on stage after World War II, and was a popular comic actor from the 1950s. He was best known for his stage performance as the valet Stanley in the Croatian musical Jalta, Jalta, which he performed on hundreds of occasions. Krstulovic also appeared in such films as Revenge of the Mercenaries (1962), Thundering Mountains (1963), Apache Gold (1963), Cirkus Rex (1965), HokusPokus (1969), The Hellhounds of Alaska (1973), The Rat Savior (1976), Bravo Maestro (1978), Horvatov Izbor (1985), Red Dust (1999), Cetverored (1999), and Winter in Rio (2002). He also appeared in television productions of Mandrin (1972), Nikola Tesla (1977), Mathias Sandorf (1979), and Novo Doba (2002).

Prefecture on June 1, 1930. He began working in films at Nikkatsu studio in 1954 and wrote and directed many film from the early 1960s. Kumai’s film credits include Teigin Jiken: Shikeishu (1964), The Sands of Kurobe (1968), Apart from Life (1970), The Long Darkness (1972), Rise, Fair Sun (1973), Sandakan 8 (1974), Cape of North (1976), Love and Faith: Lady Ogin (1978), Ocean to Cross (1980), Willful Murder (1981), The Sea and Poison (1986), Death of a Tea Master (1989), Mt. Aso’s Passions (1990), Shiny Moss (1992), Deep River (1995), To Love (1997), and Darkness in the Light (2001). His final film, The Sea Is Watching (2002) was based on a script by Akira Kurosawa.

KUDOZOVIC, ELMIR, ZORICA LAZIC, and STEVAN ZECEVIC Elmir Kuduzovic, Zorica Lazic,

KUNEY, JACK Early television producer Jack Kuney died of heart failure in Bradenton, Florida, on November 7, 2007. He was 88. He was born Julius Harry Kuney in Chicago, Illinois, on July 24, 1919. He received a degree in communications and served with the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he began his career as producer of television’s Play of the Week in 1960 and the children’s program 1,2,3 — Go. He also produced television’s Look Up and Live and a television production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 1961. Kuney produced Woody Allen’s 1971 mock documentary, Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story, which starred Allen in the title role. A blatant spoof of then national security advisor Henry Kissinger’s rise to top aide to President Nixon, Men of Crisis was pulled from the PBS line-up before being aired. Kuney won several Emmys during his career and also held positions with the Westinghouse Broadcast Company, CBS, and NBC.

and Stevan Zecevic, who were contestants on Veliki Brat, the Serbian version of the television reality show Big Brother, were killed when their car skidded off a road, flipped over and landed in the Vukodraz River near Usce, Serbia, on December 28, 2007. Kuduzovic, 26, a native of Tuzla, Serbia, was the driver of the vehicle. He, Lazic, 24, from Zemun, and Zecevic, 24, from Novi Sad, were heading to an event connected with the show at the time of their deaths.

Elmir Kudozovic, Zorica Lazic and Stevan Zecevic

KUMAI , KEI Japanese film director Kei Kumai died in Japan of a brain hemorrhage on May 23, 2007. He was 76. Kumai was born in Japan’s Nagano

Jack Kuney

Kei Kumai

KURMANGALIEV , ERIK Russian singer Erik Kurmangaliev died in Moscow of a liver infection on November 13, 2007. He was 47. He was born Erik Salim-Meruet in Kazakhstan in 1960, and studied music in the capital city of Almata and at Moscow’s Gnesin Institute. A countertenor, he made his debut with the Leningrad Philharmonia in 1980. He was noted for his performances in Alfred Shnitke’s Second Symphony and Dr. Faust cantata, and in Roman Viktyuk’s staging of David Hwang’s M. Butterfly in the early 1990s. Kurmangaliev was also fea-

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tured in Rustam Khamdanov’s 2005 film Vocal Parallels.

Erik Kurmangaliev

KUSANAGI, KOJIRO Japanese actor Kojiro Kusanagi died of complications from pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital on November 11, 2007. He was 78. Kusanagi began his film career in the early 1950s, and earned acclaim for starring in the 1956 film Darkness at Midnight. He appeared in numerous films over the next fifty years including Tyuji the Gun Slinger (1960), Sleep of the Beast (1960), Kurenai no Kenju (1961), An Affair at Akitsu (1962), Alone on the Pacific (1963), Waka Oyabun o Kese (1967), The Spiders on Parade (1968), Sworn Brothers (1969), Umarekawatta Tamegoro (1972), Genshiryoku Senso (1978), Satsujin Yugi (1978), The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979), The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979), Shokei Yugi (1979), Disciples of Hippocrates (1980), Farewell to the Land (1982), Dirty Hero (1982), Single Girl (1983), Hometown (1983), W’s Tragedy (1984), Bee Bob High School (1985) and the subsequent film series as Yamamoto, Shinshi Domei (1986), Forest of Little Bear (1987), Memories of You (1988), Bakayaro! I’m Plenty Mad (1988), The Passage to Japan (1991), Nowhere Man (1991), The Sun (2005), and The Vanished (2006). KUYKENDALL, KAREN Actress Karen Kuykendall died of complications from lung and spine can-

Karen Kuykendall

cer in Austin, Texas, on October 31, 2007. She was 69. She was born Karen Koock in Austin on November 19, 1937. She began performing on the local stage at an early age, and became a noted theatrical cabaret artist in the Austin area. Her numerous stage credits also include productions of Angels in America, Full Gallop, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. She was also featured in the 1996 film Deep in the Heart. Kuykendall was the narrator of the English-language version of the 1990 anime series Nadia in Wonder Ocean, and was the voice of Director Mutou in the U.S. version of the 1999 anime Dai Guard: Terrestrial Defense Corp. Her survivors include her young brother, actor Guich Koock.

LACKEY, JON Jon Lackey, an artist and musician who was active with Renaissance fairs and the Society of Creative Anachronists, died of cancer in Los Angeles on February 26, 2007. He was 68. Lackey was born on March 31, 1938. He designed the bizarre alien creature that devoured the residents of a small town in the Grade-Z horror film The Creeping Terror. He also appeared as an eccentric expert on torture devices on several episodes of television’s The Steve Allen Show in the early 1950s. He created effects for various Renaissance fairs and several Witchcraft and Sorcery Magazine conventions. He also performed on the Los Angeles radio program Janus Company Radio Theatre, and played the recorder and Irish harp.

Jon Lackey

LADD , ERNIE Ernie Ladd, a professional football player who became a leading wrestling villain in the 1970s, died of cancer in Franklin, Louisiana, on March 10, 2007. He was 68. Ladd was born in Rayville, Louisiana, on November 28, 1938. He was a college football star with Grambling State University when he was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1961. The 6'9", 315 pound, Ladd played with the Chargers through 1966, then spent a season with the Houston Oilers and another with the Kansas City Chiefs. He became a top wrestling villain after leaving football. Known as the Big Cat, he held championship titles throughout the country. He wrestled with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), from the late 1960s, where he often competed against heavyweight

211 champions Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, and Bob Backlund. He was managed by the Grand Wizard during much of the 1970s, and engaged in a memorable feud with Andre the Giant. He also wrestled in the Mid-South territory and World Class in Texas in the early 1980s, where he feuded with Ray Candy, Junkyard Dog, and Paul Orndorff. Ladd also formed a tag team with Bad Leroy Brown before retiring in 1986. He was inducted into the WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995.

Ernie Ladd

LAGARDE, KARLOFF Carlos de Lucio Lagarde, who was a leading Mexican wrestler under the name Karloff Lagarde in the 1950s and 1960s, died of complications from a stroke on September 1, 2007. He was 79. Lagarde was born in Mexico on July 27, 1928. He began wrestling in June of 1955 and was half of a legendary tag team with Rene Guajardo. He held the Mexican National Welterweight Title several times in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He also appeared in several films in the 1960s including The Invisible Assassin (1965), The Possessed of the Ring (1966), The Hand That Forces (1966), and Santo on the Border of Terror (1969).

2007 • Obituaries

hospital on February 6, 2007. He was 93. He had been hospitalized there for a hip replacement. Laine was born Francisco Paolo LoVecchio in Chicago, Illinois, on March 30, 1913. He was singing professionally by his mid-teens, touring the country and performing in small clubs and cabarets. He got a break when songwriter Hoagy Carmichael helped him get a steady singing job at Billy Berg’s Vine Street Club in Hollywood. He had his first hit recording with “That’s My Desire” in 1946. Laine continued to record such popular hits as “Mule Train,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” and “Jezebel.” He also had a hit with the theme song from High Noon (1952), though Tex Ritter’s version was used in the film. Laine was featured in a handful of musicals in the 1950s including Make Believe Ballroom (1949), When You’re Smiling (1950), Bring Your Smile Along (1955), Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), and He Laughed Last (1956). His voice was also heard singing the themes to the films Blowing Wild (1953), Man Without a Star (1955), Strange Lady in Town (1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Bullwhip (1958). Laine also sang the theme songs to the television series Gunslinger, Rawhide, and Rango. He hosted several television variety shows in the 1950s including Frankie Laine Time and The Frankie Laine Show, and performed on The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Perry Como Show, The Nat King Cole Show, The Big Record, The Steve Allen Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Pat Boone Show, The Hollywood Palace, Shower of Stars, and Hee Haw. Laine also appeared on television in episodes of Mark Room for Daddy, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Bachelor Father, and Burke’s Law. He also sang the theme song to Mel Brooks’ western comedy film Blazing Saddles (1974). Laine was married to actress Nan Grey from 1953 until her death in 1993. He continued to perform until recent years, despite having undergone coronary bypass surgery twice.

Frankie Laine Karlo› Lagarde

LAINE , FRANKIE Singer Frankie Laine, whose hits include “Mule Train” and the theme from Rawhide, died of cardiovascular disease in a San Diego

LAMBERT, VERITY British film and television producer Verity Lambert died in London on November 22, 2007. She was 71. Lambert was born in London on November 27, 1935. She began her career in television with ITV in the early 1960s as assistant to Sydney Newman. She followed Newman to the BBC

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in 1963, where she served as the first producer for the Doctor Who television series from 1963 to 1966. She also produced the series Detective, Adam Adamant Lives!, and Take Three Girls for the BBC in the 1960s. She became head of drama programming at Thames Television in 1974. She left Thames in 1985 to become an independent film and television producer with her own company, Cinema Verity. During the course of her career Lambert was involved in the production of such television programs as W. Somerset Maugham, Budgie, Between the Wars, Couples, Rock Follies, ITV Playhouse, The Norman Conquest, Fox, The Nation’s Health, Minder, Coasting, Boys from the Bush, El Dorado, Rumpole of the Bailey, Class Act, A Perfect State, and The Cazalets. Her television credits also include the tele-films and mini-series Achiles Heel (1973), A.D.A.M. (1973), Shoulder to Shoulder (1974), Quentin Crisp’s The Naked Civil Servant (1975), Macbeth (1979), The Knowledge (1979), the science fiction classic The Quatermass Conclusion (1979), Charlie Muffin (1979), The Flames of Thika (1981), Widows (1983), Riley: Ace of Spies (1983), Saigon: Year of the Cat (1983), Sleepers (1991), G.B.H. (1991), Comics (1993), She’s Out (1995), Temp (1995), and P.G. Wodehouse’s Heavy Weather (1995). She also produced several feature films including The Sailor’s Return (1978), Morons from Outer Space (1985), DreamChild (1985), Link (1986), Clockwise (1986), American Roulette (1988), and Evil Angels (1988). She produced the series Jonathan Creek from 1998 through 2004, and ended her career as producer of Love Soup (2005) and Love Soup 2 (2007).

Verity Lambert

LANE, BEN Veteran film and television makeup artist Ben Lane died in Los Angeles on June 10, 2007. He was 95. Lane was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 23, 1912. He began his career in films working in the make-up department for the 1934 Oscar winner The Good Earth. He continued to work in Hollywood at most of the major studios and served as make-up artist on numerous features. He worked frequently with producer William Castle, supplying make-up for many of his cult horror films. Lane’s many film credits include Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Ground for Marriage (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Oklahoma (1955), Guys and Dolls (1955), The Man with the

Golden Arm (1955), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Jeanne Eagles (1957), Pal Joey (1957), Bell, Book, and Candle (1958), Edge of Eternity (1959), The Gene Krupa Story (1959), Who Was That Lady? (1960), The Mountain Road (1960), 13 Ghosts (1960), Song Without End (1960), All the Young Men (1960), Pepe (1960), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960), Cry for Happy (1961), Underworld U.S.A. (1961), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), Homicidal (1961), Two Road Together (1961), Mr. Sardonicus (1961), The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1961), Valley of the Dragons (1961), The Notorious Landlady (1962), Experiment in Terror (1962), 13 West Street (1962), Zotz! (1962), The Interns (1962), The Underwater City (1962), The Plot Thickens (1963), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), 13 Frightened Girls (1963), StraitJacket (1964), One Man’s Way (1964), The Best Man (1964), The Quick Gun (1964), The New Interns (1964), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Ride the Wild Surf (1964), Love Has Many Faces (1965), Major Dundee (1965), Synanon (1965), Cat Ballou (1965), Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), The Silencers (1966), The Chase (1966), The Trouble with Angels (1966), Walk, Don’t Run (1966), Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966), Alvarez Kelly (1966), Murderer’s Row (1966), Divorce, American Style (1967), The Big Mouth (1967), Luv (1967), A Time for Killing (1967), Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Ambushers (1967), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), Funny Girl (1968), The Wrecking Crew (1969), Model Shop (1969), Pendulem (1969), The Mad Room (1960), Hook, Line and Sinker (1969), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), The Comic (1969), The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970), Getting Straight (1970), Watermelon Man (1970) where he transformed star Godfrey Cambridge from a black man to a white man, Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971), Funny Lady (1975), and Annie (1982). Lane worked frequently in television from the 1950s, performing makeup chores for such series as The Lone Ranger, Gidget, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, Ghost Story, Police Story, The Quest, Tabitha, Quark, and Filthy Rich. His other television credits include the tele-films Scalplock (1966), Black Noon (1971), Call Her Mom (1972), Jarrett (1973), The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974), The Last Angry Man (1974), Cop on the Beat (1975), Matt Helm (1975), Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (1976), The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976), Banjo Hackett: Roamin’ Free (1976), Kiss Me, Kill You (1976), In the Glitter Palace (1977), Roger & Harry: The Matera Target (1977), Never Con a Killer (1977), Cover Girls (1977), Kill Me if You Can (1977), The Last Hurrah (1977), Last of the Good Guys (1978), Keefer (1978), To Kill a Cop (1978), Go West, Young Girl (1978), More Than Friends (1978), Institute for Revenge (1979), The Legend of the Golden Gun (1979), Undercover with the KKK (1979), Salem’s Lot (1979) which earned Lane an Emmy nomination, A Shining Season (1979), Goldie and the Boxer (1979), Detour to Terror (1980), To Find My Son (1980), and Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood (1981).

LANE, CHARLES Veteran character actor Charles Lane, whose career in film and television

213 spanned more than 70 years, died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on July 9, 2007. He was 102. Lane was born in San Francisco on January 26, 1905. His angular features and curmudgeonly persona served him well in his numerous portrayals of put-upon bankers, lawyers and businessmen. He began his film career in the early 1930s, playing a desk clerk in many of his early films. Lane’s numerous film credits include Smart Money (1931), The Road to Singapore (1931), Blonde Crazy (1931), Manhattan Parade (1931), Union Depot (1932), The Mouthpiece (1932), Blessed Event (1932), Employee’s Entrance (1933), 42nd Street (1933), Grand Slam (1933), Blondie Johnson (1933), Central Airport (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Private Detective #62 (1933), She Had to Say Yes (1933), My Women (1933), The Bowery (1933), Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933), Advice to the Lovelorn (1933), Mr. Skitch (1933), The Show-Off (1934), Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934), Let’s Talk It Over (1934), A Wicked Woman (1934), and The Band Plays On (1934). Lane was featured as a henchman in Frank Capra’s 1934 film Broadway Bill, the first of Lane’s long-term affiliation with the noted director that spanned nine other films. He continued to appear in such features as One More Spring (1935), Princess O’Hara (1935), Ginger (1935), Woman Wanted (1935), Here Comes the Band (1935), Two for Tonight (1935), The Milky Way (1936), It Had to Happen (1936), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Ticket to Paradise (1936), The Crime of Dr. Forbes (1936), The Bride Walks Out (1936), 36 Hours to Kill (1936), Two-Fisted Gentleman (1936), Lady Luck (1936), Come Closer, Folks (1936), Three Men on a Horse (1936), In Old Chicago (1937), Criminal Lawyer (1937), We’re on the Jury (1937), Sea Devils (1937), Internes Can’t Take Money (1937), Venus Makes Trouble (1937), Born Reckless (1937), One Mile from Heaven (1937), Bad Guy (1937), Fit for a King (1937), Trapped by G-Men (1937), Hot Water (1937), Danger — Love at Work (1937), Partners in Crime (1937), Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937), City Girl (1938), Joy of Living (1938), Cocoanut Grove (1938), The Rage of Paris (1938), Professor Beware (1938), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), Three Loves Has Nancy (1938), Always in Trouble (1938), Blondie (1938), Thanks for Everything (1938), Kentucky (1938), Boy Slaves (1939), Let Us Live! (1939), Inside Story (1939), Lucky Night (1939), Rose of Washington Square (1939), Unexpected Father (1939), Second Fiddle (1939), New Is Made at Night (1939), They All Come Out (1939), Miracles for Sale (1939), 5th Ave Girl (1939), Golden Boy (1939), Honeymoon in Bali (1939), Thunder Afloat (1939), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Television Spy (1939), Beware Spooks! (1939), The Cat and the Canary (1939), The Honeymoon’s Over (1939), Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939), Parole Fixer (1940), Johnny Apollo (1940), It’s a Date (1940), Primrose Path (1940), Buck Benny Rides Again (1940), Edison, the Man (1940), The Crooked Road (1940), On Their Own (1940), You Can’t Fool Your Wife (1940), I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby (1940), The Doctor Takes Wife (1940), Queen of the Mob (1940), We Who Are Young (1940), Rhythm on the River (1940), The Great Profile (1940), The Leather Pushers (1940), City for Conquest

2007 • Obituaries

(1940), A Little Bit of Heaven (1940), Blondie Plays Cupid (1940), Dancing on a Dime (1940), Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) in the recurring role of Dr. Prouty, The Texas Rangers Ride Again (1940), The Invisible Woman (1940), Back Street (1941), You’re the One (1941), Footlight Fever (1941), Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery (1941), Repent at Leisure (1941), Barnacle Bill (1941), Sis Hopkins (1941), Blondie in Society (1941), The Big Store (1941), Sealed Lips (1941), Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941), Sing Another Chorus (1941), Buy Me That Town (1941), Three Girls About Town (1941), New York Town (1941), Birth of the Blues (1941), Appointment for Love (1941), I Wake Up Screaming (1942), Look Who’s Laughing (1941), Ball of Fire (1941), A Gentleman at Heart (1942), A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942), Obliging Young Lady (1942), Ride ’Em Cowboy (1942), The Lady Is Willing (1942), Born to Sing (1942), What’s Cookin’? (1942), The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942), Yokel Boy (1942), About Face (1942), The Great’s Lady (1942), Home in Wyomin’ (1942), Broadway (1942), The Mad Martindales (1942), Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942), They All Kissed the Bride (1942), Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), Thru Different Eyes (1942), Lady in a Jam (1942), Friendly Enemies (1942), Pardon My Sarong (1942), Flying Tigers (1942), Mission to Moscow (1943), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He resumed his film career after World War II, appearing in A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946), Just Before Dawn (1946), Murderous Intruder (1946), The Invisible Informer (1946), Swell Guy (1946), Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as Lionel Barrymore’s rent collector, The Show-Off (1946), The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), Living in a Big Way (1947), Bury Me Dead (1947), Louisiana (1947), Roses Are Red (1947), Intrigue (1947), Call Northside 777 (1948), Smart Woman (1948), State of the Union (1948), Race Street (1948), The Gentleman from Nowhere (1948), Out of the Storm (1948), Moonrise (1948), Apartment for Pegg y (1948), Mother Is a Freshman (1949), You’re My Everything (1949), Mighty Joe Young (1949), The House Across the Street (1949), Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), Backfire (1950), Borderline (1950), The Yellow Cab Man (1950) Riding High (1950), Love That Brute (1950), The Second Face (1950), The Du Pont Story (1950), For Heaven’s Sake (1950), I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951), Criminal Lawyer (1951), Here Comes the Groom (1951), The Sniper (1952), Three for Bedroom C (1952), The Juggler (1953), Remains to Be Seen (1953), The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), The Birds and the Bees (1956), Top Secret Affair (1957), God Is My Partner (1957), Teacher’s Pet (1958), The Mating Game (1959), The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959) with Lou Costello, But Not for Me (1959), The Music Man (1962) as Constable Locke, Papa’s Delicate Condition (1963), It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), The Wheeler Dealers (1963), The Carpetbaggers (1964), The New Interns (1964), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Looking for Love (1964), John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1966), Billie (1965), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) with Don Knotts, The Ugly Dachshund (1966), Eight on the Lam (1967), The Gnome-Mobile (1967), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), Did You Hear the One

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214

About the Traveling Saleslady? (1968), the animated The AristoCats (1970) as the voice of Madame’s Lawyer, Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972), and Movie Movie (1978). Lane also appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, starring as Mr. Fosdick on the sit-com Dear Phoebe from 1954 to 1955, and was Mr. Finch in Dennis the Menace from 1961 to 1962. He was featured as avaricious railroad man Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction From 1963 to 1968. He also appeared in the recurring roles of Foster Phinney in The Beverly Hillbillies and Ed Hotchkiss in Bewitched in the late 1960s. He was a familiar face as a guest star in such series as Topper, Willy, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, Screen Directors Playhouse, I Love Lucy, Star Stage, Whirlybirds, The People’s Choice, On Trial, The Real McCoys, The Thin Man, The Gray Ghost, Perry Mason, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Millionaire, The Ann Sothern Show, The Gale Storm Show, Goodyear Theatre, Bachelor Father, The Twilight Zone, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Guestward Ho!, The Tab Hunter Show, The Bob Cummings Show, Surfside 6, Maverick, Lawman, The Comedy Spot, Mister Ed, McKeever and the Colonel, The Lucy Show in the recurring role of Mr. Barnsdahl, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, 77 Sunset Strip, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Burke’s Law, Make Room for Daddy, The Andy Griffith Show, Temple Houston, The Bing Crosby Show, The Smothers Brothers Show, The Farmer’s Daughter, Get Smart, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Honey West, The Munsters, The Pruitts of Southampton, F Troop, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Love on a Rooftop, He and She, Wild Wild West, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Judd for the Defense, Green Acres, The Flying Nun, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Nanny and the Professor, Temperatures Rising, The Sandy Duncan Show, The Odd Couple, Adam’s Rip, The Rookies, Rhoda, Karen, The Family Holvak, One Day at a Time, Family, Chico and the Man, Maude, Soap, Mork & Mindy, Lou Grant, Little House on the Prairie, Otherworld, Comedy Factory, Hunter, St. Elsewhere, L.A. Law, and the resurrected Dark Shadows. Lane also appeared in the telefilms My Dog, the Thief (1969), Hitched (1971), The Great Man’s Whiskers (1972), Love Nest (1975), Sybil (1976), The $1000 Bill (1978), The Return of the Bev-

erly Hillbillies (1981), the 1983 mini-series The Winds of War and the 1988 sequel War and Remembrance as Admiral William Standley, Sunset Limousine (1983), When the Bough Breaks (1986), Acting on Impulse (1993), and Disney’s The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1995). His later film credits included roles in the films The Little Dragons (1980), Strange Behavior (1981), Strange Invaders (1983), Murphy’s Romance (1985), Vanishing America (1986), and Date with an Angel (1987). Lane also narrated the 2006 production of The Night Before Christmas. He was recognized by cable’s TV Land station in honor his 100th birthday in 2005, and made a special mention that he was still available for work at the time. Lane was married to actress Ruth Covell from April of 1931 until her death in November of 2002.

LANGEN, INGE German actress Inge Langen died in Germany on November 23, 2007. She was 83. Langen was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, of May 21, 1924. She began her career on stage in the late 1940s. Langen also became a familiar face on German television from the 1950s, appearing in such productions as Der Korporal aus Java (1955), Das Lacheln der Gioconda (1958), Das Land der Verheissung (1960), Fahrten (1960), Die Kahle Sangerin (1961), Das Leben ein Traum (1963), Die Truhe (1964), Die Zofen (1964), Jennifer...? (1965), Der Trinker (1967), Mord im Pfarrhaus (1970), Das Geheimnis der Alten Mamsell (1972), and Frohe Ostern (1972). She was also seen in episodes of Hamburg Transit, Der Kurier der Kaiserin, and Der Kommissar. Langen appeared in several films during her career including Before Sundown (1956), Man Nennt es Amore (1961), Destination Death (1961), The Squeaker (1963), The Gorilla of Soho (1968), The Sex Adventures of a Single Man (1968), and Love Is Only a Word (1971). She largely retired from the screen in the 1970s.

Inge Langen

Charles Lane

LANGFORD -ROWE, G ORDON British character actor Gordon Langford-Rowe died of cancer in England on August 29, 2007. He was 71. LangfordRowe was born in Lancashire, England, in 1936. He worked as a primary school teacher for 30 years before taking up acting in 1992. Langford-Rowe appeared frequently on stage and television, appearing in episodes of In Suspicious Circumstances, All Quiet on the Preston

215 Front, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, The Grand, Casualty, Cold Feet, Where the Heart Is, Midsomer Murders, Last of the Summer Wine, Heartbeat, The League of Gentlemen, Emmerdale Farm as Wally Edwards, The Royal, Coronation Street, Twisted Tales, and Doctors. LangfordRowe also appeared in television productions of The Falklands Play (2002), The Forsyte Saga (2002), and Longford (2006). He was also seen in several films during his career including The Hour of the Pig (1993), The Tichborne Claimant (1998), and Blow Dry (2001).

2007 • Obituaries

Brigadier Ffellowes (1986). His best known work was the 1975 post-apocalyptical novel Hero’s Journey, and its 1983 sequel, The Unforsaken Hero.

LANTZ, ROBERT Independent agent to the stars Robert Lantz died of heart failure in Manhattan, New York, on October 18, 2007. He was 93. Lantz was born in Berlin, Germany, on July 20, 1914, and moved with his family to London in 1935 after Hitler took power. He worked as a story editor for U.S. film companies before moving to New York in 1948, where he began his career as a talent agent to artists, authors and prominent public figures. He represented such actors as Richard Burton, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Yul Brynner, Myrna Loy, Liv Ullmann, and Montgomery Clift, as well as authors James Baldwin, Lillian Hellman, and Carson McCuller. His entourage of clients also included film director Milos Forman, playwright Peter Shaffer, lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, artist Al Hirschfeld, photographers Arnold Newman and Richard Avedon, as well as Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Lantz, who had become close friends with many of his clients, was known as “old school,” eschewing e-mail and computers, and making business deals by handshakes rather than contracts.

Gordon Langford-Rowe

LANIER, STERLING Science fiction writer and editor Sterling E. Lanier died in Sarasota, Florida, on June 28, 2007. He was 79. Lanier was born in New York City on December 18, 1927. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and graduated from Harvard University after the war. He spent much of the 1950s at the University of Philadelphia and at the Winterthur Museum as a researcher in archeology and anthropology. He wrote his first short story in 1961, before becoming an editor for the small publishing house Chilton Books. He was instrumental in arranging the publication of Frank Herbert’s classic novel Dune in 1965. Lanier also wrote the novels The War for the Lot (1969) and Menace Under Marswood (1983). He authored two books about the adventures of cryptozoologist Brigadier Ffellowes, The Peculiar Exploits of Brigadier Ffellowes (1972) and The Curious Quests of

Sterling Lanier

Robert Lantz

LARKIN, RYAN Canadian animator Ryan Larkin died of lung cancer in Montreal, Canada, on February 14, 2007. He was 63. Larkin was born in Montreal on July 31, 1943. He attended the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School and began working in the animation field in the early 1960s. He worked with the National Film Board of Canada, and made the animated short films Syrinx (1965) and Cityscape (1966). He received acclaim, and an Oscar nomination, for the 1969 psychedelic animated short Walking. Larkin also created 1972’s Street Musique, and provided art and animation effects for Mort Ransen’s 1974 feature Running Time. He was plagued with problems with drug and alcohol abuse that virtually ended his career by the late 1970s. Larkin himself became the subject of an animated short with Chris Landreth’s Ryan, which received the Academy Award for best animated short from 2004. He was also featured in the subsequently documentary about the making of the film, Alter Egos. Larkin had

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been working with composer Laurie Gordon of the band Chiwawa in recent years on a new animated film, Spare Change, which remained uncompleted at the time of his death.

boxers as Sammy Angott, Jimmy Garrison, and Richie Lamos. After retiring from the ring, he continued in the sport of boxing as a referee for 35 years. He presided over such leading fights as Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Gene Fullmer and Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton. Latka was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame as both a fighter and a referee. He was also featured in several films as a referee including Matilda (1978), the tele-film Ring of Passion (1978), Raging Bull (1980), Split Decisions (1988), and Birch Street Gym (1991).

Ryan Larkin

LASATER, CAROLYN Carolyn Lasater, who was Miss Utah in the 1962 Miss America competition, died in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 10, 2007. She was 65. She was born in Salt Lake City on February 18, 1942, and began competing in beauty pageants while in her teens. She was second runner-up in the 1962 Miss America Pageant, and was winner of the talent competition. She subsequently moved to California to embark on an acting career. She appeared on television in the series Hawaiian Eye and The Red Skelton Show, and was featured in the 1964 film Diary of a Bachelor with Cary Grant. She left acting to raise a family after her marriage to John Aldous in 1964.

George Latka

LAUREN, ROD Roger Strunk, who appeared in films as Rod Lauren in the 1960s, was found dead in a parking lot of an inn in Tracy, California, after an apparent suicide jump from a second floor balcony on July 11, 2007. He was 68. Lauren was born in Fresno, California, on March 20, 1940. He began his career as a singer in the early 1960s, having several hit recordings and appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. He was soon appearing in roles in such television series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Saints and Sinners, Going My Way, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat!, and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Lauren also starred in the cult horror films Terrified (1963), Black Zoo (1963) as Michael Gough’s mute assistant Carl, and The Crawling Hand (1963). His film credits include The Gunhawk (1963), The Young Swingers (1963), Law of the Lawless (1964), Once

Carolyn Lasater

LATKA, GEORGE Boxer George Latka died of a heart attack in Huntington Beach, California, on December 26, 2007. He was 93. Latka was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on November 12, 1914. He was a Golden Gloves champion in Gary, Indiana, while an amateur boxer from 1934 to 1936. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles and turned pro, achieving a record of 26–7–9 in his professional career against such

Rod Lauren

217 Before I Die (1965), and Childish Things (1969). Lauren married Philippine actress Nida Blanca in 1979. He was implicated in the murder of his wife in November of 2001, when Blanca was stabbed to death in her car. Lauren returned to the United States before charges were filed against him and had resisted extradition in the case.

LAVELLE, BRADLEY Actor Bradley Lavelle died of a heart attack in London, England, on March 22, 2007. He was 48. Lavelle was born in Bristol, England, on March 31, 1958. He appeared frequently in films and television from the early 1980s. He was seen in the films Supergirl (1984), Going Home (1987), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), The Dressmaker (1988), Demon City Shinjuku (1988), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Clive Barker’s Nightbreed (1990), Memphis Belle (1990), Waterland (1992), Judge Dredd (1995) as Chief Judge Hunter, Razor Blade Smile (1998), My Tumour and I (2005), and Alien Autopsy (2006). Lavelle was also featured in such television productions as World’s End (1981), Displaced Person (1985), The Last Days of Patton (1986), Words of Love (1989), Tailspin: Behind the Korean Airliner Tragedy (1989), A Long Way Home (1989), Hancock (1991), Fields of Gold (2002), The Last Dragon (2004), If ... the Oil Runs Out (2006), and Nuclear Secrets (2007). His other television credits include episodes of Robin of Sherwood, Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, The Piglet Files, Bergerac, Heartbeat, Lovejoy, Space Precinct, Kavanagh QC, and Hollyoaks: In the City. Lavelle was also a voice actor for numerous video games and animated productions.

2007 • Obituaries

(1960), The Alive and the Dead (1964), Long Happy Life (1966), Soldiers Aren’t Born (1967), Touches on the Portrait (1967), Tchaikovsky (1969), The Brothers Karamazov (1969) which he also directed, A Move of a White Queen (1971), Taming of the Fire (1972), The Ocean (1974), Story of the Human Heart (1975), Trust (1976) as Lenin, Wrong Connection (1977), Yaroslavna, Queen of France (1978), A Hunting Accident (1978), Journey to Another Town (1979), Date with Your Youth (1982), Awakening (1983), Magistral (1983), From the Life of a Chief of the Criminal Police (1983), Echo of a Distant Blast (1983), Forbidden Zone (1988), Vladimir Dubrovsky, the Noble Robber (1989), Skin (1991), The Gentle Age (2001), and Leningrad (2006). He was also featured on television in such productions as A Glass of Water (1979), Dyadya Vanya (1987), Banditskiy Peterburg: Baron (2000), Vsyo Zoloto Mira (2005), and Master and Margaret (2005) as Pontius Pilate.

Kirill Lavrov

LAVROVA, TATYANA Russian actress Tatyana Lavrova died of a heart attack in a Moscow hospital on May 16, 2007. She was 68. Lavrova was born in Moscow on June 7, 1938, the daughter of film director Yevgeni Andrikanis. She studied drama in the late 1950s and soon made her debut on stage in a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. She made her film debut in Song About Koitsov (1959), and earned acclaim for her role as Lyolya in Mikhail Romm’s 1962 film Nine Days in Bradley Lavelle

LAVROV, KIRILL Leading Russian actor Kirill Lavrov died at his home in St. Petersburg, Russia, after a long illness on April 27, 2007. He was 81. Lavrov was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union, on September 15, 1925. He served in the Russian army as an aviation mechanic from the early 1940s until 1950. After his discharge he began his career at the Russian Drama Theater in Kiev. He moved to the Bolshoi Drama Theater of St. Petersburg in 1955, where he remained for over fifty years. Lavrov also appeared frequently in films, starring in Honeymoon (1956), October Days (1958), Andreyka (1958), The Quarrel in Lukashi (1959), Domoy

Tatyana Lavrova

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One Year. She also appeared in the films Time, Forward! (1965), The Mysterious Wall (1967), Change a Dog for a Train (1975), Escape of Mr. McKinley (1975), Second Spring (1979), The Voice (1982), Tragedy, Rock Style (1988), Nipple System (1990), The Cherry Orchard (1993), Middle Age Crisis (1997), Cinema About Cinema (2002), and Metamorphosis (2002). Lavrova was also a popular television performer, starring as Sally Burk in the 1971 television production of All the King’s Men. Her other television credits include Flight Is Postponed (1974), Daylight Train (1976), and Active Zone (1979).

LAWLEY , LINDA Singer and songwriter Linda Lawley died of cancer in Woodland Hills, California, on November 24, 2007. She was 58. Lawley was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on April 18, 1949. She began her career as a folk singer in the Gulf Coast area before joining the rock group Eternity’s Children in the mid–1960s. She was featured in the counter-culture Broadway musical Hair in the early 1970s. Lawley teamed with Margaret Dorn to perform on tour with Petula Clark and B.J. Thomas. She joined the rock band Thieves later in the decade, and performed with the cabaret group Roommates in Los Angeles in the 1980s. She married composer Danny Pelfrey in 1991, and worked with her husband in establishing the music library Amusicom. She also served as an assistant music producer for the 1997 film Danger Zone.

Linda Lawley

LEASOR, JAMES British author James Leasor died in Wilkshire, England, on September 10, 2007. He was 83. Leasor was born in Erith, Kent, England, on December 20, 1923. He served in the military during World War II and wrote his first novel, Not Such a Bad Day, during his service. He was best known for a series of novels featuring Dr. Jason Love, a British doctor who is called upon to perform the duties of a secret agent. Love made his first appearance in the novel, Passport to Oblivion, which was filmed in 1965 as Where the Spies Are. Leasor also created the character of 19th century merchant Macpherson Gunn who had adventures in the Far East in a series of novels. Some of his tales were also written under the pseudonym Andrew MacAllan. His novel The One That Got Away was filmed in 1957 and Boarding Party was adapted for the

1980 film The Sea Wolves, starring David Niven. He also wrote the nonfiction account of the mysterious murder of a wealthy mining executive in the Bahamas, Who Killed Sir Harry Oaks? This book was adapted for the 1989 tele-film Passion in Paradise. His many other works include the ghost written autobiographies of actors Jack Hawkins and Kenneth Moore and deposed Albanian monarch King Zog.

James Leasor

LEDERER, RICHARD Film executive Richard Lederer died in California, on June 8, 2007. He was 90. Lederer was born in Far Rockaway, New York, on September 22, 1916. He served in the U.S. Army as a cryptographer during World War II. He began working in films in 1950, when he joined Warner Bros. He rose to the position of Executive Vice President of Worldwide Advertising and Publicity in the 1960s. Lederer orchestrated publicity campaigns for such films as My Fair Lady, Bonnie and Clyde, Dirty Harry and A Clockwork Orange. He was also a producer for the 1977 sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic and supplied the story and produced the 1980 film The Hollywood Knights. LEDUC, JENNY French actress Jenny Andree Howe, who appeared in films in the 1940s under the name Jenny LeDuc, died of breast cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, on July 27, 2007. She was 80. She was born in Mons, Belgium, on November 25, 1926, and moved

Jenny LeDuc

219 with her family to France in 1933. The began performing on the stage in France in the early 1940s and appeared in several films including Panic (1946), The Last Ride (1946), and The History of Song (1947). She married U.S. Navy Lt. Ray Howe in the early 1950s and moved to America to raise a family. She later worked for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1974 to 1989 as an operations analyst dealing with Soviet espionage.

LEE, DEBORAH Film producer Deborah Lee died in Los Angeles, California, on October 22, 2007. She was 58. Lee was born in Albany, New York, in 1949. She began her career in 1978, providing secretarial skills for the feature film The Greek Tycoon. She continued to work primarily as location manager for such films as Loveliness (1984), The New Kids (1985), and Prizzi’s Honor (1985), tele-films Izzy & Moe (1985) and Kojak: Ariana (1989), and an episode of the television series Law & Order. Lee became a production manager in the early 1990s, with such film credits as Cape Fear (1991), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), and the tele-film Running Mates (1992). She worked as both production manager and producer for the feature films Murder in the First (1995), Sudden Death (1995), and Great Expectations (1998). Lee’s later works include producing the film Scenes of the Crime (2002) and co-producing Imaginary Heroes in 2004. LEFF, HENRY Actor Henry Leff died in San Francisco, California, on August 12, 2007. He was 88. Leff was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 20, 1918. He served in the Army during World War II and began teaching broadcasting at San Francisco’s City College after the war. Leff starred as Lt. Mallard in the NBC radio detective series Candy Matson, Yukon 2-8209 in the late 1940s. He was best known for his role as Woody Allen’s father in the 1969 comedy film Take the Money and Run, unrecognizable in a pair of fake glasses with nose and mustache. He was also seen in the films They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (1969), The Strawberry Statement (1970) and One Is a Lonely Number (1972). Leff also worked frequently for local television, including the public station KQED. He appeared in their series on communism The Red Myth in the 1960s.

Henry Le›

2007 • Obituaries

LEIGH , RICHARD Writer Richard Leigh, whose book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, was considered the inspiration for Dan Brown’s best selling novel The Da Vinci Code, died of complications from a heart conditions in London on November 21, 2007. He was 64. Leigh was born in New Jersey in 1943. He worked as a teacher before moving to Britain in the 1970s. His interests in the medieval order known as the Knights Templar led him to an association with fellow authors Michael Baigent and Henry Lincoln. The trio produced the speculative, non-fiction book that alleged that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and had a child. The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, published in 1982, also speculated that Christ’s bloodline continued to present day. He and Baigent also wrote several other books including The Messianic Legacy, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception and Secret Germany, concerning a plot to assassinate Hitler. He and Baigent sued the publishers of The Da Vinci Code after it became a huge best seller. Their claims of plagiarism were dismissed in a court verdict in April of 2006. Leigh’s other works include a semi-autobiographical novel, Grey Magic and a collection, Erceldoune and Other Stories.

Richard Leigh

LEIGHTON, FRANCES SPATZ Writer and journalist Frances Spatz Leighton died of congestive heart failure in Arlington, Virginia, on April 6, 2007. She was 87. She was born Frances Ornstein on a dairy farm in Geauga County, Ohio, in 1919. She left Ohio State University to go to Washington, D.C., during World War II, where she began writing freelance articles for various publications. She became noted for chronicling the lives of the powerful and unusual in the nation’s capital. Leighton was best known for co-writing the 1961 book My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House with the former longtime White House maid Lillian Rogers Parks. The book was adapted for a television mini-series, Backstairs at the White House, in 1979. Leighton also wrote a paperback novelization based on television The Patty Duke Show entitled Patty Goes to Washington in 1964. She wrote or co-wrote more than 30 books during her career including The Pat Nixon Cookbook (1960), My Life with Jacqueline Kennedy (1969) with her personal secretary Mary B. Gal-

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lagher, In the Footsteps of John Paul II (1980), June Allyson (1982) with the actress, and The Search for the Real Nancy Reagan (1987). Her book Stranger in My Bed was adapted for a tele-film in 1986.

LEMARCHAL , GREGORY French singer Gregory Lemarchal died of complications from cystic fibrosis in Paris on April 30, 2007. He was 23. Lemarchal was born in La Tronche, France, on May 13, 1983. He began performing locally while in his teens. He was selected to compete on the fourth season of the French televised talent showcase Star Academy in 2004, and won the contest in an overwhelming vote total. His debut single, “Ecris l’Histoire,” rose to number two on the French charts, and his debut album, Je Deviens Moi, was released successfully in 2005. A second album, Olympia 06 was released earlier in 2006.

but was best known for A Wrinkle in Time, which earned her the 1963 Newbery Medal for best American children’s book. A Wrinkle in Time was adapted for television in 2003. L’Engle followed this success with the similarly themed novels The Arm of the Starfish (1965), A Wind in the Door (1973), Dragons in the Waters (1976), A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978), A House Like a Lotus (1984), Many Waters (1986), and An Acceptable Time (1989). Her 1980 novel A Ring of Endless Night was recognized as a Newbery Honor Book, and was adapted as a tele-film in 2002. She also wrote The Crosswicks Journals series in the 1970s and The Genesis Trilog y in the 1980s. She was married to actor Hugh Franklin from 1946 until his death in 1986.

LEONTYEVA, VALENTINA Russian television personality Valentina Leontyeva, who was one of the first television hosts in the Soviet Union, died in Ulyanovsk, Russia, on May 20, 2007. She was 83. Leontyeva was born in Petrograd, Soviet Union, on August 1, 1923. She began her career on stage after World War II, attending the Vakhtangov Theatre School in Moscow. She joined Soviet TV in 1954 as a director’s assistant and soon became a television host. She presented the popular television series From All the Soul, and hosted the New Year’s Eve variety program Blue Light. She became known as Aunt Valya hosting the children’s program Visit to Fairy Tales in the 1980s. She was awarded the title of People’s Artists of the USSR in 1982. Leontyeva retired from television in 1991.

Gregory Lemarchal

L’ENGLE, MADELEINE Madeleine L’Engle, who wrote the classic children’s science fiction novel A Wrinkle in Time, died in a Litchfield, Connecticut, nursing home on September 6, 2007. She was 88. She was born Madeleine L’Engle Camp in New York City on November 29, 1918. She worked for many years as a librarian and writer for the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John the Devine in New York City. Her first book, The Small Rain, was published in 1945. She wrote more than sixty other books during her career Valentina Leontyeva

Madeleine L’Engle

LERNER, MIMI Opera singer Mimi Lerner died of complications of a heart tumor in Oakland, Pennsylvania, on March 29, 2007. She was 61. She was born Emilia Lipczer in Poland on May 20, 1945. She immigrated to France, and later the Bronx, New York, with her family as a child. She trained as a music teacher and began singing in choirs and small productions in Pittsburgh in the late 1970s. She made her debut at the New York City Opera as Sextus in a production of La Clemenza Di Tito in 1979. She continued to perform with such operas as the Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, the Seattle Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera until poor health forced her retirement in the late 1990s.

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Ladies (1981). He shared a Tony Award for his choreography for 1989’s Black and Blue. He also choreographed dance numbers for Frances Ford Coppola’s 1984 film The Cotton Club and appeared onscreen as a dancer. Le Tang choreographed the 1989 film Taps starring Gregory Hines and earned an Emmy Award nomination for his work on the 2001 tele-film Bojangles. He retired to Las Vegas in the early 1990s.

Mimi Lerner

LESLIE, DON Leading carnival entertainer Captain Don Leslie, who performed as a sword-swallower and fire-eater, died on June 4, 2007. He was 69. Leslie was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1937. He ran away from home in his early teens and joined the circus. He trained to be a sword-swallower and fire-eater in the 1950s, training under Carlos Leal and Alex Linton. Leslie also performed in carnival freakshows as an escape artist and fakir, resting on beds of nails to entertain the audience. As the carnival circuit dwindled by the 1980s, Leslie continued to work as a street performer. The heavily tattooed artist also became a celebrity at tattoo conventions throughout the United States.

Captain Don Leslie

LE TANG, HENRY Tap dancer and choreographer Henry Le Tang died in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 26, 2007. He was 91. Le Tang was born in Harlem, New York, on June 19, 1915. He began studying tap dancing as a child, and was performing on tour with entertainer Sophie Tucker by the age of 17. He soon opened his own dance studio in New York in the mid–1930s. Over the next sixty years he trained such entertainers as Harry Belafonte, Ben Vereen, Gregory and Maurice Hines, Debbie Allen, Bette Midler, and Savion Glover to tap dance. Le Tang was also a leading choreographer for Broadway productions, working on such musicals as Eubie! (1978) and Sophisticated

Henry LeTang

LEVIN, IRA Writer Ira Levin, who penned the best-selling novels Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives, and The Boys from Brazil, died of a heart attack at his Manhattan apartment on November 12, 2007. He was 78. Levin was born in New York City on August 27, 1929. He decided to become a writer while in his teens and wrote episodes of such television series as Lights Out and The United States Steel Hour in the early 1950s. His debut novel, A Kiss Before Dying, earned him an Edgar Award for best first novel in 1953. It was adapted for film in 1956 starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward, and again in 1991 with Matt Dillon. His play No Time for Sergeants, adapted from Mac Hyman’s novel, was adapted for television in 1955 and as a film starring Andy Griffith in 1958. His stories were also adapted as episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and General Electric Theater, and his play Critic’s Choice was filmed in 1963. Levin was best known for his 1967 novel about modern-day Satanists, Rosemary’s Baby. It was adapted to film the following year starring Mia Farrow as a young woman selected to bear Satan’s child. His next novel was a science fiction about a dystopian future entitled This Perfect Day (1970). Another of his plays, Dr. Cook’s Garden, became a tele-film in 1971, and his 1972 satirical fantasy about creating the perfect woman, The Stepford Wives, was adapted to a film starring Katharine Ross in 1975. Several tele-film sequels based on the novel followed including Revenge of the Stepford Wives (1980) and The Stepford Children (19870, and a remake starring Nicole Kidman was released in 2004. His 1976 thriller about a Nazi plot to clone Hitler, The Boys from Brazil, was filmed with Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck in 1978. His 1978 play Deathtrap earned a Tony nomination for best play and became a film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve in 1982. Levin’s 1991 thriller Sliver was adapted

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into a film in 1993 starring Sharon Stone. His final novel, Son of Rosemary, a sequel to Rosemary’s Baby, was published in 1997.

1950s as a sound editor. Lichtig worked with Erich Von Stroheim to restore the director’s silent film The Wedding March in 1954. She also worked with Jean Renoir to restore his 1937 masterpiece The Grand Illusion in 1958. Lichtig was a friend and collaborator with Henri Langlois, the founder of Cinematheque Francaise, and was active in the restoration of numerous classic films. She also edited such films as Picnic on the Grass (1959), The Elusive Corporal (1962), In the French Style (1963), FX-18 Superspy (1965), The Death of Alexandros (1966), The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (1968), Daddy, Darling (1970), A Murder Is a Murder ... Is a Murder (1972), Kamouraska (1973), The Heavenly Bodies (1973), Tell Me You Love Me (1974), The Big Delirium (1975), The 11,000 Sexes (1975), Fire’s Share (1978), Confused Feelings (1979), and The Investigation (1979).

Ira Levin

LEYDEN, LEO Actor Leo Leyden died in a Manhattan, New York, hospital on August 7, 2007. He was 78. Leyden was born in Ireland on January 28, 1929. He moved to Canada in the 1950s and appeared frequently in films and television productions. He was featured as Dr. Soames in the 1961 cult horror film The Mask. His other film credits include The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), 1776 (1972) as George Read, A Quiet Day in Belfast (1974), Deadly Harvest (1977), Circle of Two (1980), The Wars (1983), Reversal of Fortune (1990), and I.Q. (1994). Leyden was also featured in television productions of The Other Man (1963), Another Day, Another Dollar (1967), Tom Sawyer (1973), I Am a Hotel (1983), and Spearfield’s Daughter (1986). His other television credits include episodes of Armstrong Circle Theatre, No Hiding Place, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, The Starlost, Street Legal, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Renee Lichtig

LIEDTKE, TANJA Australian ballet dancer and choreographer Tanja Liedtke was killed when she was struck by a garbage truck while crossing a road to her apartment in Sydney, Australia, on August 17, 2007. She was 29. Liedtke was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on October 6, 1977. She studied dance in Spain and England before moving to Australia in 1996. She performed with the Australian Dance Theatre from 1999 to 2003, and starred in Lloyd Newson’s production of The Cost of Living with DV8 Physical Theater on stage and film in 2004. Liedtke was selected to become the

Leo Leyden

LICHTIG, RENEE French film editor and restorer Renee Lichtig died of a stroke in Paris on October 16, 2007. She was 86. Lichtig was born in Shanghai, China, in 1921. She began working in films in the

Tanja Liedtke

223 artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company in May of 2007.

LINDSAY, CYNTHIA Author Cynthia Lindsay died in Santa Monica, California, on May 5, 2007. She was 91. Lindsay was born on May 27, 1915. She began her career in films working as a stunt double for such stars as Sonja Henie and Claudette Colbert. She also seen as a swimmer in Busby Berkely’s 1933 musical Footlight Parade. After a horseback riding injury, she was encouraged to began writing by Boris Karloff. She worked at 20th Century–Fox where she scripted episodes of Bachelor Father and My Three Sons. Lindsay also wrote the 1964 television production of American in Paris. She was also the author of several books, including a biography of Karloff entitled Dear Boris. Her other books include The Native Are Restless, Mother Climbed Trees, I Love Her That’s Why and Home Is Where You Hang Yourself.

2007 • Obituaries

gen y el Fotografo (1982), Fuga Scabrosamente Pericolosa (1985), and Juna Tenia el Pelo de Oro (2006). Linero worked primarily in television from the 1990s, appearing in such productions as Escalona (1992), Brigada Central 2: La Guerra Blanca (1993), Flor de Oro (1995), Momposina (1995), Guajira (1996), Copas Amargas (1996), Tabu (1999), El Precio del Silencio (2002), Retratos (2003), La Saga: Negocio de Familia (2004), E. Pasado no Perdona (2005), and Juegos Prohibidos (2005).

LINKLETTER, JACK Television personality Jack Linkletter, who followed in the footsteps of his father, Art Linkletter, died at his home in Cloverdale, California, on December 18, 2007. He was 70. Linkletter was born in San Francisco, California, on November 20, 1937. He began his career as a child, appearing on his father’s radio programs in San Francisco. He was hosting his own radio shows for CBS as a teenager. After attending college, he served as host of the NBC television quiz show Haggis Baggis in 1958. The following year he hosted the daytime program On the Go, where he took his audience to various locales. He guest starred on the sit-com The Bob Cummings Show in 1959, and appeared in a rare dramatic role in an episode of Zane Grey Theater in 1961. He hosted the variety show Here’s Hollywood in 1962 and the folk music variety show Hootenanny the following year. He joined his father as co-host of House Party from 1969 to 1970. He later served as president of Linkletter Enterprises, managing the family’s varied business interests.

Cynthia Lindsay

LINERO, FRANKY Colombian actor Franky Linero died of a heart attack in Paipa, Colombia, on January 3, 2007. He was 66. Linero was born in Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1940. He began his career in films in the early 1970s, appearing in such features as Una Tarde, un Lunes (1971), Prestame tu Marido (1973), Pistoleros de la Muerte (1975), Colombia Connection (1978), El Inmigrante Latino (1980), Sexy Beach (1980), La VirJack Linkletter (right, with father Art Linkletter)

Franky Linero

LISTER, MOIRA South African–born actress Moira Lister, who was a leading performer on the British stage and screen from the 1940s, died in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 27, 2007. She was 84. Lister was born in Cape Town on August 6, 1923, and studied acting as a child. She performed on stage from an early age and moved to England in 1944 to continue her career. She made her film debut later that year in a small role in The Shipbuilders. She continued to be seen onscreen in such features as Love Story (1944), The Agitator (1945), My Ain Folk (1945), Don Chicago (1945), Wanted for Murder (1946), Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947), Uneasy Terms (1948), So Evil My Love (1948), Frieda (1948), Another Shore (1948), Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), and

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A Run for Your Money (1949). Lister also continued to appear frequently on stage and made her Broadway debut in the 1948 comedy Don’t Listen Ladies! Her film career also continued with roles in such productions as Pool of London (1951), Files from Scotland Yard (1951), My Seal and Them (1951), White Corridors (1951), Something Money Can’t Buy (1952), The Cruel Sea (1953), Grand National Night (1953), The Limping Man (1953), Trouble in Store (1953), John and Julie (1955), The Deep Blue Sea (1955), Seven Waves Away (1957), The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964), Joey Boy (1965), The Double Man (1967), Stranger in the House (1967), and Not Now, Darling (1973). She made occasional appearances on television from the 1960s, appearing in episodes of Danger Man, Zero One, Secret Agent, The Whitehall Warrior, The Avengers, A Touch of Venus, The Sex Game: The Lovemakers, Score with the Scaffold, and Only When I Laugh. She was featured in the recurring role of Jacqui Villiers in the comedy series The Very Merry Widow in the late 1960s. Lister was also a regular on the radio program Hancock’s Half Hour and performed in the series Simon and Laura and A Life of Bliss. Her autobiography, A Very Merry Moira, was published in 1969. She performed mainly in South Africa from the 1980s. She starred as Mrs. Rodgers in the 1989 film version of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, and played grandmothers in the television productions The Finding (1990) and The 10th Kingdom (2000). Her final film role was in 2007’s Flood.

Moira Lister

Alberto Locatti

a hospital in Nassau, the Bahamas, on March 29, 2007. He was 72. Lockhart was born Bert Cooper in Nassau on September 18, 1934. He came to New York in the mid–1950s to attend school, and soon embarked on an acting career. He made his Broadway debut in a shortlived production of The Cool World in 1960, and starred in the racially-themed drama A Taste of Honey. He subsequently moved to Europe, eventually settling in England. He appeared on British television in productions of Talking to a Stranger (1966), Girl in a Black Bikini (1967), and Light Blue (1968). He also appeared in episodes of Thirty-Minute Theatre, Rainbow City, The Wednesday Play, The Troubleshooters, Play for Today, and Softly Softly. Lockhart was also seen in the films Hung Up (1968), A Dandy in the Aspic (1968), The Mercenaries (1968), Only When I Larf (1968), Salt and Pepper (1968), Nobody Runs Forever (1968), Joanna (1968) opposite Genevieve Waite, Halls of Anger (1970), and Leo the Last (1970). He starred as the Rev. Deke O’Malley in the 1970 film Cotton Comes to Harlem and was Irving Amadeus in the 1970 cult classic Myra Breckinridge. He was also featured in the films Melinda (1972), The African Deal (1974), the werewolf film The Beast Must Die (1974), Uptown Saturday Night (1974) as Silky Slim, Honeybaby, Honeybaby (1974), Let’s Do It Again (1975), The Baron (1977), The Baltimore Bullet (1980), Coming to America (1988) with Eddie Murphy, Predator 2 (1990), and David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990)

LOCATTI, ALBERTO Argentine actor and comedian Alberto Locatti died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 13, 2007. He was 71. He began his career on television in the late 1950s, where he was noted for his comic impersonations on such shows as El Show de IKA. He also appeared in several films in the early 1960s including Cristobal Colon en la Facultad de Medicina (1962), La Chacota (1962), and El Mago de las Finanzas (1962). Locatti’s career largely ended in 1980 when he threw his wife, actress Eva “Cielito” Olguin, from their secondstory apartment balcony. Though she survived the fall, he was sentenced to six years in prison. LOCKHART, CALVIN Bahamian-born actor Calvin Lockhart died of complications from a stroke at

Calvin Lockhart

225 and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Lockhart also guest-starred on television in such series as Get Christie Love!, Starsky and Hutch, and Good Times, and was featured in the recurring role of Jonathan Lake in the prime-time soap opera Dynasty from 1985 to 1986. Lockhart returned to the Bahamas in the 1990s, where he worked as a director for several local stage productions with the Freeport Players Guild. He had recently completed filming a movie shot in the Bahamas, Rain.

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time soap opera All My Children, and was featured as an FBI agent in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film JFK.

LOCKWOOD, ALYN Actress Alyn Lockwood died in Tarzana, California, on July 16, 2007. She was 93. She was born in Los Angeles on January 15, 1914. Lockwood began her film career in the mid–1940s, appearing in the popular Blondie film series, which starred Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as her befuddled husband, Dagwood. She played Mary, the switchboard operator and receptionist, Life with Blondie (1945), Blondie Knows Best (1946), Blondie’s Big Moment (1947), Blondie’s Holiday (1947), Blondie in the Dough (1947), Blondie’s Anniversary (1947), Blondie’s Reward (1948), Blondie’s Secret (1948), Blondie’s Big Deal (1949), Blondie Hits the Jackpot (1949), Blondie’s Hero (1950), and Beware of Blondie (1950). Lockwood was also in a handful of other films during her career including The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Brideless Groom (1947), Pardon My Clutch (1948), Alias Nick Beal (1949), The Crime Doctor’s Diary (1949), Mary Ryan, Detective (1945), Border Rangers (1950), the western Badman’s Gold (1951) which she also scripted, Fun on the Run (1951), Cattle Queen (1951), Come on Seven (1956), Jeanne Eagels (1957), and Jailhouse Rock (1957) with Elvis Presley. Lockwood also appeared on television in episodes of Navy Log, State Trooper, and Border Patrol, before retiring from the screen in the late 1950s.

LOSTAU, PAUL Spanish television actor Paul Lostau died of injuries he received in a traffic accident in Madrid, Spain, on November 27, 2007. He was 29. Lostau was best known for his role as Fortunato Cebrian in the popular television series Brothers and Detectives in 2007. He was also featured as Rafa in Al Filo de la Ley from 2004 to 2005, in the recurring role of Federico in Cuentame from 2005 to 2007, and as Alfredo Roman in Love in Difficult Times from 2006 to 2007. Lostau also guest starred in episodes of Hospital Central, Manolito Gafotas, Los Serrano, El Inquilino, and La Que se Avecina. He also appeared in small roles in several films including Shevernatze un Angel Corrupto (2006), Juego (2006), and Solitary Fragments (2007).

Alyn Lockwood

Paul Lostau

LOGUE, SPAIN, JR. Actor Spain Logue, Jr., died after a twenty-five year battle with AIDS at his home in Dallas, Texas, on December 3, 2007. He was 60. Logue was born in Dallas in 1947. He studied acting at Juilliard in New York before embarking upon a career on stage. He was featured in the Tony Award– winning Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Logue also appeared in the day-

LUBICH, BRONCO Professional wrestler turned referee Bronco Lubich died of complications from prostate cancer and a series of strokes in Dallas, Texas, on August 11, 2007. He was 81. He was born Bronko Sandor Lupsity in Battonya, Hungary, on December 25, 1925, and moved to Montreal, Canada, with his family in 1937. He began wrestling professionally in 1948, and was soon serving as valet to An-

Spain Logue, Jr.

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gelo Poffo. He teamed with Poffo to hold the Midwest Tag Team Title in Chicago in 1956. They also held the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in 1961. Lubich also formed a formidable tag team with Aldo Bogni, holding several championships in the South and Florida. He teamed with Chris Markoff to hold the NWA Florida Tag Team Title for several months in late 1969 and early 1970. He and Markoff also held the World Class American Tag Team Title in Texas several times in the early 1970s. After retiring from the ring he became a longtime referee in World Class and USWA until the early 1990s.

Bronco Lubich

LUCAS, PHIL Phil Lucas, whose career as filmmaker, producer and writer of films, television programs and documentaries relating to Native Americans spanned over four decades, died of complications after heart surgery in Bellevue, Washington, on February 4, 2007. He was 65. Lucas, of Choctaw descent, was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 15, 1942. His works covered such issues as Native American arts, health, alcoholism, basic rights and the stereotyping of American Indians in Hollywood. He was seen in the role of Mohawk Sachem the 1993 tele-film The Broken Chain, which told the story of the Iroquois Confederacy, and appeared on the television series Northern Exposure. He directed the 1994 television documentary mini-series The Native Americans, the 1998 film Allan Houser/Hao-

zous: The Lifetime Work of an American Master, and the 2003 tele-film Vis a Vis: Native Tongues. His film Restoring the Sacred Circle won Best Public Service Award at the 2002 American Indian Festival in San Francisco. Lucas co-directed and co-produced the 2003 PBS series Images of Indians, which told the tale of Hollywood’s stereotyping of the Native American in films and television. Lucas taught filmmaking workshops for young Native Americans and continued to be active in American Film Festivals until shortly before his death.

LUCIEN, JON Jazz artist Jon Lucien, whose soulful baritone could be heard for more than 35 years, died from respiratory failure following surgery in Orlando, Florida, on August 14, 2007. He was 65. He was born Lucien Harrigan in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on January 8, 1942, and was raised in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, by his musician father. He moved to New York City in the mid–1960s, where he embarked upon a musical career. He released his debut album, I Am Now, in 1970. He released his second album, Rashida, in 1973, which earned two Grammy nominations for the title track song and the popular ballad “Lady Love.” Some of his other songs include “Would You Believe in Me,” “Dindi,” “You Don’t Need Me,” “Hello Like Before,” and “Sweet Control.” Lucien released Mind’s Eye in 1974, on which could be heard the songs “Listen Love” and “World of Joy.” His other albums include Songs for My Lady (1975), Premonition (1976), and Romantico (1982). His later works include the albums Listen Love (1991), Mother Natures Son (1993), Endless Love (1997), inspired by his daughters tragic death in the crash of TWA Flight 800, and Precious (1999). Lucien remained active, performing at festivals with a jazz fusion band and had launched his own record label, Sugar Apples Music.

Jon Lucien

Phil Lucas

LUDWIG, JULIAN Film and television producer Julian Ludwig died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on April 13, 2007. He was 82. Ludwig was born in Los Angeles on May 22, 1924. He began his career in films as an actor, appearing in small roles in 1952’s Limelight with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and the 1954 science fiction film Gog. Ludwig left acting to

227 work behind the camera as a producer with David L. Wolper’s organization. He was a producer on such series and specials as Biography (1961–1963), Hollywood: The Fabulous Era (1962), Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963), and Hollywood and the Stars (1963–1964). He also served as an executive producer for the film The Texican (1966), and was associate producer for The Devil’s Brigade (1968) and The Bridge at Remagen (1969). He was also involved in the production of the television specials Plimpton! Did You Hear the One About? (1971), Victory at Entebbe (1976), and Celebrate the Century (1999). Ludwig was an associate producer for Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning 1992 film Unforgiven.

2007 • Obituaries

recurring role of the District Attorney in the television law series The Defenders in the early 1960s. Ludwig also guest starred in episodes of such series as The Nurses, The Trials of O’Brien, All in the Family, McCloud, Kate & Allie, Wiseguy, The Sopranos, Law & Order, Ed, 100 Centre Street, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Salem Ludwig

Julian Ludwig

LUDWIG , SALEM Character actor Salem Ludwig died in New York City on April 1, 2007. He was 91. Ludwig was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 31, 1915. He began performing on stage in the late 1930s, appearing in a production of The Drunkard in Long Beach in 1938. He made his New York debut a decade later, appearing in productions of Arthur Miller’s An Enemy of the People, Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real, and Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful. He was featured in the original Broadway production of Inherit the Wind in 1955, and appeared in The Disenchanted in 1958. He also appeared on such early television productions as The Ford Theatre Hour, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Tales of Tomorrow, and Hallmark Hall of Fame before his political opinions landed him on the blacklist for several years. He continued to perform on stage, and returned to the screen in the 1958 feature Never Love a Stranger. He was also seen in the films America, America (1963), The Three Sisters (1966), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968), The Next Man (1976), Endless Love (1981), Heartburn (1986), Disorder (1986), Family Business (1989), For Love or Money (1993), Flux (1996), I’m Not Rappaport (1996), Packing for Two (1998), The Object of My Affection (1998), Fast Food, Fast Women (2000), The Business of Strangers (2001), Unfaithful (2002), Riverside (2003), Life on the Ledge (2005), and The Savages (2007). Ludwig also appeared in the tele-films The Defection of Simas Kudirka (1978), A Doctor’s Story (1984). He was featured in the

LUNDBERG, CAROL Animation artist Carol Lundberg died on February 11, 2007. She was 72. Lundberg was born on May 22, 1934. She began working at Filmation in the early 1980s, where she did layout and character design for such series as the animated Star Trek, The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, The New Adventures of Batman, The Young Sentinels, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Fat Albert Christmas Special, Shazam!, Blackstar, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and She-Ra, Princess of Power. Lundberg worked for Marvel’s G.I. Joe series in the early 1980s, and was a designer for Hanna-Barbera’s The Pirates of Dark Water and the 1993 animated feature Once Upon a Forest. Her final credit was as story director for RubySpears’ 1994 series Mega Man.

Carol Lundberg (portrait by Larry Eikleberry)

LUND-SORENSEN, SUNE Danish film director Sune Lund-Sorensen died in Sweden from complications from injuries he received in a fall on January 12, 2007. He was 64. Lund-Sorensen was born in

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Denmark on July 28, 1942. He began writing and directing films in the mid–1960s, with such credits as Himmelekspressen (1965), Trommen (1967), Skrammellegepladsen (1967), King of Smugglers (1985), Mord i Morket (1986), Damish Symphony (1988), Mord i Paradis (1988), Camping (1990), and Joker (1991).

Lamar Lundy (as the Cyclops from Lost in Space)

Sune Lund-Sorensen

LUNDY , LAMAR Football player Lamar Lundy, who played with the Los Angeles Rams during the 1960s and appeared as a giant creature in the original pilot to the Lost in Space television series, died after a long illness in Richmond, Indiana, on February 24, 2007. He was 71. He had been suffering from the neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis, diabetes, prostate cancer, and a heart problem in recent years. Lundy was born in Richmond Indiana, on April 17, 1935. The 6'7", 250 pound athlete joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1957, and played with the team through the 1969 season. He was a member of the defensive line known as the Fearsome Foursome with Roosevelt Grier, Deacon Jones, and Merlin Olsen from 1963 to 1966. Lundy appeared with his three teammates on several episodes of The Hollywood Palace in 1967. He was featured as a huge monster who threatened the Robinson family in the original un-aired pilot for Irwin Allen’s Lost in Space television series in 1966.

LUZZATI, EMANUEL Emanuel Luzzati, an Italian production designer and director of animated films, died at his home in Genoa, Italy, on January 26, 2007. He was 85. Luzzati was born in Genoa on June 3, 1921. He attended the School of Fine Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland, and returned to Italy after World War II. He began working as a theatrical designer of sets and costumes in Milan. He was costume designer for the 1949 film The Earth Cries Out, and worked on sets at La Scala in Milan and at the Glyndebourne Festival in England. He teamed with Giulio Gianini to create several animated films, notably the Academy Award nominated The Thieving Magpie (1964) and Pulcinella (1973). He also adapted Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute as an animated cartoon in 1978. Luzzati was also an illustrator of children’s books by the Brothers Grimm, and works by Gianni Rodari and Italo Calvino.

Emanuel Luzzati

Lamar Lundy

LYONS, JAMES Film editor and actor James Lyons died of squamous cell cancer and complications from AIDS in Manhattan on April 12, 2007. He was 46. Lyons was born on October 8, 1960. He began working in films in the early 1990s, editing and appearing in Todd Haynes 1991 trilogy Poison. Lyons was also an actor in the films Swoon (1992), Postcards from America (1994), Safe (1995), Frisk (1995), I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), and The Chateau (2001). He served as an editor on The Debt (1993), Dottie Gets Spanked

229 (1993), Late Fall (1994), Safe (1995), Ratchet (1996), Strawberry Fields (1997), Shooting Porn (1997), First Love, Last Rites (1997), Haynes Velvet Goldmine (1998) which he also co-wrote, Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (1999), Spring Forward (1999), The Chateau (2001), Prozac Nation (2001), Far from Heaven (2002), Ghostlight (2003), Imaginary Heroes (2004), and A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2007).

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His numerous film credits include Bonzo Goes to College (1952), No Room for the Groom (1952), Francis Goes to West Point (1952), Son of Ali Baba (1952), Conquest of Cochise (1953), The Boy from Oklahoma (1954) as Billy the Kid, The Eg yptian (1954), The Bounty Hunter (1954), The Glass Slipper (1955), Cell 2455 Death Row (1955), The Last Command (1955), Headline Hunters (1955), The Burning Hills (1956), Fury at Showdown (1957), and Cyborg 2087 (1966). MacDuff also appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, with roles in such series as Stories of the Century, Adventures of Superman, The 20th Century–Fox Hour, Death Valley Days, The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, Annie Oakley, West Point, The Lone Ranger, You Are There, Maverick, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, The Gray Ghost, Tales of Wells Fargo, This Man Dawson, Alcoa Theatre, General Electric Theater, Lawman, Perry Mason, Lassie, and Gunsmoke. He was also featured in the tele-films Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin Deep Scandal (1993) and Lethal Orbit (1996). MacDuff returned to the screen in recent years to appear in Go Fish (2000) and An American Reunion (2003). His daughter was film producer Dana MacDuff.

James Lyons

MABRY, LADONNA Actress LaDonna Mabry died of cancer after a long illness at her home in New York City on February 11, 2007. She was 54. Mabry was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 16, 1952. She performed frequently on the local stage. She also appeared on television in episodes of such series as Mathnet, The Baby-Sitters Club, Spin City, Law & Order, Oz, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She was also featured in the 1999 film The Tavern. Mabry also worked on many television and radio commercials and was a fashion model for Yves St. Laurent. Tyler MacDu›

LaDonna Mabry

MACDUFF, TYLER Veteran character actor Tyler MacDuff died of heart failure in Pasadena, California, on December 23, 2007. He was 82. MacDuff was born in Hollywood, California, on September 12, 1925. He began his career in films in the early 1950s.

MACK, GUNTER German actor Gunter Mack died of cancer in Grobenzell, Bavaria, Germany, on March 27, 2007. He was 76. Mack was born in Augsburg, Germany, on December 12, 1930. He began his career on stage in post–World War II Munich, and performed frequently theaters throughout Germany. Mack also began appearing in films in the early 1960s with such credits as The Lightship (1963), Yesterday Girl (1966), Death and Diamonds (1968), The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (1972), I Wasn’t a Very Good Student Either (1974), Only the Wind Knows the Answer (1974), The Brave Little Tailor (1988), Success (1991), and St. Petri Schnee (1991). Mack was also a popular television performer in Germany, appearing in productions of Besuch am Nachmittag (1963), Nobile — Sieben Wochen auf dem Eis (1967), Ein Sarg fur Mr. Holloway (1968), Bel Ami (1968), Der Fall Liebknecht-Luxemburg (1969), Wie Eine Trane im Ozean (1970), Menschen (1970), Chopin-Express (1971), Elsa Brandstrom (1971), Der Andersonville-Prozess (1972), Der Illegale (1972), Liebe Leidet mit Lust (1973), Nebel (1974), Des Christof-

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230

fel von Grimmelshausen Abenteuerlicher Simplicissimus (1975), Die Babenberger in Osterreich (1976), Tarabas (1981), Uberfall in Glasgow (1981), Gegenlicht (1983), Die Friedenmacher (1994), Die Stunde des Leon Bisquet (1986), Der Meister des Jungsten Tages (1990), Das Babylon Komplott (1993), Der Rote Vogel (1993), In Dieser Stadt Daheim (1994), Um Die 30 (1995), Gestohlenes Muttergluck (1997), Die Zeit mit Dir (2002), and Afrika —Wohin Mein Herz Mich Tragt (2006). His other television credits include episodes of Der Kommissar, Dem Tater auf der Spur, Eurogang, Sonderdezernat K1, Der Alte, Forstinspektor Buchholz, Derrick, Der Fahnder, Ein Fall fur Zwei, Polizeiruf 110, Rosamunde Pilcher, Das Traumschiff, Nicht ohne Meinen Anwalt, and Tatort. He also starred as Dr. Berthold Sanwaldt in the series Alle Meine Tochter from 1995 to 2001.

Ember Iranti Feltes Diadala (2000), and Rokonok (2006). Madaras was featured as Marksman Vogelier in the television series A Tenkes Kapitanya in 1963, and was Vendel Kalanyos in Princ, a Katona in 1966. He was also featured as Vincze Joska in the 1968 series Bors, and was Sgt. Toti in Kantor in 1976. He also appeared in television productions of Michael Strogoff (1975), The Istambul Train (1980), and Zsarumelo (1986).

Jozsef Madaras

Gunter Mack

MADARAS, JOZSEF Hungarian actor Jozsef Madaras died in Mariahalom, Hungary, on April 24, 2007. He was 69. Madaras was born in Rigmany, Hungary, on August 12, 1937. He was a leading actor in Hungarian films and television from the late 1950s. His film credits include The Bells Have Gone to Rome (1958), Pesti Haztekok (1962), Balvany (1963), Germinal (1963), My Way Home (1965), Deadlock (1966), Cold Days (1966), The Hopeless Ones (1966), Father (1966), The Red and the White (1967), Silence and Cry (1967), A Hamis Izabella (1968), Winter Wind (1969), The Confrontation (1969), The Upthrown Stone (1969), Talking Caftan (1969), Agnus Dei (1970), Face (1970), A Crazy Night (1970), The Pacifist (1970), Haho, Ocsil (1971), Horizon (1971), Hold on to the Clouds (1971), Red Pslam (1972), Romanticism (1972), Beyond Time (1973), Wait a Minute (1973), Pokhalo (1974), Electra, My Love (1974), Blindfold (1975), Hajduk (1975), Pikemen (1975), Az Idok Kezdeten (1975), Budapest Fairy Tales (1976), Spider Football (1976), Nobody’s Daughter (1976), Man Without a Name (1976), Ekezet (1977), A Csillagszemu (1977), My Father’s Happy Years (1977), 80 Hussars (1978), The Stud Farm (1978), Peter and Paul (1978), The Fortress (1979), Hungarian Rhapsody (1979), The Tyrant’s Heart (1981), Tolerance (1986), Season of Monsters (1987), Howling V: The Rebirth (1989), God Walks Backwards (1991), The Summer Guest (1992), Blue Danube Waltz (1992), Konyortelen Idok (1992), A Masik

MAGARO, POLLI Veteran character actress Polli Magaro died in a New York City hospital on December 23, 2007. Magaro appeared on stage, screen, and television, and was a contract player with the Metropolitan Opera for 20 years. She was featured in the films Paradise Alley (1978), Easy Money (1983), Vamping (1984), Secret Obsession (1986), One Day in Dallas (1990), Mr. Destiny (1990), Oscar (1991), The Slab Boys (1997), Primary Colors (1998), Perfect Game (2000), and Avenging Angelo (2002). She was also seen in the tele-films The Truth About Alex (1986) and Nashville Beat (1990), and in episodes of Matt Houston, Cagney & Lacey, Titans, Ed, and Boston Public. MAGILL, RONALD Veteran British character actor Ronald Magill died in England on September 6, 2007. He was 87. Magill was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, England, on April 21, 1920. He served with the Royal Corps of Signals during World War II and began

Ronald Magill

231 performing on stage with repertory companies after the war. He appeared on television in episodes of Special Branch and Codename in the 1960s, and was featured as a servant in the 1970 version of Julius Caesar starring John Gielgud and Jason Robards. He began his longrunning role as Amos Brearly, the grumpy sideburned landlord on the soap opera Emmerdale in 1972. He remained with the series for nearly 20 years before retiring in 1991.

MAGNA, LICIA Brazilian actress Licia Magna died of heart failure in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 3, 2007. She was 98. Magna was born Alcina Miranda Tetemberg in Guaxupe, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on February 22, 1909. She was a frequent performer in Brazilian films from the 1950s, appearing in A Sombra da Outra (1950), Assault on the Pay Train (1962), Lollipop (1964), Viagem aos Seios de Dullia (1964), O Mundo Alegre de Helo (1967), Copacabana Fools Me (1968), The Girl Watchers (1969), Um Homem Sem Importancia (1971), Missao: Matar (1972), Um Virgem na Praca (1973), Obsessao (1973), O Libertino (1973), O Mau Carater (1974), Enigma para Demonios (1975), A Extorsao (1975), Uma Mulata Para Todos (1975), The Marriage (1976), Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976), Odio (1977), Quem Matou Pacifico? (1977), As Taradas Atacam (1978), Prova de Fogo (1980), The Kiss (1981), and Mater Dei (2004). She also appeared often on Brazilian television, starring in such series as Maria, Maria, Jogo da Vida, Roque Santeiro, Fera Radical, Voce Decide, Carga Pesada, and A Diarista. She was most recently featured in several episodes of Snakes and Lizards in 2006.

Licia Magna

MAGNUSSON, MAGNUS Magnus Magnusson, who hosted the long-running British television quiz show Mastermind, died of cancer near Glasgow, Scotland, on January 7, 2007. He was 77. Magnusson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, on October 12, 1929, and went to Scotland with his family as an infant. He began working as a journalist with the Scottish Daily Express in 1953, rising to assistant editor. He moved to The Scotsman in 1961, and was involved with several television documentaries for Scottish Television and the BBC. He became the hose of the short-lived television

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magazine program Tonight in 1957, before returning to The Scotsman. Magnusson reappeared on television as host of the monthly BBC series on archaeology and history, Chronicle, in 1966, and remained with the series until 1978. He was also chosen to host the challenging BBC quiz show Mastermind in 1972. The popular program remained on the air with Magnusson asking contestants questions until 1997. He later wrote a history of his time with the show, I’ve Started, So I’ll Finish, titled from his Mastermind catchphrase. Magnusson was also a storyteller on several episodes of the children’s show Jackonary in the late 1960s, and appeared in cameo roles in episodes of The Goodies and The Dame Edna Experience.

Magnus Magnusson

MAHER , FRANK British stuntman Frank Maher died of complications from emphysema in a Newport, Isle of Wight, hospital on July 13, 2007. He was 78. Maher was born in London on June 18, 1929. He served in the Army Parachute Regiment during World War II. He made his film debut after being wounded in action when he was cast as an extra in the historical drama Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), upon leaving the hospital. He returned to the screen after completing his Army service to work as an extra and stunt performer. He made uncredited appearances in such action films Ivanhoe (1952), The Crimson Pirate (1952), Saturday Island (1952), The Master of Ballantrae (1953) doubling Errol Flynn, and The Devil’s Disciple (1959) with Burt Lancaster. Maher also performed stunts and appeared in small roles in the films The Bandits of Zhobe (1959), Children of the Damned (1963), The Italian Job (1969), One More Time (1970), Innocent Bystanders (1972) and Remembrance (1982). He also worked frequently in television during the 1960s and 1970s as a stunt performer in such series as The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, The Saint, The Persuaders, The Champions, My Partner the Ghost, Space: 1999 and Blakes 7. Maher was often associated with actor Patrick McGoohan, serving as his stunt double on the espionage series Danger Man, Secret Agent and The Prisoner. He also assisted in the writing of The Prisoner western-themed episode “Living in Harmony.” In later years, Maher was the co-author of several novels, including The Capricorn Run (1978), Sa-

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hara Strike (1981) and Wipe-Out! (1981), and designed action sequences for such films as Die Hard (1988).

Frank Maher

MAIER, BARBARA Barbara Maier, who appeared in several silent films as a child actress, died in San Diego, California, on May 11, 2007. She was 90. Maier was born in San Diego on February 11, 1917. She and her family moved to Hollywood after she won the Ideal Screen Baby contest. She was seen in such silent films as The Speed Girl (1921), A Doll’s House (1922), and The Bachelor Daddy (1922). MAILER, NORMAN Author Norman Mailer, who was one of the leading American literary figures in the latter half of the 20th century, died of renal failure in a New York City hospital on November 10, 2007. He was 84. Mailer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on January 31, 1923. He attended Harvard where he earned a degree in Engineering Science in 1943. He was subsequently drafted into the US Army, where he saw action in the Philippines during World War II. After the war, his experiences with the Army inspired his first book, The Naked and the Dead, in 1948. The book was helmed as one of the finest American novels to emerge in the post World War II era. His 1951 novel, Barbary Shore, examined the politics of the Cold War in a surreal context, and 1955’s, The Deer Park, inspired by the blacklistings in Hollywood. The Naked and the Dead was adapted for film in 1958 and his 1965 novel An American Dream was also filmed the following year. A leading figure in the counter-culture in the 1950s and 1960s, Mailer’s involvement with the anti–Vietnam War movement inspired his 1968 novel, Armies of the Night, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. He also penned the 1968 essay on the political conventions of that year, Miami and the Siege of Chicago. Mailer produced, directed and wrote the 1968 film Beyond the Law, and starred in the role of Lt. Francis Xavier Pope. He also directed and starred in the film Wild 90 in 1968. Mailer was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of New York City in 1970, espousing his desire to transform the city into the nation’s 51st state. His avant garde 1970 film, Maidstone, featured an improvised brawl between himself and actor Rip Torn. Mailer’s literary output included 1970’s Of

a Fire on the Moon about the space program, The Prisoner of Sex (1971), Marilyn (1973) about screen sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, The Fight (1975) about the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire, and The Executioner’s Song (1979), about executed murderer Gary Gilmore, which earned him a second Pulitzer Prize. Mailer was featured as illfated architect Stanford White in the 1981 film, Ragtime. His book, The Prisoner of Sex, was adapted for the 1979 film Town Bloody Hall. Marilyn: The Untold Story became a tele-film in 1980, and he adapted The Executioner’s Song for television in 1982. He directed an adaptation of his novel, Tough Guys Don’t Dance, in 1987, starring Ryan O’Neal. He was featured as The Great Writer in 1987’s King Lear, and was magician Harry Houdini in 1999’s Cremaster 2. He wrote a bizarre biography of Christ in the first person with 1997’s The Gospel According to the Son, and combined fiction and non-fiction in his massive 1998 book The Time of Our Time. He scripted the 2000 tele-play American Tragedy, and wrote and produced the 2002 tele-film Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story. Mailer also appeared as himself in the films When We Were Kings (1996), Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale (2000), Inside Deep Throat (2005), The Outsider (2005) and The Ballad of Greenwich Village (2005). Mailer also guest starred in an episode of television’s Gilmore Girls. He also wrote an essay protesting the invasion of Iraq with 2003’s Why Are We at War? The noted author was married six times and produced at least 8 children, and an adopted stepson. He co-authored the 2005 book, The Big Empty, with his youngest child, John Buffalo Mailer. His final novel, The Castle in the Forest, about the youth of Adolf Hitler as narrated by the devil, was published in 2007.

Norman Mailer

MAKEM, TOMMY Irish singer Tommy Makem, who performed with the Clancy Brothers, died of lung cancer in Dover, New Hampshire, on August 1, 2007. He was 74. Makem was born in Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, on November 4, 1932. His mother, Sarah Makem, was a leading Irish traditional singer. Tommy Makem immigrated to the United States with Liam Clancy in 1955, where they soon joined Liam’s brothers, Tom and Pat, in a singing

233 group. They recorded their first album, The Rising of the Moon, in 1956. They were soon a popular act, performing at Carnegie Hall and on television’s The Ed Sullivan Show and The Mike Douglas Show. They also appeared in an episode of the sit-com Make Room for Daddy. Makem left the group to pursue a solo career in 1969, composing and singing such popular tunes as “Four Green Fields” and “The Winds Are Singing Freedom.” He reunited with Liam Clancy and formed the duo Makem and Clancy in the mid–1970s. They performed together until dissolving the act in 1988, with Makem returning to solo appearances. He was also seen in the films A Time to Remember (1987) and The Mouse (1996), and wrote the 1997 book Tommy Makem’s Secret Ireland. He starred in a one-man show in New York, Invasions and Legacies, in 1999. Makem’s sons Shane, Conor, and Rory followed him into show business as the singing group the Makem Brothers.

Tommy Makem

MALLORY, EDWARD Actor Edward Mallory, who starred as Dr. Bill Horton in the soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1966 to 1980, died after a long illness in a Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, hospital on April 4, 2007. He was 76. Mallory was born in Cumberland, Maryland, on June 14, 1930. He appeared frequently on television from the early 1960s, with appearances in such series as Goodyear Theatre, Perry Mason, Men into Space, Wagon Train, Death Valley Days, Tales of Wells

Edward Mallory

2007 • Obituaries

Fargo, Checkmate, The Tall Man, McHale’s Navy, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched, and The Munsters. He was also featured in several films including Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Experiment in Terror (1962), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Underwater City (1962), The Interns (1962), and Diamond Head (1963). He replaced Paul Carr as troubled soap opera doctor Bill Horton on the popular NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives. He remained with the show through 1980, and reprised his role as Dr. Horton several times in the 1990s. Mallory was also seen in the 1977 tele-film Kill Me if You Can, and an episode of the television series Automan in 1984.

MANCINI, AL Character actor Al Mancini died in London, Ohio, on November 12, 2007. He was 74. Mancini was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on November 13, 1932. He was an acting coach at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for over 30 years. Mancini also appeared frequently in films and television productions from the 1960s. He was Tassos Bravos, one of The Dirty Dozen in the 1967 war film. He was also seen in the films The Dirty Game (1965), Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1967), To Grab the Ring (1968), Welcome to the Club (1971), Madame Sin (1972), Sherlock Jones (1975), Turk 182! (1985), Agent on Ice (1986), Mission Manila (1987), The Delos Adventure (1987), Big Business (1988), Loose Cannons (1990), Far Out Man (1990), Miller’s Crossing as Tic-Tac, The Public Eye (1992), Falling Down (1993), It Runs in the Family (1994), Babe: Pig in the City (1998) as the voice of Fish, The Joyriders (1999), and Mid-Century (2002). He was featured on television in productions of Poet Game (1972), Arturo Ul (1972), Baffled! (1973), Brass (1985), Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Pat Hobby Teamed with Genius (1987), The Whereabouts of Jenny (1991), Till Death Us Do Part (1992), Arthur Miller’s The American Clock (1993), The Ticket (1997), and The Ransom of Red Chief (1998). Mancini also appeared on television in such series as That Was the Week That Was, The DuPont Show of the Month, Play of the Month, The Prisoner, Virgin of the Secret Service, The Jazz Age, Department S, Armchair Theatre, ITV Saturday Night Theatre’s 1969 production of Salve Regina, UFO in the recurring role of Lt. Andy Conroy, Jackanory, Jason King, The Protectors, Colditz as Captain Harry Nugent, Special Branch, The Hanged Man, Rhoda, All in the Family, 240-Robert,

Al Mancini (from The Dirty Dozen)

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Monsters, Gabriel’s Fire, NYPD Blue, and Joan of Arcadia.

MANCUSO , PAUL Actor turned property master Paul Mancuso died in Show Low, Arizona, on September 23, 2007. He was 42. Mancuso was born on August 20, 1965. He began his career as an actor in the late 1980s, appearing in small roles in the film Campus Man (1987), and the television series Probe and Teen Angel. He worked as a production assistant for the 1987 supernatural comedy film My Demon Lover. He was soon working as a propman and property master for such tele-films as Something to Love For: The Allison Gertz Story (1992), Running Mates (1992), From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One (1992), Broken Promises: Taking Emily Back (1993), Leave of Absence (1994), Take Me Home Again (1994), In the Shadow of Evil (1995), Robin Cook’s Virus (1995), The West Side Waltz (1995), My Son Is Innocent (1996), No One Would Tell (1996), Stranger in My Home (1997), Robin Cook’s Invasion (1997), Dead By Midnight (1997), A Thousand Men and a Baby (1997), and Two Heads Are Better Than None (2000). His feature film credits include That Campus Man (1987), Stephen King’s Thinner (1996), Bad Boy (2002), Something in Between (2002), and Acting of Intuition (2003).

years later. The film earned Mann the best director’s Oscar, plus Academy Awards for best picture, screenplay and for leading actor Ernest Borgnine. His next film, 1957’s The Bachelor Party, was also based on an earlier television production. He continued to direct such films as Desire Under the Elms (1958), Separate Tables (1958), Middle of the Night (1959), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), Love Come Back (1961), The Outsider (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962), A Gathering of Eagles (1963), Quick Before It Melts (1964), Dear Heart (1964), Mister Buddwing (1966), Fitzwilly (1967), The Pink Jungle (1968), Kidnapped (1971), Birch Interval (1976), Love’s Dark Ride (1978), Night Crossing (1981), and Bronte (1983). Mann returned to television in the late 1960s, helming a version of Heidi that became somewhat controversial when the NBC network cut away from a football game to air the program, enraging fans. He continued to direct such tele-films as David Copperfield (1969), Jane Eyre (1970), She Waits (1972), No Place to Run (1972), The Man Without a Country (1973), The First Woman President (1974), The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (1975), A Girl Named Sooner (1975), Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976), Tell Me My Name (1977), Breaking Up (1978), Home to Stay (1978), Tom and Joann (1978), Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (1978), Torn Between Two Lovers (1979), All Quiet on the Western Front (1979), To Find My Son (1980), All the Home (1981), The Member of the Wedding (1982), The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983), Love Leads the Way: A True Story (1984), A Death in California (1985), The Last Days of Patton (1986), The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story (1986), April Morning (1988), Ironclads (1991), Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore (1992), Incident in a Small Town (1994), and Lily in Winter (1994).

Paul Mancuso

MANN, DELBERT Director Delbert Mann, who won the Academy Award for his film debut Marty in 1956, died of pneumonia in a Los Angeles hospital on November 11, 2007. He was 87. Mann was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on January 30, 1920. He served as a bomber pilot during World War II and studied at the Yale School of Drama. He began directing for the stage at Columbia, South Carolina’s town theatre in the late 1940s. He joined his mentor, producer Fred Coe, in New York where he began working as a television director. He helmed segments of such series as Lights Out, Goodyear Television Playhouse, The Philco Television Playhouse, Producer’s Showcase, Playwrights ’56, Ford Star Jubilee, Omnibus, The DuPont Show of the Month, Sunday Showcase, Playhouse 90, and Startime. Mann’s 1953 television production of Paddy Chayefsky’s drama, Marty, about a shy Brooklyn butcher’s attempt to find love was transformed into his debut film two

Delbert Mann

MANN, WINIFRED Character actress Winifred Mann died in a Mill Valley, California, retirement facility on May 11, 2007. She was 88. She was born Winifred Klein in Brooklyn, New York, on July 20, 1918. She trained for the stage in New York and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s. She toured with the USO during World War II and continued to perform on the repertory stage in California after the war. She

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also appeared in films and television from the 1970s. Mann was seen in the films The Candidate (1972), The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974), Smile (1975), and Tell Me a Riddle (1980). She was also featured in the tele-films Sunday Drive (1986) and Eye on the Sparrow (1987), and in episodes of The Streets of San Francisco and Midnight Caller.

MANNING, BERNARD British comedian Bernard Manning died of complications from diabetes and kidney problems in England on June 18, 2007. He was 76. Manning was born in Manchester, England, on August 13, 1930. He began performing as a singer with the Oscar Rabin dance band in London in the 1950s. Returning to Manchester in 1959, he opened the Embassy Club, where he performed as a stand-up comic. His somewhat controversial act, featuring racial and sexual humor, reached a national audience on the Granada television program The Comedians in 1971. He also appeared on television in the 1974 series The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club in 1974, and starred in the 1978 television special Bernard Manning in Las Vegas. He also hosted the 1980 film The Great British Striptease Festival, and appeared in episodes of Saturday Stayback, The Bob Monkhouse Show, A Question of Entertainment, Brass Eye, The Mrs. Merton Show, Freak Out, The Christine Hamilton Show, Lads Army, The Comedy Map of Britain, and The Impressionable Jon Culshaw. The oversized comic’s career faltered somewhat in the 1980s, when his style of humor fell out of favor, though he continued to perform and entertain audiences until his death.

Nancy Mansfield

Huips (2003) and Hupiklubi (2003). Mantere was also featured in several films including Karvat (1974) and Ruuvit Loysalla (1989).

Eeki Mantere

Bernard Manning

MANSFIELD, NANCY Actress Nancy Mansfield died in London, England, after a short illness on July 9, 2007. She was 81. Mansfield was born in London on September 19, 1925. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed frequently on stage with repertory companies from the 1940s. She was best known for her role as Peggy Masters in the British television series Bergerac with John Nettles from 1985 to 1989. MANTERE, EEKI Finnish actor Eeki Mantere died in Jorvi, Finland, on April 30, 2007. He was 58. Mantere was born in Helsinki, Finland, on January 25, 1949. He was best known for portraying the character Viktor Kalborek on Finnish television in such series as

MANULIS, MARTIN Martin Manulis, a pioneering television producer of the 1950s, died at his home in Los Angeles on September 28, 2007. He was 92. Manulis was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 30, 1915. He began working in New York as a stage director and producer from the late 1930s. He began producing for television in the early 1950s, working on such anthology series as Studio One, Suspense, and The Best of Broadway. He also produced the drama series Crime Photographer and the first adaptation of an Ian Fleming James Bond story, Casino Royale, for Climax! in 1954. Manulis was best known for his work on the acclaimed drama series Playhouse 90 from 1956 to 1958. The series received six Emmys during its first season, with most going to the acclaimed production of Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight, about a downand-out boxer. Manulis also oversaw production of such dramas as The Miracle Worker, Forbidden Area, The Days of Wine and Roses, and The Helen Morgan Story during his years with Playhouse 90. He finished out the decade as a producer for the series Adventures in Paradise, Five Fingers and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, as head of production at Twentieth Century–Fox Television. Manulis moved into films in the 1960s as

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producer of the 1962 adaptation of his former Playhouse 90 success Days of Wine and Roses. He also produced the films Dear Heart (1964), Luv (1967) and Duffy (1968). He returned to television in the 1970s as executive producer of the series James at 15. He also served as producer for the tele-films and mini-series Double Solitaire (1974), The Day Christ Died (1980), The Fighter (1983), Chiefs (1983), James Michener’s Space (1985), Harem (1986), and Grass Roots (1992). Manulis was married to actress Katherine Bard for 44 years until her death in 1983.

Martin Manulis

MANUSHI, VIOLETA Albanian actress Violeta Manushi died in Tirane, Albania, on July 26, 2007. She was 81. Manushi was born in Tirane on March 6, 1926. A popular performer on stage and screen, she was seen in the films Tana (1958), Debatik (1961), Vitet e Para (1965), The Lady from the Town (1976), Zemrat qe nuk Plaken (1977), Pertej Mureve te Gurta (1979), The Friend from the Country (1980), Taulanti Kerkon nje Moter (1984), Rrethimi i Vogel (1986), and Eja! (1987).

was noted for his collaborations with director Renato Pozzetto. Manzotti produced such films as Stormtroopers (1976), Neapolitan Mystery (1978), Hot Potato (1979), Prickly Pears (1980), Culo e Camicia (1981), Nessuno e Perfetto (1981), La Casa Stregata (1982), Porca Vacca (1982), Looking for Jesus (1982), The Girl from Trieste (1982), Mani di Fata (1983), Rich and Poor (1983), The Story of Piera (1983), This and That (1983), Bianca (1984), The Future Is Woman (1984), My Brother Has Come (1985), Light Blast (1985), Nothing Underneath (1985), The Corruption (1986), Da Grande (1987), Gli Invisibili (1988), Ballet (1988), The Sabbath (1988), They Only Come Out at Night (1988), Stradivari (1989), Fratelli d’Italia (1989), Burro (1989), the horror film Two Evil Eyes (1990) directed by George Romero and Dario Argento, All Women Do It (1992), and Farfalle (1997). In recent years Manzotti worked primarily in television, producing the television productions Amico mio 2 (1998) and Mio Figlio ha 70 Anni (1999), and the series Un Prete tra Noi and Camici Bianchi.

MARCEAU, MARCEL French mime Marcel Marceau died in Paris on September 22, 2007. He was 84. He was born Marcel Mangel in Strasbourg, France, to a Jewish family on March 22, 1923. He worked with the French Resistance during the German occupation in World War II. He began his career as a performer after the liberation of Paris. He studied under leading mime Etienne Decroux at the Charles Dullin School of Dramatic Art. He soon created his on-stage persona, Bip, a sad-faced harlequin with white face, sailor suit, and battered top hat with a red rose on top. He formed his own mime troupe in the late 1940s, and toured Europe and the United States during the 1950s. He soon became an international star, single-handedly reviving the art of mime. He appeared in several films from the 1950s including Pantomimes (1954), Die Schone Lugnerin (1959), It (1966), and We Called Him Robert (1967). Marceau starred as Professor Ping in Roger Vadim’s camp sci-fi classic Barbarella with Jane Fonda in 1968, and was Malcolm Shanks and Old Walker in William Castle’s Shanks in 1970. He made a cameo appearance in Mel Brooks’ 1976 comedy Silent Movie, having the only speaking role when he said “Non!” when asked to appear in the film. He was also seen in

Violeta Manushi

MANZOTTI, ACHILLE Italian film producer Achille Manzotti died in a private hospital in Rome of cancer on July 20, 2007. He was 63. Manzotti was born in Fara d’Adda, Lombardia, Italy, on November 10, 1943. He began producing films in the mid–1970s, and

Marcel Marceau

237 The Islands (1983), Paganini (1989), The Jodorowsky Constellation (1994), and Joseph’s Gift (1998) as the Snake. Marceau performed frequently on television variety shows with appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dinah Shore Show, The Hollywood Palace, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, The Flip Wilson Show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He continued his steady level of performances throughout his life, continuing to tour as Bip at venues around the world.

MARIE-JEANNE Ballerina Marie-Jeanne died of congestive heart failure in Austin, Texas, on December 28, 2007. She was 87. She was born Marie-Jeanne Pelus in Manhattan, New York, in 1920. She studied dance at the School of American Ballet, and performed with George Balanchine’s Ballet Caravan from 1937 to 1940. She was noted for her performances in Eugene Loring’s Billy the Kid (1938) and Lew Christensen’s Filling Station (1938). Marie-Jeanne later danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the American Ballet, the Original Ballet Russe, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, and Marquis de Cuevas’ Ballet International. She starred in productions of William Dollar’s Constantia and Andre Eglevsky’s Colloque Sentimental in 1944. She also appeared with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas and the New York City Ballet before her retirement in 1954. Marie-Jeanne was also the author of two dance related novels for juveniles, Yankee Ballerina (1941) and Opera Ballerina (1948). She occasionally returned to ballet to help train young dancers for roles in Balanchine ballets.

2007 • Obituaries

mask vs. mask bout to Anibal in the late 1980s. He also teamed with Gran Markus, Jr., who wasn’t his son but had permission to use the name, before his retirement due to illness in 1990.

El Gran Markus

MARLETTE, DOUG Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Doug Marlette was killed when the car he was a passenger in skidded into a tree on a rain-slick road in Marshall County, Mississippi, on July 10, 2007. He was 57. Marlette was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on December 6, 1949. He began his career as an editorial cartoonist for The Charlotte Observer in 1972. He was working in Charlotte and for The Atlanta Constitution when he won the Pulitzer for editorial cartooning in 1988. The following year he joined the staff of New York News Day. Marlette was also noted for his popular syndicated comic strip Kudzu, which he began in 1981.

Marie-Jeanne

MARKUS, EL GRAN Juan Chavarria Galicia, who wrestled as the masked grappler El Gran Markus, died of a heart attack and complications from diabetes on November 15, 2007. He was 68. Markus was born in Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico, on December 27, 1938. He was a major star in the Texas area during the 1970s, feuding with such stars as Jose Lothario and Red Bastien. He held the Texas Heavyweight Title several times in 1974 and 1975. He teamed with Gino Hernandez to hold the World Class American Tag Team Title several times in 1979. He also held the World Class Caribbean Title in 1979. Markus lost a

Doug Marlette

MARSAC, MAURICE Veteran character actor Maurice Marsac died in Santa Rosa, California, on May 6, 2007. He was 92. Marsac was born in La Croix, France, on March 23, 1915. He worked in the French Embassy in London during the 1930s and was a captain in the French Army reserves. He returned to France after the start of World War II, where he worked with the French Resistance. Marsac subsequently came to

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the United States as a salesman for French wines. He soon embarked on a career in acting, appearing in numerous films, often as a French waiter or maitre d.’ His many film credits include Paris After Dark (1943), This Is the Life (1944), Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), To Have and Have Not (1944) with Humphrey Bogart, The Searching Wind (1946), The Razor’s Edge (1946), Crime Doctor’s Gamble (1947), The Woman from Tangier (1948), Rogues’ Regiment (1948), Take One False Step (1949), The Secret of St. Ives (1949), Once More, My Darling (1949), Tyrant of the Sea (1950), The Iroquois Trail (1950), Fugitive from Montreal (1950), Three Husbands (1951), Captain Pirate (1952), One Minute to Zero (1952), Assignment: Paris (1952), The Happy Time (1952), Against All Flags (1952), April in Paris (1952), The Desert Song (1953), The Caddy (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Rhapsody (1954), The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), Jump into Hell (1955), Ride the High Iron (1956), Four Girl in Town (1957), China Gate (1957), Band of Angels (1957), Les Girls (1957), Tarzan and the Trappers (1958), Lafayette Escadrille (1958), Gigi (1958), Twilight for the Gods (1958), Me and the Colonel (1958), It Started with a Kiss (1959), The Black Chapel (1959), Scent of Mystery (1960), Can-Can (1960), Perro Golfo (1961), Armored Command (1961), King of Kings (1961), Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory (1962), Come Fly with Me (1963), Captain Sinbad (1963), Take Her, She’s Mine (1963), Wild and Wonderful (1964), What a Way to Go! (1964), The Pleasure Seekers (1964), The Art of Love (1965), Clarence, the CrossEyed Lion (1965), Gambit (1966), Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), Double Trouble (1967), Caprice (1967), How Do I Love Thee? (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Herbie Rides Again (1974), The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin, The Big Red One (1980), Deal of the Century (1983), and Dragnet (1987). Marsac was also seen in the tele-films The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond (1975), Cover Girls (1977), Ike (1979) as Gen. Henri Giraud, The French Atlantic Affair (1979), Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981) as Charles DeGaulle, Bare Essence (1982), The Jerk, Too (1984), and Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985). His numerous television credits also include guest roles in such series as Dangerous Assignment, Terry and the Pirates, Biff Baker, U.S.A., The Public Defender, Foreign Intrigue, General Electric Theater, The Red Skelton Show, The Millionaire, Cavalcade of America, The Stu Erwin Show, You Are There, Climax!, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Letter to Loretta, Our Miss Brooks, I Love Lucy, It’s a Great Life, Adventures of Superman, The Adventures of Hiram Holliday, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, The Gale Storm Show, Suspicion, Telephone Time, Northwest Passage, Peter Gunn, One Step Beyond, Angel, The Real McCoys, G.E. True, The Richard Boone Show, My Favorite Martian, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Rogues, My Living Doll, Twelve O’Clock High, Run for Your Life, The Tammy Grimes Show, Green Acres, Combat!, Tarzan, Hogan’s Heroes, Get Smart, Garrison’s Gorillas, Daniel Boone, The Queen and I, To Rome with Love, It Takes a Thief, Family Affair, Insight, My Three Sons, The F.B.I., Bewitched, O’Hara,

U.S. Treasury, Mission: Impossible, Search, Mannix, The Six Million Dollar Man, Chase, Columbo, McCloud, Cannon, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Get Christie Love!, The Bionic Woman, Barnaby Jones, The New Avengers, The Rockford Files, Wonder Woman, Good Times, Soap, A Man Called Sloane, Hart to Hart, Family Ties, The Facts of Life, Casablanca, Night Court, The Fall Guy, The A-Team, and L.A. Law. Marsac and his wife, Melanie, were married for 55 years until she passed away on April 16, 2007, several weeks before his own death.

Maurice Marsac

MARSDEN, ROBERT British actor Robert Marsden died in England on April 5, 2007. He was 85. Marsden was born in West Hampstead, England, on August 22, 1921. He began his career on the Shakespearean stage at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1940, and joined the BBC Drama Repertory Company several years later. He remained active on the stage and radio for several decades, sometimes directing productions. He was also featured as Black Dog in a 1957 television production of Treasure Island. He also appeared as Abraham Lincoln, a role in played on stage on several occasions, in an episode of Doctor Who in 1965. Marsden also appeared in the 1965 film spy spoof Licensed to Kill (aka The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World). He was also a drama teacher from the 1960s, performing less frequently as his eyesight and health began to fail.

Robert Marsden

239 MARTEL, SHERRI Professional wrestler and manager Sherri Martel, who was often known as Sensational Sherri, was found dead at her mother’s home in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 15, 2007. She was 49. She was born Sherri Russell in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 8, 1958. She made her debut in wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1980. She competed for nearly a year and subsequently trained with Donna Christentello, and the Fabulous Moolah in South Carolina. She left wrestling in 1982 after suffering an eye injury, but returned to the ring in June of 1985. She became known as Sensational Sherri, and won the AWA Women’s Title from Candi Devine in September of 1985. She also managed tag team champions Buddy Rose and Doug Somers in the AWA in 1986, and Kevin Kelly in 1987. She exchanged the women’s title several times with Candy Devine until July of 1987, when she left the AWA and entered the WWF. She defeated the Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women’s Title in July of 1987. She lost the title to Rockin’ Robin in October of 1988 in a match in Paris, France. She also managed such WWE superstars as Ted DiBiase and Shawn Michaels. Martel left the WWF in July of 1993 and made brief appearances with Smoky Mountain Wrestling and ECW. She entered WCW in 1994 where she initially worked with Ric Flair. She later managed the tag team Harlem Heat as Sister Sherri, leading them to several tag team championships in 1994 and 1995, before leaving WCW in 1997. She appeared on the independent circuit over the next several years and briefly resurfaced in WCW in 2000. Martel was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April of 2006.

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Who, including The Invisible Enemy, which introduced K-9 in 1977. Martin also wrote such television productions as Thick as Thieves (1974), Machinegunner (1976), King of the Castle (1977), Follow Me (1977), Murder at the Wedding (1979), Into the Labyrinth (1982), and Succubus (1987). Martin later wrote several police thriller novels including I’m Coming to Get You (1996) and Arm and a Leg (1999).

Dave Martin

MARTIN, JANIS Rockabilly singer Janis Martin died of cancer in a Durham, North Carolina, hospital on September 3, 2007. She was 67. Martin was born in Sutherlin, Virginia, on March 27, 1940. She began singing as a child and was a frequent talent contest winner. She was performing on radio by the age of 11, and soon became a regular on the Richmond, Virginia, radio program Old Dominion Barndance. She recorded the rockabilly song “Will You Will-Yum” in 1956 and scored a major hit with the single. She also recorded the popular songs “My Boy Elvis” and “Drugstore Rock ’n’ Roll,” and was soon appearing on such television programs as American Bandstand and The Today Show. She was billed by promoters as “the female Elvis,” and performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Her career largely ended in 1957 when her marriage and pregnancy led to her RCA label dropping her. She tried a brief comeback in the early 1960s without success, but the emerging popularity of rockabilly in Europe led to

Sherri Martel

MARTIN , DAVE British television writer Dave Martin, who was best known as the co-creator of Doctor Who’s robotic canine companion K-9, died in England of lung cancer on March 30, 2007. He was 72. Martin was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, on January 1, 1935. He worked as an advertising copywriter before teaming with Bob Baker to write for television in the 1970s. They scripted episodes of such series as Z Cars, Public Eye, Pretenders, Arthur of the Britons, Hunter’s Walk, and Sky. They wrote eight chapters of the popular British science fiction series Doctor

Janis Martin

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a more successful comeback in the late 1970s. Her new popularity extended to the United States by the 1990s, when she performed a duet with young country singer Rosie Flores on the album Rockabilly Filly. She was also featured in the documentaries Welcome to the Club: The Women of Rockabilly (2001) and Rebel Beat: The Story of LA Rockabilly (2007). Martin had completed her own album shortly before her death.

MARTINEZ, MARILYN Hispanic comedian Marilyn Martinez died of colon cancer in a Hollywood, California, hospital on November 3, 2007. She was 52. Martinez was born in Denver, Colorado, on February 9, 1955. She moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and was performing at the Comedy Store in the 1990s, where she became a popular stand-up comic and starred in Showtime’s Original Latin Divas of Comedy in 2007. She was also featured in Martin Lawrence’s First Amendment Stand Up on Starz in 2007. Martinez starred in the 2003 comedy special Hot Tamales Live: Spicy, Hot and Hilarious, and the 2004 cable reality series Urban Jungle. She was featured in an episode of Daman Wayans’ comedy series My Wife and Kids, and appeared in several films including Choose Life (1999), For da Love of Money (2002), Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003), and El Matador (2004).

Steve Massarsky

MASTREY, TAWN Heavy metal radio disk jockey Tawn Mastrey died of complications from Hepatitis C in a Minneapolis, Minnesota, hospital on October 2, 2007. She was 53. Mastrey was born on August 20, 1954. She began working in radio in the early 1970s and became a noted proponent of the heavy metal music scene at station KNAC-FM in Long Beach, California, in the 1980s. She moved to Los Angeles’ KQLZ-FM in 1989 and worked at stations in Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis in the 1990s. She was a regular voice on the syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper and hosted Absolutely High Voltage. In recent years, Mastrey worked with Sirius Satellite Radio as host of the daily heavy metal program Hair Nation until poor health forced her retirement several months before her death.

Marilyn Martinez

MASSARSKY, STEVE Steve Massarsky, the co-founder of Valiant Comics, died of complications from cancer in Manhattan, New York, on October 5, 2007. He was 59. Massarsky was born on March 21, 1948. He was an attorney who worked as an entertainment lawyer with such personalities as Cyndi Lauper, Aerosmith and baseball star Willie Mays. He also advised such commercial properties as the Cabbage Patch Dolls and Psychedelic Furs. He co-founded Voyager Communications, which operated Valiant Comics, in the 1990s. Valiant initially scored great success with the publication of such titles as Harbinger, Blooodshot, Rai, X-O Manowar, and Archer & Armstrong. They also resurrected several Gold Key titles for a new generation including Magnus, Robot Fighter, Turok, Son of Stone, and Solar, Man of the Atom. Valiant later became known as Acclaim before ceasing publication later in the decade.

Tawn Mastrey

MATHEWS, KERWIN Actor Kerwin Mathews, who starred in such fantasy classics as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver and Jack the Giant Killer in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died in his sleep at his home in San Francisco, California, during the night of July 4, 2007. He was 81. Mathews was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 8, 1926. He attended college in Wisconsin and worked as a high school English teacher before traveling to Hollywood to act in the 1950s. He appeared in productions at Pasadena Playhouse before making his film debut in

241 Columbia’s 5 Against the House with Kim Novak in 1955. Mathews also appeared on television in episodes of Space Patrol, The Ford Television Theatre, Playhouse 90, Matinee Theatre, and Goodyear Theatre, and in the 1957 film The Garment Jungle. He was best known for starring as Sinbad in the 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which featured the stop-motion animation work of special effects master Ray Harryhausen. Mathews battled a cyclops, a dragon, and a platoon of animated skeletons in the popular fantasy. He also starred in the films Tarawa Beachhead (1958), The Last Blitzkrieg (1959), The Warrior Empress (1960), and Man on a String (1960). He again teamed with Ray Harryhausen for The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, a 1960 adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. As Dr. Lemuel Gulliver Mathews met the tiny Lilliputians and the giant Brobdingnagians. He starred with Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra in the 1961 thriller The Devil at 4 O’Clock and was a swashbuckling hero in 1962’s Pirates of Blood River. He returned to the realm of fantasy in the title role in 1962’s Jack the Giant Killer. Mathews worked frequently in Europe in the 1960s, starring in the 1963 Hammer psychological thriller Maniac, and in the films OSS 117 (1963), Shadow of Evil (1964), The Viscount (1967), and The Killer Likes Candy (1968). He starred as composer Johann Strauss in Disney’s 1963 production of The Waltz King, and starred as Cmdr. Jonathan Shaw in the 1967 science fiction film Battle Beneath the Earth. He was also seen in the television productions of Ghostbreakers (1967), Dead of Night (1969), and Death Takes a Holiday (1971), and the films A Boy ... a Girl (1969), and Barquero (1970). He appeared in two episodes of television’s Ironside in the early 1970s, and starred in several low-budget horror films including Octaman (1971), The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973), and Nightmare in Blood (1978), before retiring from the screen.

2007 • Obituaries

per la Vita (1954). Soon rising to editor, he cut such features as Blood and Defiance (1962), Revenge of the Black Knight (1963), Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators (1964), The Last Tomahawk (1965), Agent 3S3: Passport to Hell (1965), Kill Johnny Ringo (1966), Agent 353, Massacre in the Sun (1966), Target Frankie (1967), The Magnificent Tony Carreras (1968), Goldface, il Fantastico Superman (1968), Guess Who’s Coming for Breakfast (1968), Isle of Lost Women (1969), Count Dracula (1970), Fistful of Diamonds (1970), La Salamandra del Deserto (1970), The French Sex Murders (1972), and Black Cobra (1976). Mattei made his directoral debut with 1970’s Armida, il Dramma di Una Sposa. He continued to direct numerous European exploitation films using such pseudonyms as Vincent Dawn, Jordan B. Matthews, Gilbert Roussel, Stefan Oblowsky, Michael Cardoso, Jimmy Matheus, David Hunt, Werner Knox, Pierre Le Blanc, and many others. He directed, and often scripted, such films as Love Sacrifice (1976), Private House of the SS (1977), S.S. Extermination Love Camp (1977), Mondo Erotica (1977), Emanuelle and the Erotic Nights (1978), Cicciolina Amore Mio (1979), Sexual Aberration — Sesso Perverso (1979), The Other Hell (1980), The True Story of the Nun of Monza (1980), Zombie Creeping Flesh (aka Virus) (1980), Porno Holocaust (1981), Caligula and Messalina (1982), Nero and Poppea: An Org y of Power (1982), Emmanuelle in Hell (1982), The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1983), Women’s Prison Massacre (aka Emanuelle Escapes from Hell) (1983), Rats: Night of Terror (1984), White Apache (1986), Double Target (1987), Scalps (1987), Strike Commando (1987), Robowar (1988), Cop Game (1988), Zombi 3 (1988), Strike Commando 2 (1988), Born to Fight (1989), Desire (1990), Three for One (1990), Shocking Dark (1990), Dangerous Attraction (1993), Telephone Murder (1994), Eyes Without a Face (1994), Legitimate Revenge (1995), Cruel Jaws (1995), Body and Soul (1996), Killing Striptease (2001), Venetian Caprice (2002), The Other Woman (2002), Snuff Trap (2003), Cannibal Ferox 3: Land of Death (2003), Cannibal World (2003), The Tomb (2004), Belle da Morire 2 (2005), The Jail: A Women’s Hell (2006), and Island of the Living Dead (2006).

Kerwin Mathews

MATTEI, BRUNO Italian film director Bruno Mattei, who was noted for the cult horror films he helmed under the pseudonym Vincent Dawn, died in a Rome, Italy, hospital after a long illness on May 21, 2007. He was 75. Mattei was born in Rome on July 30, 1931. He began working in films in the early 1950s, serving as an assistant editor on Lulu (1953) and Tua

Bruno Mattei

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242

MAUCH, BOBBY Robert J. “Bobby” Mauch, who was a child star with his twin brother Billy in the 1930s, died in Santa Rosa, California, on October 15, 2007. He was 86. Mauch was born in Peoria, Illinois, on July 6, 1921, and raised in Los Angeles. He and his brother made their debut as the Mauch Twins in the 1937 film adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper with Errol Flynn. The twins appeared in several other films together in the late 1930s, including Penrod and His Twin Brother (1938), Sons of the Plains (1938), Penrod’s Double Trouble (1938), Football Romeo (1938), and I’ll Tell the World (1939). Bobby Mauch later worked in television as an editor from the 1950s with such credits to his name as Dragnet and Cheyenne.

Bobby Mauch (left, with brother Billy from The Prince and the Pauper)

MAXWELL, LOIS Canadian-born British actress Lois Maxwell, who was best known for her role as Miss Moneypenny in 14 films in the James Bond series, died of cancer in a Perth, Australia, hospital on September 29, 2007. She was 80. She was born Lois Hooker in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, on February 14, 1927. She began her career on radio in Canada and went to England during World War II with the Canadian Army’s Entertainment Corps. She began her film career after the war in a small role in 1946’s A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven). She was also seen in 1946’s Spring Song, and went to Hollywood for a role in 1947’s That Hagen Girl, with Shirley Temple and Ronald Reagan. Maxwell continued to appear in such films as Corridor of Mirrors (1948), The Big Punch (1948), The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948), The Dark Past (1948), Love and Poison (1949), The Crime Doctor’s Diary (1949), Kazan (1949), Tomorrow Is Too Late (1950), Brief Rapture (1951), The Woman’s Angle (1952), Lady in the Fog (1952), Mantrap (1953), Women of Twilight (1953), Aida (1953), Torpedo Zone (1954), Satellite in the Sky (1956), Passport to Treason (1956), High Terrace (1956), Kill Me Tomorrow (1957), Time Without Pity (1957), Face of Fire (1959), The Unstoppable Man (1960), and Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita as Nurse Mary Lore. Maxwell began her long-running association with the James Bond series in 1962’s Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as the British secret agent. She appeared in Miss Moneypenny, the secretary to Bond’s superior, M. Though she appeared in the next thirteen Bond films,

her total screen time was approximately one hour, with less than 200 lines to her credit. She graced the screen as Moneypenny in From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1966), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) with George Lazenby taking over as James Bond, Diamonds Are Forever (1971) with Sean Connery returning as Agent 007, Live and Let Die (1973) marking Roger Moore’s debut as Bond, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), and Octopussy (1983). She left the Bond series, as did Roger Moore, following 1985’s A View to a Kill. At age 58, she was deemed a tad too old to play Bond’s unrequited love, and was replaced by 26-year-old Caroline Bliss in the next Bond outing. Maxwell’s other film credits include Come Fly with Me (1963), the classic psychological horror film The Haunting (1963) as Grace Markway, the 1967 James Bond spoof OK Connery, The Adventurerers (1970), Agatha Christie’s Endless Night (1971), From Hong Kong with Love (1975), Summer Rain (1976), Age of Innocence (1977), Lost and Found (1979), Mr. Patman (1980), and Martha, Ruth & Edie (1988). Maxwell also appeared frequently on British television from the 1950s, gueststarring in episodes of such series as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, O.S.S., Danger Man, One Step Beyond, No Hiding Place, Zero One, ITV Play of the Week, The Avengers, Ghost Squad, the marionette adventure series Stingray as the voice of Lt. Atlanta Shore, Gideon’s Way, The Baron, The Saint, My Partner, the Ghost, Department S, UFO, The Persuaders!, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Maxwell starred as Nancy Williams in the 1969 television series Adventures in Rainbow Country. She was also featured in television productions of The Ambassadors (1965), Sporting Chancer (1976), Peep (1984), The Blue Man (1985), Rescue Me (1988), Lady in the Corner (1989), and Hard to Forget (1998). She made her final appearance on screen in the 2001 feature The Fourth Angel.

Lois Maxwell

MAYBERG, K ATHARINA German actress Katharina Mayberg died in Hamburg, Germany, on February 21, 2007. She was 83. Mayberg was born in Hamburg, Germany, on March 31, 1923. She was a leading film actress in Germany from the late 1940s, ap-

243 pearing in such features as Mr. Gaspary’s Sons (1948), The Marriage of Figaro (1949), Der Theodor im Fussballtor (1950), Unvergangliches Licht (1951), Der Blaue Stern des Sudens (1951), The Unholy Intruders (1952), Marriage for One Night (1953), Die Todesarena (1953), Eternal Love (1954), Rose-Girl Reslie (1954), Die Schone Mullerin (1954), They Were So Young (1954), Klisura (1956), Der Erste Fruhlingstag (1956), Siegfried (1957) as Brunhiilde, El Batallon de las Sombras (1957), Mazurka der Liebe (1957), Dr. Crippen Lives (1958), Immer die Radfahrer (1958), Ich Heirate Herrn Direktor (1960), A Mother’s Revenge (1960), Junge Leute Brauchen Liebe (1961), Mann im Schatten (1961), The Breakthrough (1963), Loveplay (1972), and Der Schimmelreiter (1978). Mayberg also appeared on German television in productions of Madame Sans-Gene (1960), Jan Himp und die Kleine Brise (1966), Die Vitrine (1972), and Ein Herrlicher (1976), and episodes of Cliff Dexter, Polizeifunk Ruft, Percy Stuart, Familie Werner auf Reisen, and Motiv Liebe.

2007 • Obituaries

former with their touring show Wonderful World of Horses. He soon teamed with an Appaloosa stallion named Chief Bear Paw to create the comedy act about a tipsy horse and his trainer. He continued the act for over 30 years, though Chief Bear Paw was replaced on several occasions. Maynard-Visingard performed at the Arabian Nights dinner show in Kissimmee, Florida, from the 1990s.

Gaylord Maynard-Visingard

Katharina Mayberg (with Hans Sohnker)

MAYNARD, RICHARD Television producer Richard Maynard died at his home in San Fernando Valley, California, on January 2, 2007. He was 64. Maynard was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 1942. He taught film and television studies at several colleges and universities before he began producing tele-films in the mid–1980s. Maynard’s credits include Bridge Across Time (1985), Timestalkers (1987), Supercarrier (1988), The Neon Empire (1989), Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991), Stompin’ at the Savoy (1992), The Babysitter’s Seduction (1996), and Gold Coast (1997). Maynard also produced several theatrical releases including Blood Brothers (1993) and Normal Life (1996). MAYNARD-VISINGARD, GAYLORD Circus performer Gaylord Maynard-Visingard, who was noted for his comedy act that included a seemingly drunken horse and rider, died of cancer on October 6, 2007. He was 69. Maynard-Visingard was born in New York City on February 21, 1938, from a long line of circus performers. He began his career working as an acrobat and clown, before joining The Royal Lipizzana Stallion Show in 1970. He was stage manager and per-

MAYNOLOVSKI , S OTIR Bulgarian actor Sotir Maynolovski died in Sofia Bulgaria, on November 21, 2007. He was 77. Maynolovski was born in Varna, Bulgaria, on October 31, 1930. He was a leading stage and film star who appeared in such films as Tsar and General (1966), The Death of Alexander the Great (1968), Set Out Again (1969), Men on a Business Trip (1969), Confession (1969), The Prince (1970), The Quiet Fugitive (1972), The Kindest Person I Know (1973), Glow Over the Drava River (1974), The Dragon (1974), Memory of the Twin Sister (1976), The Girl with the Harmonica (1976), Illusive Stories (1977), Sunstroke (1977), The Blood Remains (1980), Three Deadly Sins (1980), Maybe a Frigate (1980), Autumn Sun (1982), Where Do You Live? (1983), Roman Jar (1983), Salvation (1984), Reference (1985), Cry for Help (1986), Transports of Death (1986), Monday Morning (1988), Late Full Moon (1996), and Tuvalu (1999).

Sotir Maynolovski

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MAYOLO, CARLOS Colombian film director Carlos Mayolo died in Bogota, Colombia, on February 3, 2007. He was 61. Mayolo was born in Cali, Colombia, on September 10, 1945. He began directing films in the early 1970s, helming Monserrate (1970). He also wrote, directed and appeared in the film Agarrando Pueblo (1977), and was featured as an actor in 1982’s Pure Blood. Mayolo was best known for writing and directing the 1983 horror film Carne de tu Carne (Flesh of Your Flesh). He also directed Aquel 19 (1985), and wrote, directed and starred as the Guardian in 1986’s La Mansion de Araucaima. He was featured in the 1987 film Cobra Verde, and directed the television series Azucar (1989) and Brujeres (2000).

MCDONALD, DANIEL Stage, film and television actor Daniel McDonald died of brain cancer at his home in New York City on February 15, 2007. He was 46. McDonald was born in New York City on July 30, 1960. He began working in films in the mid–1980s, appearing in Where the Boys Are ’84 (1984), The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), Million Dollar Mystery (1987), Bound by Honor (1993), What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993), At Risk (1994), Let It Be Me (1995), Jaded (1996), and The Ice Storm (1997). He was also seen in the telefilms Thompson’s Last Run (1986), The Betty Ford Story (1987), Home Fires (1987), Columbo: No Time to Die (1992), As Good as Dead (1995), Held in Havana (2000), and Tempting Adam (2004). McDonald’s other television credits include episodes of The Fall Guy, Call to Glory, Cagney and Lacey, Shadow Chasers, Freddy’s Nightmares, Murder, She Wrote, Herman’s Head, New York Undercover, New York News, Law & Order, Sex and the City, D.C., Madigan Men, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and CSI: Miami. McDonald made his debut on the Broadway stage in a production of Steel Pier in 1997, earning a Tony Award nomination for his performance. He also appeared on Broadway in productions of High Society (1998) and Mamma Mia! (2001).

Carlos Mayolo

MCCORKLE, GEORGE George McCorkle, a founding member for the southern rock group the Marshall Tucker Band, died of cancer in a Lebanon, Tennessee, hospital on June 29, 2007. He was 60. He was born on October 11, 1946. A guitar player, McCorkle helped form the Marshall Tucker Band in the 1970s and wrote their first hit, “Fire on the Mountain,” in 1975. He remained with the band until 1984 when he embarked upon a solo career as a songwriter. He wrote “Cowboy Blues” for Gary Allan and songs for Beverley Mitchell and John Corbett. McCorkle also released a solo album, American Street, in 1999.

George McCorkle

Daniel McDonald

MCGANN, BRAD New Zealand film director Brad McGann died after a long battle with bowel

Brad McGann

245 cancer in Auckland, New Zealand, on May 2, 2007. He was 43. McGann was born in Auckland on February 22, 1964. He began working in films in the 1990s, directing the shorts It Never Rains (1996), Come as You Are (1996), and Possum (1997). He directed his only feature, In My Father’s Den, in 2004, adapting Maurice Gee’s novel. The film won awards for best picture and director at the New Zealand Screen Awards in 2005, as well as international recognition at the Toronto Film Festival.

MCGHEE , BILL Character actor William “Bill” McGhee died of breast cancer at his home in Mexia, Texas, on February 17, 2007. He was 76. He was born in Mexia on July 24, 1931. McGhee performed frequently on the local stage in Dallas and became one of the first black actors in the area to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild. McGhee also appeared in over a dozen films including Free, White and 21 (1963), The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1964), High Yellow (1965), Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966), Fair Play (1972), Quadroon (1972), Don’t Look in the Basement (1973) as asylum inmate Sam, Slick Silver (1974), DriveIn (1976), 1918 (1985), and On Valentines Day (1986).

Bill McGhee

MCGOWN, JILL Author Jill McGown, who penned the detective series Hill and Lloyd, died in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, on April 6, 2007. She was 59. McGown was born in Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland, on August 9, 1947, and later moved with her family to Corby, Northampshire, England. She worked various jobs until launching her career as a writer in 1983 with A Perfect Match, the first of numerous Hill and Lloyd detective books. Her other works for this series include Redemption (1988), Death of a Dancer (1990), The Murders of Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Beale (1991), The Other Woman (1992), Murder ... Now and Then (1993), A Shred of Evidence (1995) which was adapted for the 2001 tele-film Hill and Lloyd, Verdict Unsafe (1997), Picture of Innocence (1998), Plots and Errors (1999), Scene of Crime (2001), Births, Deaths and Marriages (2002), and Unlucky for Some (2004). McGown also penned other non-serial novels including Record of Sin (1987), An Evil Hour (1986), The Stalking Horse (1987), and Murder Movie (1988). She also

2007 • Obituaries

wrote the psychological thriller Hostage to Fortune under the pseudonym Elizabeth Chaplin.

Jill McGown

MCLAUGHLIN, LEE Actor and stuntman Lee McLaughlin died in Northridge, California, on September 20, 2007. He was 71. McLaughlin was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on May 4, 1936, and was raised in Forth Worth, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and began working as an actor in the early 1960s. He performed stunt work and appeared in small roles for nearly a decade on the television western series Bonanza. McLaughlin appeared in episodes of such series as Switch, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, and Starsky and Hutch. He was also featured in the tele-films Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988) and Raven Hawk (1996). McLaughlin worked on a handful of films during his career including Up Your Alley (1971), Silver Streak (1976), Bound for Glory (1976), The Car (1977), The Cheap Detective (1978), Back Roads (1981), Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983), Young Guns (1988), Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988), The Skateboard Kid (1993), Forced to Kill (1993), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Kid (1995), Baby Face Nelson (1995), In the Light of the Moon (2000), and Greasewood Flat (2003).

Lee McLaughlin

MCNAIR, BARBARA Singer and actress Barbara McNair died of throat cancer in Los Angeles on

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February 4, 2007. She was 72. McNair was born on March 4, 1934, and raised in Racine, Wisconsin. She sang in church choir as a child and was performing in nightclubs by her early teens. Her career took off after winning Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts on television, and she was soon singing in major venues throughout the country. She appeared in several Broadway productions including The Body Beautiful (1958) and No Strings (1962). She also began making appearances on television variety series including The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Bell Telephone Hour, Hullabaloo, The Dean Martin Show, Playboy After Dark, and The Hollywood Palace. She also recorded songs under several labels including Motown and had hits with the “You’re Gonna Love My Baby,” “You Could Never Love Him,” and “Bobby.” She made her feature film debut opposite Raymond St. Jacques in the crime drama If He Hollers, Let Him Go! (1968). Her nude scenes in the film and subsequent layout in Playboy magazine brought her much notoriety. She was also seen in such films as Stiletto (1969), Venus in Furs (1969), Change of Habit (1969) as a nun with Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore, They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (1970) as Sidney Poitier’s wife, and The Organization (1971). She was also featured in the 1969 tele-film The Lonely Profession, and hosted her own variety show The Barbara McNair Show in 1969. Her other television credits include episodes of The Eleventh Hour, Dr. Kildare, I Spy, Hogan’s Heroes, To Rome with Love, McMillan and Wife, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Flip Wilson Show, The Mod Squad, Mission: Impossible, Police Woman, Vega$, General Hospital, Hell Town, The Redd Foxx Show, and The Jeffersons. McNair’s career was damaged in the early 1970s when she and her third husband, Rick Manzi, were arrested on charges of possession of heroin. Manzi was murdered in 1976 in what was likely a mob killing. McNair continued to perform in small clubs and appeared in several independent films in the 1990s including Fatal Charm (1990) and Neon Signs (1996).

1941. He began working in films and television as a gaffer in the mid–1960s. He worked as director of photography for such television series as Kojak, The Incredible Hulk, Darkroom, Voyagers!, St. Elsewhere, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories which earned him an Emmy Award in 1986, and Baywatch. McPherson also photographed the tele-films The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire (1981), Senior Trip (1981), Eleanor, First Lady of the World (1982), V (1983), Hot Pursuit (1984), A Reason to Live (1985), Acceptable Risks (1986), and Alien Nation (1989). He was also cinematographer for the films Just One of the Guys (1985), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), *batteries not included (1987), Short Circuit 2 (1988), Fletch Lives (1989), Career Opportunities (1991), and Bingo (1991). McPherson also directed the telefilms Strays (1991), Dirty Work (1992), Fade to Black (1993), Incident at Deception Ridge (1994), and Simon & Simon: In Trouble Again (1995), and episodes of the series The Incredible Hulk, Darkroom, Alien Nation, Swamp Thing, Strange Luck, JAG, Sliders, Babylon 5, Nash Bridges, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Seven Days.

MEIER, RHIANNON Film executive Rhiannon Meier, a vice president at Red Wagon Productions, was killed in Hollywood in the early hours of December 8, 2007, when the car she was a passenger in was struck by another vehicle which ran a red light. She was 28. Fellow film executive Sam Cassel, who was the driver of the car, was also killed in the crash. Meier was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on November 12, 1979. She began her career at the Motion Picture Corp. of America, and also worked at MGM and Catch 23, Entertainment. She served as producer Brad Krevoy’s assistant on the films Pavement (2002), After School Special (2003), and Blast! (2004). She served as director of development for Blue Star Pictures, where she was co-producer of Daddy Day Camp (2007) and associate producer for Bangkok Dangerous (2008). She joined Red Wagon Productions as vice president of creative affairs earlier in 2007. She was involved in the development of the forthcoming film Living Dead Girl at the time of her death.

Barbara McNair

MCPHERSON, JOHN

Cinematographer and director John McPherson died at his home in Westlake Village, California, on December 21, 2007. He was 65. McPherson was born in Los Angeles on December 30,

Rhiannon Meier

MELFI, PHIL Film producer Phil Melfi died of heart failure in McMinnville, Tennessee, on Novem-

247 ber 6, 2007, several weeks after undergoing bypass surgery. He was 38. Melfi was born in Queens, New York, on December 27, 1968. He was president of MoviePartners Inc. and produced the horror films Tenebrous (2007) and The Cursed (2008).

2007 • Obituaries

MENDOZA, LYDIA Lydia Mendoza, an early Tejano music singer known as the Lark of the Border, died in San Antonio, Texas, on December 20, 2007. She was 91. Mendoza was born in Houston Texas, on May 21, 1916. She began her career in the 1930s, and became one of the first Mexican-American singing stars with her hit “Mal Hombre.” She recorded more than 200 songs during her career including the popular hits “Angel de Mis Anhelos” and “La Valentina.” She was awarded the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 1999.

Phil Melfi

MELLY, GEORGE British jazz singer and author George Melly died of complications from lung cancer and dementia at his home in London on July 5, 2007. He was 80. Melly was born in Liverpool, England, on August 17, 1926. He served in the Royal Navy toward the end of World War II. After the war he became involved in the jazz scene in London, singing with Mick Mulligan’s Magnolia Jazz Band. He began working as a film critic for The Observer in the early 1960s, and was writer of the satirical comic strip Flook for the Daily Mail. Melly also scripted the films Smashing Times (1967) and Take a Girl Like You (1970), and was the storyteller on several episodes of The Jackonary television series in the late 1960s. He returned to music in 1974, singing with John Chilton’s Feetwarmers until 2003. He also wrote several books including Revolt into Style (1970) about Pop Art, his 1977 memoir Rum, Bum and Concertina, and Paris and the Surrealists (1991). He continued to perform in concerts for most of his life, despite failing health in recent years.

Lydia Mendoza

MENON, RAVI Indian Malayalam language actor Ravi Menon died of cancer in a hospital in Perinthalmanna, India, on November 24, 2007. He was 57. Menon was born in Sreekrishnapuram, India, in 1950. He studied at the Film and Television Institute of India and made his film debut in 1973’s Nirmalyam. He appeared in more than fifty films during his career including Two Minds (1973), Shalini Ente Koottukari (1978), Aarathi (1981), Uyarangalil (1984), Shyama (1986), Sruthi (1987), Naradhan Keralathil (1987), Naaduvazhikal (1989), Mukham (1990), Indrajaalam (1990), and Maanthrikam (1995).

Ravi Menon George Melly

MENOTTI, GIAN CARLO Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who was noted for writing the

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popular contemporary operas Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Medium, died at the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco on February 1, 2007. He was 95. Menotti was born to a prosperous merchant family in Caedegliano, Italy, on July 7, 1911. He learned to play musical instruments from his mother as a child and was writing songs by the age of five. He studied at the Verdi Conservatory of Music before coming to the United States in 1928 to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His first opera, Amelia Goes to the Ball, was produced in Philadelphia in 1937 and later performed at the Metropolitan Opera. He was commissioned by NBC Radio to write a one-act opera, The Old Maid and the Thief, which was broadcast in 1939. His subsequent work, The Island God, was less successful in 1942, but he achieved acclaim for The Medium, which had a lengthy run on Broadway in 1946. Menotti earned the Pulitzer Prize and the Drama Critics Circle Award for his 1950 work The Consul. His best known work, Amahl and the Night Visitors, was written for NBC in 1951, and was performed frequently on television on television, most recently in 2002. He received a second Pulitzer Prize for The Saint of Bleecker Street, which was produced on Broadway in 1954. Menotti also wrote the librettos for Samuel Barber’s operas Vanessa and Hand of Bridge, and Lukas Foss’ Introductions and Goodbyes. He also continued writing his own operas, which included Labyrinth (1963), The Last Savage (1963), Martin’s Lie (1964), Help, Help, the Globolinks (1968), The Most Important Man (1971), The Hero (1976), The Egg (1976), and The Trial of the Gypsy (1978). Menotti was the founder of the Festival of Two Worlds, a music festival in Spoleto, Italy, that was initiated in 1958. He also formed the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1977, which he was involved with for 16 years. He produced, directed, and wrote the work Goya, which was broadcast on television in 1986.

dier (1959), The First Date (1960), The Girls (1961), The Day the War Ended (1961), Young-Green (1962), A Mother’s Heart (1965), Clean Ponds (1965), A Mother’s Devotion (1966), The Grey Illness (1966), We’ll Live Till Monday (1969), A Man at His Place (1972), No Return (1973), One Hundred Days After Childhood (1974), Poseidon Speshit na Pomoshch (1977), The Sixth (1981), Serafim Polubes i Drugiye Zhiteli Zemli (1983), Konets Operatsii Rezident (1986), Visit to Minotaur (1987), Loan for a Marriage (1987), Nikolai Podvoysky (Stranitsy Zhizni) (1987), The Hat (1990), The Ghosts of the Green Room (1991), and The Man of No Return (2006). She was married to director Stanislav Rostotsky until his death in 2001. Their son, actor Andrei Rostotsky, was killed in a fall while performing a stunt for a film in 2002.

Nina Menshikova

MERLINO, SILVIA Argentine actress Silvia Merlino died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 27, 2007. She was 63. Merlino was born in Buenos Aires in 1944. She began her career as a teenager in the late 1950s. She was best known for her role as Silvia in the comedy television series The Falcon Family, which aired for more than seven years during the 1960s. She was also featured in the 1963 film version of The Falcon Family, and appeared in the film comedies Villa Carino esta que Arde (1968), Que Noche de Casamiento! (1969), and Que Linda es mi Familia!

Gian Carlo Menotti

MENSHIKOVA, NINA Russian actress Nina Menshikova died in Russia on December 26, 2007. She was 78. Menshikova was born in Moscow on August 8, 1928. She was a popular actress in Russian films from the late 1950s. Her film credits include The Man from Planet Earth (1958), Annushka (1959), Ballad of a Sol-

Silvia Merlino

249 (1980). Merlino was also seen on television in the series La Pulpera de Santa Lucia (1968), Cuando Vuelvas a Mi (1969), Una Escalera el Cielo (1979), Crecer con Papa (1982), Momento de Incertidumbre (1985), Black Octopus (1985), Clave de Sol (1987), and Fiesta y Bronca de ser Joven (1992).

MERRICK, LYNN Actress Lynn Merrick, who was cowboy star Don “Red” Barry’s leading lady in over a dozen B Westerns in the 1940s, died after a long illness at her home in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 25, 2007. She was 85. She was born Marilyn Merrick Llewelling in Fort Worth, Texas on November 19, 1921. She moved to California in the 1930s, where she studied acting and worked as a model. The lovely blonde began her film career in the early 1940s, working at Republic and Columbia studios. During the decade Merrick was seen in the films Two Gun Sheriff (1940), ’Till We Meet Again (1940), Flight Angels (1940), Dr. Christian Meets the Women (1940), Ragtime Cowboy Joe (1940), Sis Hopkins (1941), The Gay Vagabond (1941), Desert Bandit (1941), Kansas Cyclone (1941), Throwing a Party (1941), Ice-Capades (1941), The Apache Kid (1941), Death Valley Outlaws (1941), A Missouri Outlaw (1941), Arizona Terrors (1942), Stagecoach Express (1942), Jesse James, Jr. (1942), The Cyclone Kid (1942), The Sombrero Kid (1942), Youth on Parade (1942), Outlaws of Pine Ridge (1942), Mountain Rhythm (1943), Dead Man’s Gulch (1943), Carson City Cyclone (1943), Murder in Times Square (1943), Days of Old Cheyenne (1943), Fugitive from Sonora (1943), Dangerous Blondes (1943), Doughboys in Ireland (1943), Is Everybody Happy? (1943), Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943), Swing Out the Blues (1943), Nine Girls (1944), Stars on Parade (1944), Meet Miss Bobby Socks (1944), A Guy, a Gal and a Pal (1945), Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion (1945), The Blonde from Brooklyn (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946), Dangerous Business (1946), and Down to Earth (1947). She appeared in her final Hollywood film, Columbia’s I Love Trouble, in 1948. She subsequently spent several years in Europe, where she worked in television and appeared in the 1955 film Escape from Terror. She later served as an executive with the Barbizon School of Modeling. Merrick was married to actor

2007 • Obituaries

Conrad Nagel in the mid–1940s, and to film producer Robert Goelet, Jr., from 1949 to 1956.

MERYL , RIBA Actress Riba Meryl died of breast cancer in Burbank, California, on June 22, 2007. She was 52. Meryl was born in Newark, New Jersey, on June 14, 1955. She was best known for her role as Janis Joplin in the 1984 rock assassination conspiracy thriller Down on Us (aka Beyond the Doors). She also appeared in the 1987 action film Banzai Runner.

Riba Meryl (as Janis Joplin from Beyond the Doors)

MERZLIKIN, NIKOLAI Russian actor Nikolai Merzlikin died in Moscow on January 2, 2007. He was 61. Merzlikin was born in Sartyn’ya, Russia, on April 16, 1945. He appeared frequently in films from the 1960s, with such credits as The Man I Love (1966), At Early Morning (1966), Zosya (1967), Once Again for Love (1968), Passing Through Moscow (1970), Black Dried Crust (1971), Crank from 5th B (1972), Tovarizhch Brygada (1973), With Fun and Courage (1973), The Strongest (1973), Hope (1973), Abiturientka (1973), A Screen Star (1974), Contraband (1974), Lavina (1975), Poem of Kovpak: Snow-Storm (1975), Talk with Me, Brother (1978), My Eternal Love (1981), Fathers and Grandfathers (1982), From the Sky to Earth (1986), Interception (1986), Ataka (1986), Kerbez. Neistowy Beglets (1989), Ivan Ryodorov (1991), Hatch (1991), My Family Treasure (1993), and the 2006 television production A Hot November. MESSINA, TERRI JEAN Actress Terri Jean Messina died on August 21, 2007. She was 61. Messina was born on December 17, 1945. She appeared on television in the 1960s in episodes of such series as Batman, Hey, Landlord, I Dream of Jeannie, Mannix, Ironside, Love, American Style, and Room 222. She also appeared in several films including Single Room Furnished (1968) and How Sweet It Is! (1968), and was featured as Bunch in the 1971 horror film Blood and Lace. (See photograph on page 250.)

Lynn Merrick

MEYER, ALEJANDRA Mexican actress Alejandra Meyer died of a heart attack in Ciudad de Mexico on November 7, 2007. She was 70. Meyer was born in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, on February 26, 1937. She appeared frequently in films from the late 1950s with such credits as Desnudate, Lucrecia (1958),

Obituaries • 2007

250 novelas including Cristo Negro (1971), Mi Colonia la Esperanza (1983), Juana Iris (1985), Candido Perez, Dr. (1987), Mas alla del Puente (1994), Bendita Mentira (1996), Serafin (1999), Cuento de Navidad (1999), Nina ... Amada Mia (2003), Par de Ases (2005), Yo Amo a Juan Querendon (2007) and Vecinos (2007).

Terri Jean Messina

Plazos Traicioneros (1958), The Curse of Nostradamus (1960), The Blood of Nostradamus (1961), Chicas Casaderas (1961), Ellas Tambien Son Rebeldes (1961), A Mother’s Son (1962), El Picaro (1967), Impatient Wives (1967), Marias Isabel (1968), E Aviso Inoportuno (1969), Mision Cumplida (1970), El Cuerpazo de Delito (1970), La Vida Inutil de Pito Perez (1970), Los Novios (1971), Peluquero de Senoras (1973), El Hijo de los Pobres (1975), La Trenza (1975), Don Herculano Enamorado (1975), El Agente Viajero (1975), The Minister and Me (1976), Capulina Chisme Caliente (1977), El Mil Usos (1981), Nosotros los Pelados (1984), El Mexicano Feo (1984), La Tierra Prometida (1985), Los Mecanicos Ardientes (1985), Mauro el Mojado (1986), Un Macho en la Carcel de Mujeres (1986), El Zapatero Bailarin (1987), Ninos Sobre Pedido (1987), Las Viejas de mi Compadre (1987), Cinco Nacos Asaltan Las Vegas (1987), Tragic Earthquake in Mexico (1987), Vuelven los Mecanicos Ardientes (1988), Pasandola Bien (1989), El Garanon (1989), Dos Rateros de Alutra (1990), No Hay Quinto Malo (1990), Para Todas Tengo (1990), El Agarratodo (1990), Ambiciones que Matan (1991), Candido Perez, Especialista en Senoras (1991), Papito Querido (1991), La Insaciable (1992), Candido de Dia, Perez de Noche (1992), Perfume, Efecto Inmediato (1994), Test of Love (1994), Mecanica Mexicana (1995), Como Asesinar a mi Suegra (1996), and El Amor de tu Vida S.A. (1996). Meyer also appeared frequently in Mexican television productions and tele-

MICHAEL, MARION German actress Marion Michael, who was noted for her starring role in the exploitation film Liane, Jungle Goddess as a teenager, died in Gartz, Brandenburg, Germany, on October 13, 2007. She was 66. She was born Marion Ilonka Michaela Tom in Konigsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia), on October 17, 1940. She made her debut as the nearly naked teen star in the scandalous jungle exploitation film Liane, Jungle Goddess in 1956. She reprised her role in the sequels Jungle Girl and the Slaver (1957) and Liane, die Tochter des Dschungels (1961). Michael also appeared in the films The Mad Bomberg (1957), Es war die erste Lieber (1958), Bombs on Monte Carlo (1960), Festival (1960), Davon traumen alle Madchen (1961), and Jack and Jenny (1963). Her film career largely ended in the early 1960s though she made occasional appearances on stage. She also briefly hosted a children’s television series in 1975, Emm wie Meikel. She subsequently retired from acting and worked as a saleswoman for several years before moving to East Germany. She made her final television appearance in a documentary about her life in 1996.

Marion Michael (from Liane, Jungle Goddess)

MICHAELS , BEVERLY Actress Beverly Michaels, who appeared in several British films during the early 1960s, died of a stroke in Phoenix, Arizona, in June of 2007. She was 78. Michaels was born in New York City on December 28, 1928. She made her film debut in East Side, West Side in 1949, with James Mason. She was also featured in the films Three Little Words (1950), Pickup (1951), The Girl on the Bridge (1951), The Marrying Kind (1952), No Holds Barred (1952), Wicked Woman (1953), Crashout (1955), Betrayed Women (1955), and Blonde Bait (1956). Michaels also appeared on television in episodes of The Adventures of Falcon, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Cheyenne before retiring from the screen. Alejandra Meyer

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which brought him a second Academy Award nomination, Spaceballs (1987), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and Dick Tracy (1990).

Beverly Michaels

MICHELSON , HAROLD Film production designer Harold Michelson, who earned Academy Award nominations for his work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Terms of Endearment, died in a Los Angeles hospital on March 6, 2007. He was 87. Michelson was born in New York City on February 15, 1920. He served in the Air Force during World War II, flying over 40 missions. After the war he worked as a magazine illustrator and was soon designing movie posters. He began working in films as an apprentice illustrator at Columbia Pictures in the late 1940s, working as an illustrator on such films as The Fountainhead (1949), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), and Track of the Cat (1954). He then moved to Paramount to do storyboards for Cecil B. DeMillle’s The Ten Commandments (1956). He continued to work as an illustrator and storyboard artist for such films as Teacher’s Pet (1958), Auntie Mame (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), The Apartment (1960), X-15 (1961), Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), Irma la Douce (1963), Cleopatra (1963), Wild and Wonderful (1964), Marnie (1964), Ship of Fools (1965), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966), The Graduate (1967), Catch-22 (1970), The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Portnoy’s Complaint (1972), The Day of the Locust (1975), Cross of Iron (1977), The Turning Point (1977), Hair (1979), Winter Kills (1979), Ravagers (1979), Firestarter (1984), The Cotton Club (1984), White Nights (1985), Running Scared (1986), The Fly (1986), The Two Jakes (1990), Graveyard Shift (1990) where he was also seen in a cameo role as a restaurant patron, Hoffa (1992), Josh and S.A.M. (193), A Walk in the Clouds (1995), Three Wishes (1995), Matilda (1996), Death to Smoochy (2002), and Duplex (2003). Michelson had begun working as an art director in television in the 1950s, working on such series as Matinee Theater, The Andy Griffith Show, and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. He also served as art director or production designer for the films Pretty Poison (1968), The Thousand Plane Raid (1969), Catch-22 (1970), Johnny Got His Gun (1971), The Outside Man (1972), Two People (1973), Mame (1974), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) which earned him an Oscar nomination, Can’t Stop the Music (1980), Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part I (1981), Mommie Dearest (1981), Terms of Endearment (1983)

Harold Michaelson

MIDGLEY, ROBIN British theatrical director Robin Midgley died of cancer in London on May 19, 2007. He was 72. Midgley was born in Torquay, Devon, England, on November 10, 1934. He began his career working as a drama producer for BBC Radio. He directed his first theatrical production in London’s West End with Kill Two Birds in 1961. He worked frequently in television during the 1960s, helming episodes of Sherlock Holmes, Out of the Unknown, The Wednesday Play, Z Cars, and Theatre 625. He also directed the stage comedies How the Other Half Lives (1970) and Lloyd George Knew My Father (1972), and became the first artistic director of Haymarket Theatre in Leicester in 1973. He directed a revival of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! in 1977, and the musical Someone Like You starring Petula Clark in 1980. He directed at Cambridge Theatre Company from 1988 to 1991, and at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre from 1992 to 1998.

Robin Midgely

MIDWOOD, KENNETH British character actor Kenneth Midwood died in Denville Hall, the retirement home for actors, in Middlesex, England, on January 22, 2007. Midwood was featured in such films

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as The Floating Dutchman (1952), The Colditz Story (1955), Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956), The Counterfeit Plan (1957), Evidence in Concrete (1960), Begging the Ring (1979), and The Fourth Protocol (1987). Midwood also performed frequently on television, appearing in productions of The Quatermass Experiment (1953), J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys (1978), Brideshead Revisited (1981) as Max Stone, Soft Targets (1982), Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983), Widows 2 (1985), John Le Carre’s A Perfect Spy (1987), No Crying He Makes (1988), and Never Come Back (1990). He was also featured in episodes of The Grove Family, O.S.S., Wings, Minder, The Agatha Christie Hour, and Covington Cross.

Holg y Szeszelye, Eg y (1987), Spice and Deli (1988), Oktogon (1989), A Nag y Varazslat (1989), Randevu Budapesten (1989), Halallista (1989), Passport to Murder (1993), A Kortvelyesi Csiny (1995), Citizen X (1995), Szomszedok (1996), and I Ragazzi Della via Pal (2003).

MILES, BOB Stuntman and actor Bob Miles died of emphysema in Parowan, Utah, on April 12, 2007. He was 79. Miles was born on September 11, 1927. He was raised in Utah and came to California in the late 1940s. Married to actress Vera Miles from 1948 to 1954, he worked as a driver to Howard Hughes for several years. He began working in films as a stuntman in the 1950s, with such credits as Gunsmoke (1953) and Ride Clear of Diablo (1954). He joined the crew of the television western series Bonanza in 1959. Miles often served as Michael Landon’s stunt double and often appeared in small roles through the late 1960s. He also performed stunts on the Star Trek and Wild Wild West series in the mid–1960s. He also worked on such films as The Slime People (1963), The Great Bank Robbery (1969), Dirty Harry (1971), Promised Land (1987), and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), and the tele-films The Witching of Ben Wagner (1987), Stranger on My Land (1988), and Blind Witness (1989). He subsequently retired to Utah.

MIKLOSY, GYORGY Hungarian actor Gyogry Miklosy died in Hungary on November 18, 2007. He was 82. Miklosy was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30, 1925. He began his career on stage at the National Theatre of Szeged in the late 1940s. He performed with the Madach Theatre from the mid–1950s, and at the Petofi and Vigszinhaz during the 1960s. Miklosy was associated with the Radnoti Theatre from 1989. He also appeared frequently in films from the late 1950s, with such credits as Dani (1957), Yesterday (1959), Kard es Kocka (1959), Dialogue (1963), Meztelen Diplomata (1963), A Koszivu Ember Fiai (1965), Sok Huseg Semmiert (1966), Bubajosok (1970), Trip Around My Cranium (1970), Haho, Ocsi! (1971), Voyage with Jacob (1972), Kakuk Marci (1973), A Pendragon Legenda (1974), The Black Diamond (1976), Totagas (1976), The Sword (1977), Amerikai Cigaretta (1978), Egigero Fu (1979), Csillag a Maglyan (1979), Requiem (1981), Csak Semmi Panik... (1982), Az Elet Muziskaja — Kalman Imre (1984), Diary for My Children (1984), Miss Arizona (1987), Szeleburdi Vakacio (1987), Dragon and Slippers (1989) as the voice of the Pelican, and Diary for My Father and Mother (1990). Miklosy was also seen in such television productions as Karacsonyi Enek (1964) as the Ghost of Christmas Past, A Revizor (1970), Eg y ora Mulva itt Vag yok (1971), Aszfaltmese (1971), Gozfurdo (1973), Utazas a Holdba (1974), Vivat, Benyovszky! (1975), A Peleskei Notarius (1975), Fogsagom Naploja (1977), Boldogsag (1977), Zokogo Majom (1978), Baleset (1978), Rab Ember Fiai (1979), Feher Rozsda (1982), A Kertesz Kutyaja (1986), A Fantasztikus Nag yneni (1986), Gazdag

MILLER, RON Songwriter Ron Miller, who wrote such hits as “Touch Me in the Morning” and “For Once in My Life,” died of cancer and emphysema in a Santa Monica, California, hospital on July 23, 2007. He was 74. Miller was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 5, 1932. He began working in the music industry after meeting Motown founder Berry Gordy at a piano bar in the 1960s. He became a leading songwriter for such artists as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Ray Charles. Miller co-wrote “For Once in My Life” in 1968, which was a major hit for Wonder, and became one of the most recorded songs in history with over 270 covers. His other hits for Wonder include the songs “A Place in the Sun” (1966), “Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday” (1969) and “Heaven Help Us All” (1970). His song “Touch Me in the Morning” was a hit for Diana Ross in 1973. Miller wrote lyrics to many musicals in the 1970s, including “Cheery” and “Daddy Goodness” for Bus Stop.

Gyorgy Miklosy

Ron Miller

253 MILLER, SKEDGE Actor Skedge Miller died at his home in Manhattan, New York, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on September 10, 2007. He was 93. He was born Oscar Miller in Greenville, Ohio, on May 8, 1914. He began his career on stage and made his Broadway debut in the 1950 musical Relapse. He also appeared in Broadway productions of Affair of Honor, The Great White Hope, and Bad Habits. He appeared on television in episodes of the early science fiction series Tales of Tomorrow, and was featured as the Gardener in a 1955 production of Alice in Wonderland on Hallmark Hall of Fame. He also performed in numerous regional theatrical productions as well as OffBroadway and European tours. In recent years he was seen in several commercials and appeared in small roles on Saturday Night Live.

2007 • Obituaries

MINAKAZE, YOKO Japanese actress Yoko Minakaze died in Yokohama, Japan, of pancreatic cancer on August 19, 2007. She was 77. She was born Hiroko Minakaze in Kobe, Japan, on January 22, 1930. She studied at the Takarazuka Music School, graduating in 1948. She joined the Mingei Theatre Company in 1959 and performed frequently on the Japanese stage. She was also featured in several films including Karatachi Nikki (1959), Fear of the Ghost House: Bloodsucking Doll (1970), Take Care, Red Riding Hood (1970), The Rain Was Falling (1971), Banka (1976), Chibideka Monogatari (1978), and Make-Up (1984).

Yoko Minakaze

Skedge Miller

MILLIGAN , HAYDEN Hayden Milligan, who hosted the Kentucky based horror film series The Witching Hour as horror host I. Zombi, died of cancer in Kentucky on November 19, 2007. He was severely burned in a house fire as a child and remained badly scarred throughout his life. He overcame his disfigurement to become a television personality in Lexington, Kentucky, in the early 2000s. Often donning gruesome make-up he created the character of I. Zombi to host the cable horror show. He was also the subject of a documentary about his life and works, I. Zombi, which debuted shortly before his death.

Hayden Milligan (as I. Zombi)

MINOT, ANNA Actress Anna Minot died in Reno, Nevada, on June 2, 2007. She was 89. Minot was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 10, 1918. She began performing on stage in community theatrical productions as a young girl. She began her professional career in the early 1940s and made her Broadway debut in The Iceman Cometh in 1946. She also appeared on Broadway in a production of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People in 1950. Minot began appearing on television in the late 1940s with in such series as Kraft Television Theatre, NBC Presents, Believe It or Not, Nash Airflyte Theatre, Studio One, Hands of Destiny, Famous Jury Trials, Rocky King, Inside Detective, My True Story, Big Story, The Ford Theatre Hour, The Hunter, Edge of Night, and Decoy. She starred as Martha Wilson on the

Anna Minot

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daytime soap opera As the World Turns from 1966 to 1970, and Meg Johns on A World Apart from 1970 to 1971. Minot also appeared in several films during her career including The Rosary Murders (1987) and Condition Red (1995). She was married to actor Arthur Franz from 1945 until their divorce in 1946, and to actor Joseph Warren from 1950 until his death in 1993.

MIRVISH, EDWIN Canadian theatrical impresario Edwin Mirvish died in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hospital on July 11, 2007. He was 92. Mirvish was born in Colonial Beach, Virginia, on July 25, 1914, and moved to Canada with his family as a child. He had several business ventures before opening the Toronto bargain emporium known as Honest Ed’s in 1948. He became wealthy with the enterprise and entered the realm of show business with his purchase of the Royal Alexandra theater in the early 1960s. Mirvish refurbished the theater which reopened in September of 1963 with the comedy Never Too Late produced by Mirvish. He also opened restaurants in the area including Ed’s Warehouse, Ed’s Folly, and Ed’s Chinese. The theater prospered with Mirvish producing such musicals there as Hair (1970) and Godspell (1972). He and his son David bought the Old Vic theatre in London in 1982. They were credited with saving the aging theatre with their restoration before selling it to a theatrical trust in 1998. Though Ed Mirvish retired from active participation in the theaters in 1987, Mirvish Enterprises built the largest theater in North America, the Princess of Wales Theatre, in 1993. They also began managing the Pantages Theatre, renamed the Canon Theatre, in 2001.

rected and wrote the film and appeared onscreen as a kidnapper. That film and those that followed were instrumental in revolutionizing the adult entertainment industry by providing porn with a plot and higher production values than was previously typical. The brothers soon acquired the legendary O’ Farrell Theatre in San Francisco as a showplace for their growing inventory of films that included Resurrection of Eve (1973), Sodom & Gomorrah (1975), C.B. Mamas (1976), The Autobiography of a Flea (1976), Never a Tender Moment (1979), Beyond De Sade (1979), and over 100 other productions. The Mitchells were arrested on obscenity charges over a 100 times during their career, though came out largely unscathed. The brothers reached a violent parting of the ways in 1991, when Jim shot Artie to death in an altercation at his home. Despite extenuating circumstances, Jim was convicted of his brother’s murder. He spent the next several years in San Quentin State Prison until his release in 1997. Though his adult empire continued, Mitchell was no longer actively involved in productions. A biography of the brothers, XRated: The Mitchell Brothers — A True Story of Sex, Money and Death was written by David McCumber in 1992, and a film adaptation starring brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Esteves as the Mitchells was produced several years later.

Jim Mitchell (right, with brother Artie)

Edwin Mirvish

MITCHELL, JIM Jim Mitchell, who was half of the Mitchell Brothers adult entertainment empire in the 1970s, died of a heart attack at his ranch in Sonoma County, California, on July 12, 2007. He was 63. Mitchell was born in Antioch, California, on November 30, 1943. He and his brother Artie began their career selling nude photos to adult magazines in San Francisco in the late 1960s. They soon moved into adult film-making and scored a landmark hit with the 1972 film Behind the Green Door, starring former Ivory Soap girl Marilyn Chambers. Jim Mitchell co-produced, di-

MITCHELL, S TEVE Actor Steve Mitchell, who starred in the 1961 science fiction thriller The Most Dangerous Man Alive, died in Los Angeles on January 23, 2007. He was 80. Mitchell was born on December 15, 1926. He began appearing in small roles in films in the early 1950s. His film credits include Walk East on Beacon! (1952), Fearless Fagan (1952), Jungle Drums of Africa (1953), The Other Woman (1954), The Big Combo (1955), It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), The Killing (1956), Edge of Hell (1956), Seven Men from Now (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), Gunsight Ridge (1957), China Doll (1958), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Operation Bikini (1963), A Gathering of Eagles (1963), Once a Thief (1965), Nevada Smith (1966), The Young Runaways (1968), Bloody Mama (1970) with Shelley Winters, Where Does It Hurt? (1972), Psycho Sisters (1974), The Day the Lord Got Busted (1976), and C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979). He was also featured in the tele-films Wonder

255 Woman (1974) and Judgment: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley (1975). Mitchell also appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, gueststarring in episodes of The Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley, Death Valley Days, Buffalo Bill Jr., Tales of the Texas Rangers, Highway Patrol, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Hallmark Hall of Fame in a production of Moby Dick, Navy Log, Science Fiction Theatre, The 20th Century–Fox Hour, Have Gun —Will Travel, Sea Hunt, 26 Men, Harbor Command, Adventures of Superman, Dragnet, Decision, Behind Closed Doors, Rawhide, Tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, This Man Dawson, Tightrope, The Deputy, Bat Masterson, 77 Sunset Strip, Gunslinger, Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, Dr. Kildare, Hondo, Wild Wild West, I Spy, Daniel Boone, Adam-12, Bronk, and The Next Step Beyond.

Steve Mitchell

MITCHELL, WITARINA Maori actress Witarina Mitchell died in New Zealand on June 10, 2007. She was 101. She was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, of Ngati Whakaue descent in 1906. She was cast as Princess Miro in the 1928 film Under the Southern Cross (aka The Devil’s Pit). After making her only screen appearance she worked for the Minister of Maori Affairs in Wellington, New Zealand, in the early 1930s. She subsequently married Reginald Harris and was active in the Maori Women’s Welfare League.

2007 • Obituaries

MOFFATT, PETER British television director Peter Moffatt died in London on October 21, 2007. He was 84. Moffatt was born in England in 1923. He began directing for television in the early 1960s, and helmed episodes of numerous series over the next three decades. He directed such television productions as What’s in It for Me (1969), Floating Man (1969), The Shadow of the Tower (1972), K Is for Killing (1974), Melissa (1974), Mr. Oddy (1975), and Doom Castle (1980). He also helmed episodes of such series as Tales of Mystery, Top Secret, Crane, Detective, No Hiding Place, The Power Game, Sanctuary, Sexton Blake, ITV Playhouse, Menace, New Scotland Yard, Within These Walls, Dial M for Murder, Lady Killers, The Gentle Touch, Juliet Bravo, EastEnders, and All Creatures Great and Small. Moffatt was best known for his work on the Doctor Who series in the 1980s, directing multiple episodes including “The Five Doctors.” MOISEYEV , I GOR Russian choreographer Igor Moiseyev, who was noted for his incorporation of ethnic folk dances into his ballets, died in Moscow on November 2, 2007. He was 101. Moiseyev was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on January 21, 1906. He studied dance from the age of 14 and was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater school of choreography. He began dancing with the Bolshoi in 1924, and created the ballets The Footballer (1930), Salammbo (1932), and Three Fat Men (1935). His independent style and daring choreography eventually led to his ouster from the Bolshoi. He began to choreograph and direct productions on his own and formed the Moiseyev Dance Company in 1937. Moiseyev’s productions incorporated the music and costumes of the various ethnic groups that composed the Soviet Union. He was named a People’s Artist of the USSR in 1953, and his company became the first Soviet group to perform in the West in 1955. Moiseyev’s troupe made appearances in Paris, London, and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1958. He founded the touring ballet company, the Moscow Classical Ballet, in 1967, and continued to choreograph into his 90s. He was decorated with Russia’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Merit, on his 100th birthday.

Igor Moiseyev Witarina Mitchell (left, from Under the Southern Cross)

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MOLIN, BUD Film and television editor Bud Molin, who worked frequently with director Carl Reiner, died in Rancho Mirage, California, on May 21, 2007. He was 81. He was born in Los Angeles on May 26, 1925, and began working in films at Columbia in the early 1950s. Molin was soon editing for such early television series as Letter to Loretta, I Love Lucy, Official Detective, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and I Spy. He made his film debut editing the 1956 comedy Forever, Darling, starring Lucille Ball. His other film credits include A Global Affair (1964), How Sweet It Is! (1968), The First Time (1969), Viva Max! (1969), Halls of Anger (1970), They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (1970), Where’s Poppa? (1970), The Brothers O’Toole (1973), O, God! (1977) starring George Burns, The One and Only (1978), Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline (1979), The Jerk (1979) starring Steve Martin, Up the Academy (1980), Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), Summer Rental (1985), Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986), Summer School (1987), The Experts (1989), Burt Rigby, You’re a Fool (1989), Stella (1990), Sibling Rivalry (1990), and Fatal Instinct (1993). He also edited the tele-films The Feminist and the Fuzz (1971), Satan’s Triangle (1975), How to Break Up a Happy Divorce (1976), and Double Your Pleasure (1989), and worked on such series as The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Texas Wheelers, Barney Miller, and Good Heavens.

primarily in television in recent years, directing, producing, and writing such productions as Heikuraisen Nauru (2001), Korpisen Veljekset (2002), and Reissu (2004).

Rauni Mollberg

MONK, EGON German director Egon Monk died in Berlin, Germany, on February 28, 2007. He was 79. Monk was born in Berlin on May 18, 1927. He began his career on stage as an actor after serving in the German Air Force during World War II. He soon turned to directing for stage, films, and television. He helmed, and often scripted, such television productions as Senora Carrar’s Rifles (1953), Das Geld Liegt auf der Strasse (1958), Die Bruder (1958), The Life of Galileo (1962), Inquiry (1962), Wassa Schelesnowa (1963), Mauern (1963), Wilhelmsburger Freitag (1964), Deutschland, Mai 1945 (1965), One Day: A Report from a German Concentration Camp 1939 (1965), The Moment of Peace (1965), Preis der Freiheit (1966), Uber den Gehorsam (1969), Goldene Stadte (1969), Industrielandschaft mit Einzelhandlem (1970), Farmers, Politics, and Bombs (1973), Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar (1975), Oppermann Family (1983), and Die Bertinis (1989).

Bud Molin

MOLLBERG, RAUNI Finnish film director Rauni Mollberg died in Loimaa, Finland, on October 11, 2007. He was 78. Mollberg was born in Hameenlinna, Finland, on April 15, 1929. He began his career as an actor, appearing in the 1950 film Dancing on Graves. He began working as a director for television productions in the 1960s, helming Lapusuuteni (1961) and Sotaerkko (1972). Mollberg earned acclaim for his controversial in 1973 film adaptation of Timo K. Mukka’s The Earth Is a Sinful Song (1973). He also helmed a 1985 remake of the Finnish cinematic classic The Unknown Soldier. His other film credits include Pretty Good for a Human (1977), Friends, Comrades (1990), Children of the Paradise (1994), Taustan Mikon Kotinpaluu (1999), and Puu Kulkee (2000). He worked

Egon Monk

MONTENEGRO, CONCHITA Spanish actress Conchita Montenegro died in Madrid on April 26, 2007. She was 94. Montenegro was born in San Sebas-

257 tian, Spain, on September 11, 1912. She began performing in films while a teenager in the 1920s, appearing in Sortilegio (1927), Rosa de Madrid (1927), The Woman and the Puppet (1928), De Frente, Marchen (1930), and Sevilla de mis Amores (1930). Montenegro starred in films in both Spain and the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s, including Strangers May Kiss (1931), Toto (1931), Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931), The Cisco Kid (1931) as Carmencita opposite Warner Baxter, Marido y Mujer (1932), The Gay Caballero (1932), Two Nights (1933), Laughing at Life (1933), Melodia Prohibida (1933), Caravane (1934), Grenadiers of Love (1934), Handy Andy (1934), Hell in the Heavens (1934), He Trusted His Wife (1935), Parisian Life (1936), Lights of Paris (1937), El Grito de la Juventud (1939), Luomo del Romanzo (1940), Cristobal’s Gold (1940), L Nascita di Salome (1940), Amore di Ussaro (1940), Eternal Melodies (1940), Giuliano de’Medici (1941), Rojo y Negro (1942), Idolos (1943), Aventura (1944), and Lola Montes (1944).

Conchita Montenegro

MONTORO, JORGE Peruvian actor Jorge Montoro died of lung cancer in Lima, Peru, on July 17, 2007. He was 82. Montoro began his career on stage before moving into films and television in the 1950s. He was featured in such films as Manhunt in the Jungle (1958), The Gallant One (1964), Taita Cristo (1965), Intriga en Lima (1965), No Stars in the Jungle (1967),

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Interpol Llamando a Lima (1969), and Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie (1971). He was also featured in numerous Peruvian television productions from Daniel Camino, including Land Bewitched, Blood and Sand, Dona Barbara, and Rains Came.

MOOLAH, THE FABULOUS Lillian Ellison, who wrestled as the Fabulous Moolah in a career that lasted over 50 years, died in a Columbia, South Carolina, hospital of complications from shoulder replacement surgery on November 2, 2007. She was 84. She was born Mary Lillian Ellison in Tookiedoo, South Carolina, on July 22, 1923. She began wrestling professionally in the mid–1940s, and was known as Slave Girl Moolah when she served as valet for such wrestlers as Elephant Boy and Nature Boy Buddy Rogers in the early 1950s. She defeated Judy Grable for the Woman’s World Title in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 18, 1956. She competed in the first women’s match at New York’s Madison Square Garden in July of 1972 when the state’s athletic commission lifted the ban on women wrestlers. She retained the belt with few interruptions until July of 1984, when she lost a match to Wendi Richter in New York’s Madison Square Garden. She regained the title from Richter, wrestling under a mask as the Spider Lady, in a match in New York in November of the following year. She briefly lost the belt to Velvet McIntyre in July of 1986, and was ultimately defeated for the title by Sherri Martel in July of 1987. In the mid–1990s Moolah returned to the WWE, where she was often accompanied by fellow veteran wrestler Mae Young. Moolah upset Ivory for the WWE Women’s title in October of 1999 at the age of 76, but lost a rematch the following week. Her biography The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle, was published in 2002. She was also featured in Ruth Leitman’s 2004 documentary film Lipstick & Dynamite, Piss & Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling, and appeared on television on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The Fabulous Moolah

Jorge Montoro

MOONDOG NATHAN Nathan Brian Randolph, who wrestled as part of The Moondogs tagteam in recent years, was found dead of a heart attack in Athens, Alabama, on July 4, 2007. He was 37. He

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was born in Alabama on June 23, 1970. Nathan was already a pro wrestler when he joined Larry “Moondog Spot” Booker to become part of the Moondogs. He initially wrestled as Moondog Rex, replacing Randy Colley in matches in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. After he and Booker parted ways, he formed another Moondog tag-team with Moondog Runt in 2006.

Moondog Nathan (left, with Moondog Spot and manager)

MOOR, BILL Character actor Bill Moor died in an Englewood, New Jersey, hospital on November 27, 2007. He was 76. Moor was born in Toledo, Ohio, on July 13, 1931. He was raised in Arlington, Virginia, where he began his career on the local stage. He moved to New York after graduating from college in the mid–1950s and studied at the Actors Studio. He appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions including Fortune and Men’s Eyes, Heartbreak House, The Iceman Cometh and Cry of Players. He earned an Obie Award for his role in The Marriage of Bette and Boo in 1985. Moor was also seen in such films as The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972), It Ain’t Easy (1972), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), Love in a Taxi (1980), Hanky Panky (1982), The House of God (1984), Ishtar (1987) with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, The House of Carroll Street (1988), Stars and Bars (1988), New York Stories (1989), Cadillac Man (1990), Tune in Tomorrow (1990), Quiz Show (1994),

Bill Moor

The Devil’s Advocate (1997), and Snare (2006). He appeared in several tele-films including A Private Battle (1980), Heartbreak House (1986), and The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990). Moor was featured in the daytime soap operas Somerset, Another World, and Ryan’s Hope. His other television credits include episodes of Kojak and New York Undercover. He was featured in the recurring role of Bill Patton in several episodes of Law & Order during the 1990s.

MOORE, ASHLEIGH ASTON Former child actress Ashleigh Aston Moore died of an accidental heroin overdose in British Columbia, Canada, on December 11, 2007. She was 26. She was born Ashley Rogers in Sunnyvale, California, on November 13, 1981. She was best known for her role as young Chrissy DeWitt, played by Rita Wilson as an adult, in the film Now and Then (1995). She also starred as Alpha and Donna Archipenko in the Canadian television series The Odyssey from 1992 to 1994. Moore was also featured in the tele-films Liar, Liar (1992), Family of Strangers (1993), Sin & Redemption (1994), Beyond Obsession (1994), and A Friend’s Betrayal (1996). Her other television credits include episodes of Madison, Northern Exposure, Strange Luck, and Touched by an Angel. She also appeared in the film Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) before retiring from the screen in the late 1990s.

Ashleigh Aston Moore

MOORE, KIERON Irish leading actor Kieron Moore died in France on July 15, 2007. He was 82. Moore was born Ciaran O Annrachain in Skibbereen, Ireland, on October 5, 1924. He began performing on stage while attending college and soon joined the Abbey Theatre. He came to England in 1943, where he appeared in stage productions of Wuthering Heights and Purple Dust. Billed as Keiron O’Hanrahan, he made his film debut as an Irish Republican Army killer in The Voice Within (1945). He was soon signed to a contract by London Film Productions who changed his name to Kieron Moore for his next film A Man About the House (1947). He subsequently starred in the psychological thriller Mine Own Executioner (1947). Though he murdered actress Barbara White in the film, she became his wife in reality later in the year. Moore was considered

259 miscast as Count Vronsky in the 1948 adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina with Vivien Leigh. He continued to appear in films and television over the next twenty years. He had roles in such features as Saints and Sinners (1949), Honeymoon Deferred (1950), The Naked Heart (1950), David and Bathsheba (1951) as Uriah the Hittite, Ten Tall Men (1951) with Burt Lancaster, La Demoiselle et son Revenant (1952), Mantrap (1953), Recoil (1953), The Green Scarf (1954), The Blue Peter (1954), Conflict of Wings (1954), Satellite in the Sky (1956), Three Sundays to Live (1957), The Steel Bayonet (1957), The Key (1958), Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) as Pony Sugrue, The Angry Hills (1959), The Siege of Sidney Street (1960), The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960), and Dr. Blood’s Coffin (1961) as semi-mad scientist Dr. Peter Blood. He starred as Tom Goodwin, who battled ambulatory plants in a lighthouse with actress Janette Scott in the 1962 sci-fi classic Day of the Triffids. He continued to appear in such films as The 300 Spartans (aka Lion of Sparta) (1962), I Thank a Fool (1962), The Main Attraction (1962), Hide and Seek (1963), Girl in the Headlines (1963), The Thin Red Line (1964), Crack in the World (1965) with Dana Andrews, Son of a Gunfighter (1965), Arabesque (1966), Bikini Paradise (1967), Custer of the West (1967) as Chief Dull Knife, and Run Like a Thief (1968). Moore also appeared frequently on television, guest-starring in episodes of Fabian of the Yard, Overseas Press Club — Exclusive!, Tales of the Vikings, Danger Man, Sir Francis Drake, Zero One, Boy Meets Girl, Vendetta, Department S, My Partner the Ghost, Ryan International, The Adventurer, Jason King, The Protectors, and The Zoo Gang. Moore abandoned acting in the early 1970s to work with the Catholic charity Cafod for seven years. He also served as an editor for Catholic newspapers and magazines and supplied narration for several documentaries before retiring to France.

2007 • Obituaries

the war. He was hired by ABC as vice-president for sales in 1956. He rose to head of programming in 1958, and did much to make ABC competitive with the other two major networks during his tenure. ABC aired such popular series as 77 Sunset Strip, The Real McCoys, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, and The Flintstones over the next several years. Moore became president of the network in 1962 and was instrumental in hiring Roone Arledge to create a sports division for ABC. Other successful series including The Fugitive, Peyton Place, The Addams Family, and Batman were soon added to the schedule. Moore left ABC in 1969 following a shakeup at the network. He founded the production company Tomorrow Entertainment in 1970 to produce movies for television. He served as executive producer for the 1977 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and such tele-films as Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (1976), The Disappearance of Aimee (1976), The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish (1977), Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force (1978), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979), White Mama (1980), Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980), and the animated Gnomes (1980). Moore’s science series The Body Human, which used internal cameras to explore the human body, earned Emmy Awards in 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1983. He earned another Emmy for his medical series Lifeline in 1979.

Tom Moore

Kieron Moore

MOORE, TOM Tom Moore, who served as president of ABC Television during the 1960s, died in Palm Springs, California, on March 31, 2007. He was 88. Moore was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on September 17, 1918. He served as a Navy pilot during World War II, and worked in promotions and advertising after

MORGAN, FRANK Jazz saxophonist Frank Morgan died of colon cancer and kidney failure in his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 14, 2007. He was 73. Morgan was born in Minneapolis on December 23, 1933. He began playing the alto sax after attending a Charlie Parker concert in Detroit as a youth. He not only adopted Parker’s celebrated jazz style but also his mentor’s more destructive impulses. Though considered a musical prodigy while in his teens, Morgan’s addiction to drugs severely limited his career. He performed with such jazz legends as Dexter Gordon, Milt Jackson and Billie Holiday. He recorded a solo album in 1955 but was soon facing a prison sentence for various drug related charges. He landed in San Quentin Prison in 1962 on bad check charges. While in prison he teamed with several other incarcerated jazz musicians including Art Pepper to form a small group.

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After serving his term, Morgan slowly reentered the music scene, recording his second album, Easy Living, in 1985. He also collaborated on a musical about his life, Prison — Made Tuxedos that he performed in Off Broadway in 1987. Largely clean of drugs through a methadone program, Morgan embraced his second act, touring and recording until suffering a stroke in 1998.

Frank Morgan

MORGAN, OLIVER New Orleans rhythm and blues singer Oliver Morgan died of a heart attack in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 31, 2007. He was 74. Morgan was born in New Orleans on May 6, 1933. He began singing in church and was soon performing with friends at local venues. He recorded his first single under the name Nookie Boy in 1961. He was best known for his 1964 hit song “Who Shot the La La.” Morgan did a national tour after the song’s release, but continued to primarily perform in New Orleans. He retired after being force to vacate his home in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

the daughter of theatre’s grande dame Gladys Cooper. Sheridan spent much of his childhood in California, where his father often worked in films. He was educated in England at Oxford University and began working as a reporter and broadcaster for the Independent Television News in the early 1960s. He left ITN for the BBC 2’s art program Late Night Line-Up in 1967, and also served as host of the network’s Film Night. He soon became host of Radio 4’s Kaleidoscope, and the television programs Theatreland and Sheridan Morley Meets.... He was also a panelist on such quiz programs as Call My Bluff and Countdown. He was an arts and drama critic for such publications as Punch and The Sunday Telegraph, and was the London drama critic for the International Herald Tribune from 1979. He was also film critic at the Sunday Express from 1992 to 1995, and theatre critic at The Spectator from 1990 to 2001. Morley also worked in theatre, directing several revues including Noel and Gertie (1982), Spread a Little Happiness (1991), and Much Revue About Nothing (1998). Morley was also noted for his biographies of stage and film actors including A Talent to Amuse (1969) about Noel Coward and The Other Side of the Moon about David Niven. He also wrote biographies of Sir John Gielgud, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Lawrence, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Dirk Bogarde, and his grandmother, Gladys Cooper. He co-authored biographies of Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, and Marilyn Monroe with his wife, Ruth Leon, whom he married in 1995. Morley also wrote the 1993 memoir of his father, Robert, My Father, and authored his own memoirs, Asking for Trouble, in 2002.

Sheridan Morley

Oliver Morgan

MORLEY , SHERIDAN Critic and writer Sheridan Morley, who was the author of numerous film biographies, died at his home in London on February 16, 2007. He was 65. Morley was born in Ascot, England, on December 5, 1941. His father was the acclaimed actor Robert Morley and his mother, Joan, was

MORRIS, DAVID British character actor David Morris, who was best known for his role as Grandpa George in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, died in England on October 29, 2007. He was 83. Morris was born in Folkestone, Kent, England, on September 11, 1924. His education at Oxford was interrupted by service in the Army during World War II. He returned to his studies after the war and began a career as a painter. For nearly half a century he was a noted portrait and landscape artist, as well as teacher and lecturer at various establishments of learning. Mor-

261 ris made his acting debut at the advanced age of 79, appearing in an episode of the mystery series Jonathan Creek in 2004. Later in the year, he appeared in a television production of When I’m Sixty-Four and was featured in episodes of Little Brittain and Saxondale. He starred as Grandpa George in Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He was seen in the 2005 tele-film A Very Social Secretary, and played the elderly neighbor who kills a girl’s pet fly in the 2006 short The 400th Fly!

2007 • Obituaries

thos, the village idiot, in the 1964 Oscar-winning film Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn. Moustakas appeared in over seventy films during his career including To Prosopo tis Imeras (1965), Fifis, O Aktypitos (1966), Devil at My Heels (1966), Kolonaki: Diagogi Miden (1967), Erotes sti Lesvo (1967), Martha (1967), O Boufos (1968), O Petheropliktos (1968), Nude As a Trap (1968), Fovatai o Yannis to Therio (1969), Anastenazoun oi Penies (1970), To Paidi tis Mamas (1970), Thymios Enantion Tsitsou (1971), Enas Nomotagis Politis (1974), Kathenas me Tin Trella Tou... (1980), O Kamikazi Tsantakias (1982), An Itan to Violi Pouli... (1984), O Roz Gatos (1986), O Dynasteias (1986), Diariktis me to Zori (1988), Mia Treli Nychta (1989), and O Alepous (1990). He made his final film appearance in 2007’s El Greco. Survivors include his wife, actress Maria Bonelou.

David Morris (with Eileen Essel from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

MOSSBERG, MOSS Character actor Richard “Moss” Mossberg was killed in a motorcycle accident on July 9, 2007. He was 60. Mossberg was born in Inglewood, California, on November 13, 1946. He was a founding member of the Wild Bunch of Hollywood, a group of character actors specializing in such roles as bikers and bar toughs. Mossberg was featured in the films Mean Guns (1997) and Simone (2002).

Moss Mossberg

MOUSTAKAS, SOTRIS Veteran Greek comedy actor Sotris Moustakas died of a heart attack in Athens, Greece, on June 4, 2007. He was 67. Moustakas was born in Lemessos, Cyprus, in 1940. He studied at the National Theater of Greece, where he often played off beat characters. He was featured as Mimi-

Sotris Moustakas

MUEHE , ULRICH German actor Ulrich Muehe, who was best known for starring in the Oscarwinning 2006 film The Lives of Others, died of stomach cancer at his family home in Walbeck, Germany, on July 22, 2007. He was 54. Muehe was born in Grimma, East Germany, on June 20, 1953. He began his career on the East German stage, and was active in the opposition to the Communist government. He continued his career in reunified Germany after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, with roles on stage, film, and television. Muehe was featured in such films as Olle Henry (1983), Hard Days, Hard Nights (1989), Spider’s Web (1989), Ronnes Reise (1990), Schtonk! (1992), Benny’s Video (1992), The Blue One (1994), Rudy, the Racing Pig (1995), Peanuts — Die Bank zahit Alles (1996), Little Angel (1996), Sterben ist Gesunder (1997), Funny Games (1997), The Castle (1997), Night Time (1998), Fire Rider (1998), Straight Shooter (1999), Goebbels und Geduldig (2001), Amen (2002), Spy Sorge (2003), Hamlet X (2003), and Snowland (2005). Muehe starred as Gerd Wiesler, an agent of the East German Stasi, or secret police, in 2006’s The Lives of Others, which received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. His recent film credits include Mein Fuhrer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler (2007), Verwehte (2007), and Nemesis (2007). Muehe also appeared in such German television productions as Der Mann und sein Name (1983), Die Erste Reihe

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(1987), Die Glaseme Fackel (1989), Der Kleine Herr Friedemann (1990), Jugend ohne Gott (1991), Extralarge: Diamonds (1993), The Last U-Boat (1993), Wehner — Die unerzahite Geschichte (1993), Nadja — Heimkehr in die Fremde (1995), Geschafte (1995), Todliches Schweigen (1996), 36 Hours (1998), Todesengle (1999), Dreimal Leben (2001), Im Schatte der Macht (2003), Alles Samba (2003), Hunger auf Leben (2004), Das Geheimnes von St. Ambrose (2006), and Peer Gynt (2006). He also starred as Dr. Robert Kolmaar in the television series Der Letzte Zeuge from 1998 through 2007. Muehe and his former wife, actress Jenny Groellmann, had been involved in a lengthy legal battle over his allegations that she had been an informant for the Stasi. She continued to deny the accusations until her death in 2006. He is survived by their daughter, actress Anna Maria Muehe, and his third wife, actress Susanne Lothar.

Milo Instead (1987), God’s Frontiersmen (1988), and The Fifteen Streets (1989), and in episodes of Taggart and Comedy Playhouse. He also appeared in several films during his career including Paddy (1970), The McKenzie Break (1970), Maeve (1982), No Surrender (1985), Far and Away (1992), The Boxer (1997), A Love Divided (1999), Anno Domini (2000), Puckoon (2002), The Honeymooners (2003), and Rick’s Head (2005). His final film role was in the 2008 fantasy City of Ember.

MULLER, NILS R. Norwegian film director Nils R. Muller died in Norway on March 6, 2007. He was 86. Muller was born in Norway on January 17, 1921. He began directing in the mid–1940s, helming such films as Sa Motes vi i Morgen (1946), Vi Gifter Oss (1951) which he also scripted, Kasserer Jensen (1954), Kontakt! (1956), Ektemann Alene (1956), Hete Septemberdager (1959), Det Store Varpet (1960), Tonny on the Wrong Road (1962), Elskere (1963), Marenco (1964), Broder Gabrielsen (1966), The Market of the Unknowns (1968), Grat, Elskede Mann (1971), and Min Marion (1975). Muller later appeared onscreen in several films including Hvern har Bestemt? (1978) and Leve Sitt Liv (1982).

Ulrich Muehe

MULHOLLAND, MARK Irish character actor Mark Mulholland died in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on October 24, 2007. He was 70. Mulholland was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, in 1937. He was a popular performer on stage and screen, and starred as Uncle Andy in the television productions A Matter of Choice for Billy (1983) and A Coming to Terms for Billy (1984). He was also featured as Tick in the 1999 television mini-series Eureka. Mulholland also appeared on television in productions of Lorna (1987), The Venus de

MURPHY, TOM Irish actor Tom Murphy died of lymphatic cancer in Dublin, Ireland, on October 6, 2007. He was 39. Murphy was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) on January 15,

Mark Mulholland

Tom Murphy

Nils R. Muller

263 1968. A popular stage performer from the early 1990s, Murphy earned a Tony Award for best actor for his role in The Beauty Queen of Leenane in 1998. He was also seen in the films In Till You Die (1992), Michael Collins (1996), The General (1998), Mystics (2002), The Abduction Club (2002), Boxed (2002), In America (2002), Intermission (2003), Adam & Paul (2004), Man About Dog (2004), 48 Angels (2006), and Small Engine Repair (2006). Murphy also appeared in the television productions The Snapper (1983) and Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor (2003), and in episodes Pure Mule and Taggart. Murphy starred as Father Jason Brazil in the 2007 television series Trouble in Paradise.

MUSSO, JEFF French film director Jeff Musso died in Sarcelles, France, on March 13, 2007. He was 99. Musso was born in La Ciotat, France, on October 21, 1907. A pioneer in French cinema, he began his career in the late 1930s, directing and scripting The Puritan (1938). He also wrote and directed the films Second Childhood (1939), Long Live Liberty (1946), and Robinson Crusoe (1951).

2007 • Obituaries

to Los Angeles and was spotted by photographer Irvin Gelb when he entered an Arnold Classic bodybuilding contest. He became a widely popular model in fitness and muscle magazines, and worked in both gay and straight adult films. Mycles is featured in such adult films as Prime Cut Video Magazine (2000), Jackhammer (2001), Storm Fighter (2001), and Wrestler for Hire (2001). In recent years, he released Brett Mycles: The Collector’s Edition and served as a personal fitness trainer.

MYERS, SONNY Sonny Myers, a leading professional wrestler from the 1940s through the 1960s, died after a long illness on May 7, 2007. He was 83. He was born Harold C. “Sonny” Myers in Savannah, Missouri, on January 22, 1924. He began training with promoter Gust Karras in 1943 and became known in the ring as the Missouri Meteor. He briefly held the world wrestling championship when he defeated Orville Brown for the title in November of 1947. He held numerous other championships including the Central States title 14 times. He was also the NWA Texas champion on five occasions and held the NWA Central States tag belts with such partners as Dizzy Davis, Bobby Graham, Larry Chene, and Pat O’Connor. He also teamed with Johnny Weaver as the Weaver Brothers when he competed in the Ohio and Indiana territory. Myers worked as a referee after retiring from competition. He also served as Sheriff of Buchanan County, Missouri, in the early 1970s. He also promoted the Sonny Myers Carnival in Missouri for more than twenty years.

Je› Musso

MYCLES, BRETT Adult film actor and successful fitness model Brett Mycles died in his sleep of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, on February 25, 2007. He was 29. He was born Robert Christopher Sager in Dallas, Texas, on December 2, 1977. He moved Sonny Myers

Brett Mycles

MYNHARDT, PATRICK Actor Patrick Mynhardt died in London on October 25, 2007. He was 75. Mynhardt was born in Bethulie, South Africa, on June 12, 1932. He was a leading stage actor who also appeared in films and television productions in England and South Africa. His film credits include The Hellions (1961), Diamond Walkers (1965), The Naked Prey (1966), Seven Against the Sun (1967), The Jackals (1967), Majuba (1968), Three Bullets for a Long Gun (1970), Jannie Totsiens (1970), Die Voortrekkers (1973), Target of an Assassin (1976), Forever Young, Forever Free (1978), Zulu Dawn (1979) as Colonel Harness, Scotty & Co. (1979),

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A Game for Vultures (1979), Killing Heat (1981), Torn Allegiance (1984), Scavengers (1988), The Emissary (1989), Oddball Paul (1990), The Visual Bible: Matthew (1993), A Good Man in Africa (1994), and Stander (2003). Mynhardt was also featured in the tele-films The Pawn (1977), Pour Tout l’or du Transvaal (1979), A Private Life (1989), Pride of Africa (1997), Operation Delta Force 2: Mayday (1998), Cold Stone Jug (2003). Mynhardt returned to England shortly before his death to appear in the autobiographical stage play Boy from Bethulie in London.

Patrick Mynhardt

NABB, MAGDALEN British crime novelist Magdalen Nabb died of a stroke in Florence, Italy, on August 18, 2007. She was 60. She was born Magdalen Nuttall in Church, Lancashire, England, on January 16, 1947. She was best known for her series of novels starring Sicilian-born police detective Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia. He was featured in 13 of her books from 1981’s Death of an Englishman through 2005’s The Innocent. Other titles in the series include Death of a Dutchman (1982), Death in Springtime (1983), The Marshal and the Murderer (1987), and Property of Blood (1999). Nabb was also the author of a series of children’s books featuring Josie Smith, that she adapted for a Granada TV series that aired from 1989 to 1992. Her other children’s books include The Enchanted Horse (2001) and Twilight Ghost (2002).

NAHAN, STU Stu Nahan, a leading Los Angeles sportscaster who appeared in all of the Rocky films, died of lymphoma in Los Angeles, California, on December 26, 2007. He was 81. Nahan was born in Los Angeles in 1926, and moved to Canada with his mother as an infant. He played hockey as a child and was signed to a professional contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1946. He played with the minor league Los Angeles Monarchs until they folded in the early 1950s. After a series of odd jobs he became a sports announcer on radio in 1956. Nahan soon landed a job as the nightly television sports reported on a Sacramento television station. He also hosted a children’s program as Skipper Stu, with his octopus puppet buddy O.U. Squid. After a period working in Philadelphia, he returned to Los Angeles in 1968. He was sportscaster on several television stations over the next 30 years. He was cast as the fight commentator for Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 boxing film Rocky. He returned to call the action for the sequels Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990), and 2006’s Rocky Balboa. Nahan also appeared in cameo roles in the films Gus (1976), Meteor (1979), Private Benjamin (1980), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Taking Care of Business (1990), Transylvania Twist (1990), and The Great White Hype (1996). He was also seen in the tele-films Brian’s Song (1971), Babe (1975), The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island (1981), Time Out for Dad (1987), and Coopersmith (1992). His other television credits include episodes of The F.B.I., CHiPs, 21 Jump Street, Baywatch, Babes, In the House, Alright Already, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Son of the Beach.

Stu Nahan

Magdalen Nabb

NAITO, AKIRA Japanese art director and production designer Akira Naito died of lateral sclerosis in Japan on January 8, 2007. Naito worked frequently with director Kenji Misumi, designing films for the Zatoichi: The Blindswordsman and Lone Wolf and Cub series. His numerous film credits include River of the Night (1956), Ronin-Gai (1957), The Ghost of Kasane (1960), Tough Guy (1961), Tough Guy, Part 2 (1961), The Tale of Zatoichi (1962), The Ninja Part II (1963), Ninja 4 (1964), Blind Swordsman: Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964), Hoodlum Soldier and the C.O. (1965), The Adventures of Kyoshiro Nemuri (1964), Sleepy Eyes of Death:

265 Sword of Fire (1965), Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (1965), Army Nakano School: Dragon #3 Directive (1967), A Ronin Called Nemuri (1968), Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman Samaritan (1968), Ghost Story of the Snow Witch (1968), Girl with Bamboo Leaves (1969), Devil’s Temple (1969), Horror of an Ugly Woman (1970), Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972), Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), Coup D’Etat (1973), Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974), The Possessed (1976), The Love Suicides of Sonezaki (1981), Muddy River (1981), Tomorrow (1988), A Chaos of Flowers (1989), Company-Sponsored Funeral (1989), The River with No Bridge (1992), Kantsubaki (1992), Village of Dreams (1996), Gendai Ninkyoden (1997), and Pride: The Fateful Moment (1998).

NAKAE, SHINJI Japanese voice actor Shinji Nakae, who was best known as the narrator of the Masked Rider television programs, died of cancer in a Tokyo, Japan, hospital on June 28, 2007. He was 72. Nakae was born Yoshitaka Satou in Tokyo on April 20, 1935. He was associated with the Japanese action fantasy series Kamen Raida, known as Masked Rider in the United States, from the early 1970s. He was the narrator for Masked Rider (1973), Masked Rider V3 (1973), Masked Rider X (1974), Masked Rider Stronger (1975), New Masked Rider (1979), Masked Rider Super-1 (1981), and No. 10 Is Born! All Masked Riders United!! (1983). Nakae was also the voice of two alien villains on the Ultra Seven series in 1967, and was the voice of the Goggle-Robo for Great Task Force Goggle V in 1982. He also worked as narrator for the television productions Mighty Jack (1968), Transforming Ninja Arashi (1972), Warrior of Love: Rainbowman (1972), Diamond Eye: Warrior of Light (1973), Dinosaur Expedition Team Bornfree (1976), Lil’ Superman Gunbaron (1977), and Voislugger (1999), and the films The Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974) and The War in Space (1977). He was a voice actor in numerous Japanese anime productions including Tomorrow’s Joe (1970), Cosmic Knight Tekkaman (1975), Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988), Marmalade Boy (1994), Fruits Basket (2004), and Gaiking: Legend of Daiku-Maryu (2005). He had served as announcer for the television game show Fountain of Trivia from 2002 until poor health forced his retirement shortly before his death.

2007 • Obituaries

NASCIMENTO , NORTON Brazilian actor Norton Nascimento died of heart failure from a lung infection in a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hospital on December 21, 2007. He was 45. Nascimento was born in Belem, Brazil, on January 4, 1962. He began his career in 1981 in the television series The Immigrants. He continued to appear in such television productions as De Corpo e Alma (1992), Agosto (1993), Fera Ferida (1993), A Proxima Vitima (1995), O Fim do Mundo (1996), Melhacao (1997), Chiquinha Gonzaga (1999), Aquarela do Brasil (2000), A Padroeira (2001), As Filhas da Mae (2001), and Maria Esperanca (2007). Nascimento was also featured in several films including Carlota Joaquina, Princess of Brazil (1995), Drama Urbano (1998), Ate que a Vida nos Separe (1999), and Araguaya — A Conspiracao do Silencio (2004).

Norton Nascimento

NASR, SOAD Egyptian actress Soad Nasr died in Egypt on January 6, 2007, as a result of a massive blood loss during liposuction surgery that had left her in a coma for nearly a year. She was 57. A stage, film and television performer in Egypt, Nasr was featured in the films An Eg yptian Story (1982), Adam’s Autumn (2002), and Alexandrie ... New York (2004). She also starred in television productions of Joha Al-Masri (2002) and Meshwar Emraa (2004).

Soad Nasr Shinji Nakae

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NATTEAU, JACQUES French cinematographer Jacques Natteau died of pneumonia in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 17, 2007. He was 86. Natteau was born in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 15, 1920. He served with distinction as a fighter pilot during World War II. He began working in films as a camera operator on such features as From Mayerling to Sarajevo (1940), The Heroic Mr. Boniface (1949), The Red Needle (1951), and The Game of Love (1954). He advanced to the position of director of photography by the early 1950s, working with such directors as Marc Allegret, Jean Renoir, Jules Dassin, and Marcel Carnet. He served as cinematographer on such films as The Red Inn (1951), The Seven Deadly Sins (1952), Marguerite of the Night (1955), Four Bags Full (1956), He Who Must Die (1957), Les Miserables (1958), Love Is My Profession (1958), The Gambler (1958), Sunday Encounter (1958), The Green Mare (1959), Never on Sunday (1960), Between Love and Duty (1960), Thou Shalt Not Kill (1961), Long Live Henry IV ... Long Live Love (1961), The Count of Monte Cristo (1961), Phaedra (1962), Enough Rope (1963), Chicken Feed for Little Birds (1963), and Josefa’s Loot (1963). His survivors include his wife of 45 years, actress Yvonne Furneaux.

credits include Ek Bar Mooskura Do (1972), Khoon Ka Badia Khoon (1978), Motherless Children (1980), Nishchaiy (1992), and Zid (1994).

NEARING, V IVIENNE Vivienne Nearing, who was a contestant on the scandal-ridden quiz show Twenty-One in 1957, died of adrenal cancer in East Hampton, New York on July 4, 2007. She was 81. Nearing was born in New York City on February 3, 1926. She defeated Twenty-One’s reigning champion Charles Van Doren in 1957. She made four appearances and earned $5,500 on the popular quiz show before being beaten. Nearing was charged with perjury in 1960 after having denied to a grand jury that she had been given the answers to questions on the show. A lawyer for Warner Bros. at the time, she pled guilty in 1962 and was disbarred for six months. She later joined the Stroock & Stroock & Lavan law firm in New York, where she had risen to senior partner at the time of her death.

NAYYAR, O.P. Indian film composer O.P. Nayyar died of cardiac arrest in Mumbai, India, on January 27, 2007. He was 81. He was born Omkar Prasad Nayyar in Patiala, Punjab, India, on January 16, 1926. He began writing songs for Hindi-language films in the late 1940s. He was best known for the popular tune “My Name Is Chin Chin Choo” from the film Howrah Bridge in 1958. He wrote songs and music for over fifty films including Heaven (1952), The Hawk (1953), Across the Heart (1954), Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955), Miss Coca Cola (1955), The New Style (1956), Mr. Lambu (1956), Fine Silk (1956), C.I.D (1956), Chhoo Mantar (1956), The Conman (1957), Qaidi (1957), The New Age (1957), Johnny Walker (1957), Phagun (1958), Criminal (1958), 12 O’Clock (1958), Inheritance (1960), Spring (1960), My Beloved (1965), This Night Will Not Come Again (1966), Kismat (1968), Humsaya (1968), and Dil Aur Mohabbat (1968). He had a romantic relationship with singer Asha Bhonsie, and his career was damaged by the subsequent breakup. His later film

NEDBOY , MARTY Dialogue coach Marty Nedboy died of injuries he received in a fall in West Hills, California, on October 21, 2007. He was 77. Nedboy was raised in New York City and worked as a bookkeeper before moving to Hollywood. He assisted comic Robin Williams on dialogue for the sit-com Mork & Mindy in the 1980s. Nedboy also coached such

O.P. Nayyar

Marty Nedboy (right, with comic George Lopez)

Vivienne Nearing

267 stars as Bruce Willis, Brooke Shields, Candice Bergen and Jonathan Winters on such series as Moonlighting, Murphy Brown, Suddenly Susan, Head of the Class, Love & War and George Lopez. He also made occasional onscreen appearances in episodes of the series he worked on.

NELSON , BARRY Barry Nelson, a leading actor of stage, film and television from the 1950s who was the first to appear as secret agent James Bond in a 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale, died while traveling in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 2007. He was 86. Nelson was born Robert Haakon Nielsen in San Francisco, California, on April 16, 1920. He graduated from college at the University of California at Berkeley in 1941, and soon embarked on a career in films with a contract with MGM. Nelson was seen in such films as Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), Johnny Eager (1942), A Yank on the Burma Road (1942), Dr. Kildare’s Victory (1942), Don’t Talk (1942), Rio Rita (1942), The Affairs of Martha (1942), Eyes in the Night (1942), The Human Comedy (1943), Bataan (1943), and A Guy Named Joe (1943). Nelson served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and performed in the touring play Winged Victory. He was also featured as Bobby Crills in the 1944 film version. He returned to the screen after the war, appearing in such films as Time to Kill (1945), The Luckiest Guy in the World (1947), The Beginning or the End (1947) as Enola Gay pilot Col. Paul Tibbetts, Undercover Maisie (1947), Command Decision (1948), Tenth Avenue Angel (1948), Man with My Face (1951), My Favorite Husband (1953), The First Travelling Saleslady (1956), and Mary, Mary (1963). He was also a popular performer on the Broadway stage, appearing in numerous light romantic comedies including The Moon Is Blue and Mary, Mary, both opposite Barbara Bel Geddes, and Cactus Flower with Lauren Bacall. Nelson became a familiar presence on television in the 1950s, appearing in such series as The Ford Theatre Hour, The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, Starlight Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, Suspense, Ben Hecht’s Tales of the City, Schlitz Playhouse of the Stars, Screen Directors Playhouse, Producers’ Showcase, and Lux Playhouse, He starred as Bart Adams in the television adventure series The Hunter from 1952 to 1954, and became the first actor to appear on screen as James Bond in an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale on Climax! in 1954. His other television credits include episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Zane Grey Theater, The United States Steel Hour, Ben Casey, Bob Hope Presents Chrysler Theatre, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, Kraft Suspense Theatre, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Vacation Playhouse, CBS Playhouse, The Name of the Game, Love, American Style, The F.B.I., Longstreet, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Ghost Story, Cannon, Kaz, Battlestar Galactica, David Cassidy — Man Undercover, Salvage 1, The Love Boat, The Ropers, Nero Wolfe, Taxi, Dallas in the recurring role of Arthur Elrod, Magnum, P.I., Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, J.J. Starbuck, and Monsters. Nelson also appeared in the tele-

2007 • Obituaries

films The Borgia Stick (1967), Seven in Darkness (1969), Climb an Angry Mountain (1972), Ring Once for Death (1974), Sin, American Style (1974), Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), and Greatest Heroes of the Bible (1978) as the Pharoah. His later film credits include Airport (1970) as Captain Harris, Pete ’n’ Tillie (1972), and Island Claws (1980). On stage, he starred in Edward Albee’s Seascape and Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests on Broadway, and earned a Tony nomination for his role in the musical The Act with Liza Minnelli in 1978. His final film role was as hotel manager Stuart Ullman in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining with Jack Nicholson.

Barry Nelson

NELSON, LLOYD Actor H. Lloyd Nelson, who later worked a script supervisor on many of Clint Eastwood’s films, died in Glendale, California, on July 25, 2007. He was 80. Nelson was born on June 10, 1927. He began his career as an actor in the mid–1950s, appearing in small roles in episodes of the juvenile science fiction series Space Patrol. He was also featured in the films The Court Jester (1955), Man Beast (1956), The Incredible Petrified World (1957), Naked Youth (1960), A Bullet for Billy the Kid (1963), Curse of the Stone Hand (1964), Creature of the Walking Dead (1965), The Wild World of Batwoman (1966), M*A*S*H (1970), The House on Skull Mountain (1974), Laure (1976), Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), and Return from Witch Mountain (1978). Nelson also appeared on television in episodes of The Ann Sothern Show, Perry Mason, Lassie, and Gunsmoke. He also worked as a dialogue coach for the Lassie television series in the early 1960s and for the 1963 feature film Lassie’s Great Adventure. He was also a script supervisor for the Gunsmoke television series, the 1974 film Hangup, and the 1976 tele-film The Macahans. Nelson began working with actor and director Clint Eastwood in 1978 on the film Every Which Way but Loose. He served as script supervisor and was featured in the film in a small role. He continued to work primarily as a script supervisor, though he made frequent onscreen appearances, for such films as Tilt (1979), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Bronco Billy (1980), A Change of Season (1980), Any Which Way You Can (1980), Stripes (1981), Hammett

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(1982), Firefox (1982), Honkytonk Man (1982), The Outsiders (1983), Shooting Stars (1983), Sudden Impact (1983), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), The Goonies (1985), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), Creator (1985), the tele-film Women of Valor (1986), Ratboy (1986), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Bird (1988), The Dead Pool (1988), Pink Cadillac (1989), Gross Anatomy (1989), The Rookie (1990), Shout (1991), Sleepwalkers (1992), and Unforgiven (1992).

Lloyd Nelson

works were performed by such entertainers as Woody Herman, Skitch Henderson, and John Denver. His arrangements were also recognized in Emmy Awards given to the Night of 100 Stars in 1982 and The 40th Annual Tony Awards in 1986. He also made cameo appearances on episodes of Newhart, ALF, Blossom, and The Larry Sanders Show. He retired from the Tonight Show along with Carson in May of 1992.

NICHELI, GUIDO Italian actor Guido Nicheli died of a stroke in Desenzano del Garda, Italy, on October 28, 2007. He was 73. Nicheli was born in Bergamo, Italy, on July 24, 1934. He appeared in films and television from the 1970s, with roles in such films as The Boss and the Worker (1975), Evil Thoughts (1976), Saxophone (1979), Una Vacanza Bestiale (1980), Eccezzziunale ... Veramente (1982), Vacanze di Natale (1983), Time for Loving (1983), Madman at War (1985), Yuppies (1986), Montecarlo Gran Casino (1987), Watch Out for Perestroika (1990), Anni 90 (1992), Panarea (1997), Cucciolo (1998), Vacanze Sulla Neve (1999), Fantozzi 2000— La Clonazione (1999), and Vita Smeralda (2006). Nicheli also appeared in television productions of Tutti in Palestra (1987), Ragazzi della 3 C. I (1987), Cerco l’Amore (1988), Favola (1996), S.P.Q.R. (1998), and Ma il Portiere non c’e Mai? (2002).

NEWSOM , TOMMY Jazz saxophonist Tommy Newsom, who was often the substitute bandleader for Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, died of cancer at his home in Portsmouth, Virginia, on April 28, 2007. He was 78. Newsom was born in Portsmouth on February 25, 1929. He studied music while in college and played with the Air Force jazz ensemble, Airmen of Note, during his four years of service. Newsom toured with Benny Goodman’s band before joining the orchestra of Merv Griffin’s afternoon talkshow. He joined the Tonight Show band in April of 1962, and Carson became host of the program six months later. Newsom would usually take up the baton when the regular bandleader, Doc Severinsen, was absent. Newsom became the brunt of frequent jokes from Carson, who derided his conservative manner and attire. He was jokingly labeled “Mr. Excitement” by Carson. Newsom was also a composer and arranger whose

NICHOLAS, JAMES Native American actor James Nicholas died of injuries he suffered in a fall at

Tommy Newsom

James Nicholas

Guido Nicheli

269

2007 • Obituaries

a Lillooet fishing camp in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on October 15, 2007. He was 60. Nicholas, a Cree, appeared in the 1997 film Silence and the 2001 tele-film Louis L’Amour’s Crossfire Trail as Chief Red Cloud. He was also seen in episodes of such television series as CHiPs, Hawkeye, Millennium, and Tom Stone.

NIELSEN, CHRISTIANE German actress Christiane Nielsen died in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on April 8, 2007. She was 70. Nielsen was born in Germany on September 10, 1936. She appeared in numerous films from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Nielsen’s film credits include Castle in Tyrol (1957), Nackt, wie Gott sie Schuf (1958), Blitzmadels an die Front (1958), The Moralist (1959), Frau im Besten Mannesalter (1959), Isle of Fear (1960), Mrs. Warren’s Profession (1960), Die Frau am Dunklen Fenster (1960), A Mother’s Revenge (1960), Until Money Departs You (1960), Eine Hubscher als die Andere (1961), The Miracle of Father Malachia (1961), Bankraub in der Rue Latour (1961), The Puzzle of the Red Orchid (1962), Camp der Verdammten (1962), The Invisible Terror (1963), Meine Tochter und Ich (1963), Is Geraldine an Angel (1963), and Code Name Kill (1967). She was also featured in television productions of Schones Wochenende (1962), Tod Eines Handlungsreisenden (1963), and Ein Mann Namens Harry Brent (1968).

Christiane Nielsen

NIKOLAIDIS , NIKOS Greek film director and writer Nikos Nikolaidis died of pulmonary edema in Athens, Greece, on September 5, 2007. He was 67. Nikolaidis was born in Athens on October 25, 1939. He produced, directed and scripted a handful of films from the mid–1970s including Euridice B.A. 2037 (1975), The Thrushes Are Still Singing (1979), Sweet Bunch (1983), Morning Patrol (1987), Singapore Sling (1990), Girl with the Suitcases (1993), See You in Hell, My Darling (1999), The Loser Takes All (2003), and The Zero Years (2005). NORIEGA, EDUARDO Mexican actor Eduardo Noriega died of a heart attack in Mexico City on August 14, 2007. He was 90. Noriega was born in Mexico City, on September 25, 1916. He was a leading actor in films in Mexico from the early 1940s, and was also featured frequently in films and television productions

Nikos Nikolaidis

in the United States from the end of the decade. His numerous film credits include La Liga de las Canciones (1941), Flor de Fango (1942), Highway of Cats (1944), El Mexicano (1944), Amok (1944), Una Gitana en Mexico (1945), Adultery (1945), Club Verde (1945), Hasta que Perdio Jalisco (1945), That Witch Came from Yesterday to Today (1945), Su Gran Ilusion (1945), The Sinner of Magdala (1946), El Desquite (1947), Riffraff (1947), Rose of Santa Rosa (1947), Tycoon (1947), The Newlywed Wants a House (1948), Out on the Big Ranch (1949), El Paso (1949), The Woman of the Port (1949), Un Cuerpo de Mujer (1949), The Eagle and the Hawk (1950), Si me Viera don Porfirio (1950), Inmaculada (1950), Nosotras las Taguigrafas (1950), La Reina del Mambo (1951), Fierecilla (1951), El Papelerito (1951), Two Faces Have the Destiny (1952), El Genial Detective Peter Perez (1952), La Mujer que tu Quieres (1952), Captain Scarlett (1953), Plunder of the Sun (1953), Reportaje (1953), The Boy and the Fog (1953), Sindicato de Telemirones (1954), De Ranchero a Empresario (1954), Fury in Paradise (1955), El Monstruo en la Sombra (1955), Hell’s Island (1955), The Far Horizons (1955), The Magnificent Matador (1955), Estafa de Amor (1955), Seven Cities of Gold (1955), Serenade (1956), the horror western The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) with Guy Madison, Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (1956), This Was Pancho Villa (1957), The Living Idol (1957), Bambalinas (1957), The Sun Also Rises (1957), Locura Musical (1958), The Last

Eduardo Noriega

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Musical (1958), The Last of the Fast Guns (1958), Pier 5, Havana (1959), Tragic Inheritance (1960), My Son, the Hero (1961), Asesinos de la Lucha Libre (1962), Geronimo (1962), El Centauro del Norte (1962), El Rey de la Pistola (1962), El Asesino Enmascarado (1962), El Asaltacaminos (1962), La Muerte en el Desfiladero (1963), Of Love and Desire (1963), Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966), Los Anos Verdes (1967), Impatient Wives (1967), El Asesino se Embarca (1967), Amaneci en tus Brazos (1967), Los Angeles de Puebla (1968), El Dia de la Boda (1968), El Hombre de Negro (1969), Trampa Para un Cadaver (1969), The Revengers (1972), Adios, Amor... (1973), El Hombre y la Bestia (1973), La Isla de los Hombres Solos (1974), La Trenza (1975), La Otra Virginidad (1975), Alas Doradas (1976), Chicano (1976), Deadly Reef (1977), Slaves from Prison Camp Manaos (1978), Los Reyes del Palenque (1979), Mojados (1979), The In-Laws (1979), the tele-film The Best Place to Be (1979), Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979), Te Solte la Rienda (1980), Los Dos Amigos (1980), El Hombre sin Miedo (1980), High Risk (1981), Las Braceras (1981), Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981), Una Leyenda de Amor (1982), A Real Man (1983), Juntos (1984), Punisher of Murderers (1984), Braceras y Mojados (1984), the tele-film Samson and Delilah (1984), Enemigos a Muerte (1985), Hallazgo Sangriento (1985), Motin en la Carcel (1986), At the Edge of the Law: Rescue Mission (1986), El Superpolicia Ochoochenta “880” (1986), Gaby: A True Story (1987), Central Camionera (1988), Caceria Implacable (1988), Don’t Panic (1989), Fist Fighter (1989), Atrapados (1990), Caceria de un Fugitivo (1990), La Ley de la Mafia (1990), Summer Eagle (1990), El Pajaro Tata (1991), Reportera en Peligro (1991), Yo Hice a Roque III (1993), and Reclusorio (1997). Noriega also appeared frequently on U.S. television in the 1950s and 1960s, guest-starring in episodes of such series as Wire Service, Captain Grief, Peter Gunn, State Trooper, World of Giants, Border Patrol, The Man from Blackhawk, The Texan, and COronado 9. His later television credits include episodes of Sweating Bullets, Prisionera de Amor, Embrace Me Tightly, Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real, Mariana de la Noche, and La Esposa Virgen.

NORMINGTON, JOHN British actor John Normington died of pancreatic cancer in a hospital near his home in Kensington, London, England, on July 26, 2007. He was 70. Normington was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, on January 28, 1937. He began his career on stage in a production of The Happiest Days of Your Life in 1950. He became a regular performer with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1962 to 1966, appearing in productions of Henry IV Part 1 and The War of the Roses. Normington also appeared frequently on television from the early 1960s, with roles in such productions as As You Like It (1963), Her Majesty’s Pleasure (1968), The Caesars (1968) as Callistus, The Edwardians (1972), A Day Out (1972), The Brontes of Haworth (1973), The Song of Songs (1973), Life of Shakespeare (1978), The Birds Fall Down (1978), Sakharov (1984), Deceptions (1985), Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985) as Heinrich Himmler, Jack the Ripper (1988), Nativity Blues (1989), The War of the Roses

(1989), Bliss (1988), Supply and Demand (1998), The Unknown Soldier (1998), David Copperfield (1999), Longitude (2000), Love in a Cold Climate (2001), The Deal (2003), and Trial and Retribution XIV: Mirror Image (2007). Normington starred as Old Fred Spooner in the 1970 television series On the House, and was featured in episodes of The Villains, Softly Softly, Manhunt, Hadleigh, New Scotland Yard, Nearest and Dearest, Public Eye, Barlow at Large, The Protectors, Crown Court, Microbes and Men, Upstairs, Downstairs, Play of the Month, Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle, Enemy at the Door, ITV Playhouse, Play for Today, Storyboard, Bootle Saddles, Yes, Prime Minister, Inspector Morse, My Family and Other Animals, Doctor Who, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, The Paradise Club, The New Statesman, Peak Practice, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Coronation Street, The Bill, Midsomer Murders, Torchwood, Thieves Like Us, and Casualty. He was also seen in several films including Inadmissible Evidence (1968), The Reckoning (1969), Stardust (1974), Rollerball (1975), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), The Medusa Touch (1978), A Private Function (1984), and The Misadventures of Mr. Wilt (1989).

John Normington

NORRIS, PAUL Comic book artist Paul Norris, who was the co-creator of the DC super-hero Aquaman, died of complications from a series of strokes in Oceanside, California, on November 6, 2007. He was 93. Norris was born in Nebraska on April 26, 1914. He began working as an illustrator and cartoonist at the Dayton Daily News in Ohio in the late 1930s. He moved to New York City in 1940 where he worked for Prize Publications, creating the comic series Futureman, Power Nelson, and Yank and Doodle. The following year he began illustrating the Sandman character for DC Comics, revamping his costume and co-creating his young sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, in the pages of Adventure Comics. He and writer Mort Weisenger created the underwater hero Aquaman in More Fun Comics #73 in November of 1941. He left DC the following year to draw the Vic Jordan comic strip for the afternoon newspaper PM., After a brief stint drawing the syndicated strip Secret Agent X-9, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He designed propaganda leaflets urging Japanese soldiers to surrender near the

271 end of the war. After his discharge Norris worked for King Features Syndicate, drawing the Jungle Jim strip in the late 1940s. He also freelanced for DC, illustrating the Captain Compass feature for Star Spangled Comics and Johnny Quick for Adventure Comics in the early 1950s. He began drawing the syndicated comic strip Brick Bradford in 1952, and remained as the strip’s artist until retiring in 1987. He also worked for Dell Comics on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and Jungle Jim in the 1950s, and drew the Tarzan and Magnus, Robot Fighter titles at Gold Key in the 1960s. He was also cocreator of Gold Key’s The Jungle Twins in 1972. Later in the decade Norris illustrated an issue of Marvel Comics’ Laff-A-Lympics, featuring such Hanna-Barbera cartoon stars as Yogi Bear and Scooby Doo.

2007 • Obituaries

NORTH, NEIL British actor Neil North died in London on March 7, 2007. He was 74. North was born in Quetta, India, on October 18, 1932, the son of an officer in the Indian Army. He appeared in a production of Peasant’s Priest for the Canterbury Festival in 1947. His performance as King Richard III led to him being cast in the film version of Terence Rattigan’s hit play The Winslow Boy in 1947. He starred as Ronnie Winslow, a young naval cadet expelled when accused of the theft of a postal order. North appeared in several more films including Britannia Mews (1948) with Maureen O’Hara, Mr. Perrin and Mr. Trail (1948), Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1951), and The Deep Blue Sea (1955). He came to the United States in the mid–1950s where he became a prominent antique dealer. He also continued to act, appearing in the Kraft Television Theatre production of A Night to Remember in 1956. He was also featured in episodes of You Are There and Robert Montgomery Presents. North came back to England in the 1990s, where he returned to the screen in the 1999 remake of The Winslow Boy, this time appearing as the First Lord of the Admiralty. His later film credits include the features Billy Elliot (2000), Too Much Too Young (2005), and The Good Shepherd (2007).

Paul Norris

NORTH, KENT British gay adult film star Kent North died of an apparent suicide by drug overdose on July 4, 2007 in England. He was 35. North was born in England on December 27, 1971. He attended the Royal Naval Academy before embarking on a career as an adult entertainer in 2004. He made his debut in the Hot House Entertainment film Handpacked III: Jampacked (2004). His other films include Twisted (2005), The Hard Way (2005), Mischief (2005), At Your Service (2006), Blue (2006), Slam Dunk (2006), Mister Fister (2006), Private Lowlife (2006) and Communion (2007). North had recently completed the feature Knuckle Sandwich shortly before his death.

O’BANION, JOHN Comedian and signer John O’Banion died in Los Angeles on February 14, 2007. He was 59. O’Banion was born in Kokomo, In-

Kent North

John O’Banion

Neil North

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diana, on February 16, 1947. He began his career in the 1960s and was a frequent performer on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from the 1970s. He recorded several popular songs in the early 1980s including “Love Like You and I Never Found” and “I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love.” He was also featured in the tele-film Courage (1986), and the films Borderline (1980) and The Judas Project (1990) as Jesse.

A Man of No Importance (1994), Moondance (1995), The Fifth Province (1997), Footfalls (2000), and How About You (2007). O’Hara also appeared on television in productions of Caught in a Free State (1984), The Real Charlotte (1991), Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Her Own Rules (1998), and Relative Strangers (1999). She was best known for her role as Eunice Phelan in the soap opera Fair City from 1994 until her death.

O’DONNELL , SINARA STULL Actress Sinara Stull O’Donnell died of cancer on September 16, 2007. She was 60. O’Donnell appeared on television in the 1980s on such series as Cheers and General Hospital. She later worked as a corporate motivational speaker and was the author of the book Be the Star of Your Life: Are You Ready for Your Close-Up?

OITICICA , SONIA Brazilian actress Sonia Oiticica died in Sao Paulo, Brazil on February 26, 2007. She was 88. Oiticica was born in Rio Largo, Brazil on December 19, 1918. She was a leading stage performer from the 1940s, and was featured in the 1940 film Pureza. She worked frequently in television from the 1960s, appearing in such productions as As Minas de Prata (1966), Legiao dos Esquecidos (1968), Ana (1968), O Bolha (1969), Nina (197), Gaivotas (1979), Dulcinea Vai a Guerra (1980), Os Adolescentes (1980), Ninho da Serpente (1982), Campeao (1982), and Jogo do Amor (1985). She also appeared in the films A Moreninha (1970), Uma Verdadeira Historia de Amor (1971), O Desconhecido (1977), Os Noivos (1979), The Claudia Case (1979), Killer Fish (1979), Bonitinha Mas Ordinaria (1981), and Dora Doralina (1982).

Sinara Stull O’Donnell

O’HARA, JOAN Irish actress Joan O’Hara, who starred in the popular television soap Fair City, died in Ireland on July 23, 2007. She was 76. O’Hara was born on October 11, 1930. She was a stage performer for over seven decades, performing in works by Marina Carr, Tom Murphy and Graham Reid. She also appeared in a handful of films during her career including She Didn’t Say No! (1958), Home Is the Hero (1959), The Johnstown Monster (1971), Riders to the Sea (1987), The Dawning (1988), Da (1988), Awakening (1990), Far and Away (1992), Fatal Inheritance (1993),

Joan O’Hara

Sonia Oiticica

OKSNER, BOB Comic artist Bob Oksner, who was noted for his drawing of female comic characters for over forty years, died of pneumonia on February 18, 2007. He was 90. Oksner was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on October 14, 1916. He attended Columbia University and worked as a high school art teacher before he began drawing comics in the late 1930s. He originally worked for Funnies Inc. before he was hired by Timely (now Marvel) Comics, where he illustrated such series as The Destroyer and Marvel Boy. He also drew the syndicated newspaper strip Miss Cairo Jones from 1945 to 1947. He moved to DC Comics in the late 1940s, where he spent most of the remainder of his career. Noted for his illustrations of pretty girls, Oksner drew The Black Canary series, and was soon working on the DC humor books The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, The Adventures of Bob Hope, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Sgt. Bilko, Doberman, Leave It to Binky, Miss Beverly Hills, and A Date with Judy. He also

273 drew the Stanley and His Monster series and was co-creator of the Angel and the Ape series. He also illustrated a syndicated comic strip based on the I Love Lucy television series from 1952 to 1955, and drew the Soozie strip from 1967 to 1968. He began collaborating with Irwin Hasen on the scripts for the Dondi strip in 1969, continuing until the series ended in 1986. Oksner also continued his work at DC, drawing the Welcome Back, Kotter adaptation, and illustrating various romance titles and the adventure comics Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane. He retired from drawing in the mid–1980s.

Bob Oksner

OLIVIER, CARLOS Venezuelan actor Carlos Olivier died of a heart attack in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 22, 2007. He was 54. Olivier was born in Caracas on January 26, 1952, the son of actress Linda Olivier. He began appearing on television in the 1970s in such series as La Indomable (1974), Estefania (1979), Rosalinda (1981), Angelito (1981), Marta y Javier (1983), Bienvenida Esperanza (1983), De Mujeres (1990), Pecado de Amor (1996), Contra Viento y Marea (1997), Cuando Hay Pasion (1999), Carita Pintada (1999), Hay Amores que Matan (2000), Viva la Pepa (2001), Las Gonzalez (2002), Enganada (2003), and Que Buena se Puso Lola! (2004). He was featured in the 2005 film Atenea y Afrodita. Olivier also practiced medicine in Caracas.

2007 • Obituaries

O’LOUGHLIN, MERYL Casting director Meryl O’Loughlin died of complications of ovarian cancer in Santa Monica, California, on February 27, 2007. She was 73. She was born Meryl Abeles in Chicago, Illinois, on June 8, 1933. She began working in television in the early 1960s, serving as a casting director for the series The Outer Limits and The Fugitive. She married actor Gerald S. O’Loughlin in 1966. The couple had two children before their divorce. O’Loughlin also cast such series as Mary Tyler Moore, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hart to Hart, Shazam!, The Manhunter, The Ghost Busters, Filthy Rich, and ALF. She was also casting director for numerous tele-films including Something for Joey (1977), First, You Cry (1978), Fighting Back (1980), The Boy Drank Too Much (1980), The Shadow Riders (1982), More Than Murder (1983), Cocaine and Blue Eyes (1983), Mickey Spillane’s Murder Me, Murder You (1983), The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984), Crime of Innocence (1985), Deadly Messages (1985), Alice in Wonderland (1985), Pleasures (1986), Shattered Innocence (1988), Lucky/Chances (1990), Bloodlines: Murder in the Family (1993), Danielle Steel’s Message from Nam (1993), Danielle Steel’s Once in a Lifetime (1984), Truman Capote’s One Christmas (1994), Mother, May I Sleep with Danger (1996), and Taylor’s Wall (2002). She also cast several feature films including He’s My Girl (1987), Frozen Assets (1992), Stop the World, I Want to Get Off (1996), and Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996). O’Loughlin was casting director for the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1996 to 2000, and was a founding member of the Casting Society of America.

Meryl O’Loughlin

Carlos Olivier

O’LOUGHLIN, TOM Animator and background artist Tom O’Loughlin, who worked on numerous Warner Bros. and other cartoon productions during his 40 year career, died on October 26, 2007. He was 83. O’Loughlin was born on December 24, 1923. He began working in cartoons in the late 1940s and joined Warner Bros. the following year. He earned his first credit in the 1958 cartoon A Pizza Tweety-Pie. He continued to work on numerous Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the gang. He also worked with Hanna-Barbera in the 1960s on Jonny Quest and The Harlem Glo-

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betrotters. He also did background art for numerous Pink Panther shorts for DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, including the theatrical release The Pink Pfink (1964). He also worked on The Ant and the Aardvark, Bailey’s Comets, The Barkleys, Here Comes the Grump, The Houndcats, The Inspector, The Oddball Couple, Return to the Planet of the Apes, Roland and Rattfink, and Tijuana Toads. O’Loughlin also worked with Filmation Associates television animated series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Star Trek, The Young Sentinels, The New Adventures of Batman, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle, The New Adventures of Tom and Jerry, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and BraveStarr. He also provided background art for the feature films Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase (1982), The Secret of the Sword (1985), and Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night. O’Loughlin also worked on the television specials The Fat Albert Christmas Special (1977) and Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All (1983).

OMANI, THE GREAT British escape artist and stunt performer Ronald Cunningham, who was known on stage as The Great Omani, died of cancer in Brighton, East Sussex, England, on October 15, 2007. He was 92. Cunningham was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England, on July 10, 1915. He worked for his father’s wine import business in the 1930s, and was rejected from military service during World War II due to a damaged heart. He came across J.C. Cannell’s book, The Secrets of Houdini, in the 1940s and became interested in the great magician’s escape stunts. After years of practice, he rechristened himself as The Great Omani and began performing publicly in the early 1950s. He became on of the leading escapologists of his day, removing chains and straitjackets while strapped to a pier during high tide. He also escaped from a straitjacket while hanging upside down with his pants in flames. His wife, Eileen, often assisted him on stage under the name Marvita. He largely retired after the death of his wife in 1983, but still made occasional appearances despite age and infirmity.

died at his home in Chatsworth, California, on May 16, 2007. He was 64. O’Meara was born in Sherman Oaks, California, on April 22, 1943. He worked in films as an assistant editor from the early 1970s, earning such credits as Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), The Drowning Pool (1975), All the President’s Men (1976), and Viva Knievel! (1977). He was editing films by the end of the decade, earning an Academy Award nomination for his work on 1979’s The Rose. He also edited the films Big Wednesday (1978), Going in Style (1979), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Last Starfighter (1984), My Science Project (1985), Hoosiers (1986), The Rescue (1988), Farewell to the King (1989), The Dream Team (1989), Flashback (1990), Flight of the Intruder (1991), V.I. Warshawski (1991), Point of Impact (1993), Blind Justice (1994), Heavy Weights (1995), The Grass Harp (1995), Bad Moon (1996), Music from Another Room (1998), Diamonds (1999), The Amati Girls (2000), and Avatar (2004). O’Meara won an Emmy Award for his work editing the 1983 television mini-series The Thorn Birds. His other television credits include the tele-films Father Damien: The Leper Priest (1980), The Abduction of Kari Swenson (1987), The Last Outlaw (1994), and The Marriage Fool (1998), and the short-lived comedy series Undeclared in 2001.

C. Timothy O’Meara

The Great Omani

O’MEARA, C. TIMOTHY Emmy Award– winning film and television editor C. Timothy O’Meara

O’NEILL, ROBERT F. Television producer Robert F. O’Neill died from colon cancer in West Hills, California, on October 23, 2007. He was 86. O’Neill was born in Hollywood, California, on May 21, 1921. He began working in television with Desilu Prods. in the 1960s. He was an associate producer on the television series Mission: Impossible, The Sixth Sense, and The Name of the Game. O’Neill also produced the television series The Invisible Man, Gemini Man, Quincy, and Darkroom. He was best known for producing the popular mystery series Columbo and Murder, She Wrote. O’Neill’s other television credits include the tele-films Beg, Borrow, or Steal (1973), Double Indemnity (1973), Maneater (1973), Live Again, Die Again (1974), Target Risk (1975), Riding with Death (1976), Wheels (1978), Evening in Byzantium (1978), Women in White (1979), The Last Convertible (1979), The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther (1979), Memories Never Die (1982), and

275 The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1984). He also produced the 1995 feature film Cops n Roberts.

OPPENHEIM, DAVID Music and television documentary producer David Oppenheim died in New York City on November 14, 2007. He was 85. Oppenheim was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 13, 1922. He began playing the clarinet at an early age. He attended Juilliard before serving in World War II as an anti-tank gunner in Germany. After his discharge, he resumed his musical studies at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts where he performed under such conductors as Toscanini, Stravinsky and Stokowski. Throughout the 1950s Oppenheim served as director of the classical division of Columbia Records. Late in the decade, he worked as a television producer on the series Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic and PBS’s Omnibus. He worked for CBS as a producer and director from 1962 to 1967, producing Stravinsky and Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. He produced, directed and wrote the documentary Casals at 88 in 1964. Oppenheim served as dean at the New York University School of the Arts from 1969 to 1991. He was married to actress Judy Holliday from 1948 until their divorce in 1957 and to Ellen Adler, the daughter of acting teacher Stella Adler, from 1957 to 1976. He married Patricia Jaffe in 1987, who survives him.

2007 • Obituaries

nals. A similar series of films produced in Denmark starred Ove Sporogoe as Egon. Opsahl was seen in Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry (1970), Olsenbanden tar Gull (1972), Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry gar Amok (1973), Olsenbanden Moter Kongen & Knekten (1974), Olsenbandens Siste Bedrifter (1975), Olsenbanden for Full Musikk (1976), Olsenbanden & DynamittHarry pa Sporet (1977), Olsenbanden og Data Harry Sprenger Verdensbanken (1978), Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry mot nye Hoyder (1979), Olsenbanden gir seg Aldri! (1981), Olsenbandens aller Siste Kupp (1982), Men Olsenbanden var ikke Dod (1984), and Olsenbandens Siste Stikk (1999). Opsahl’s other film credits include Pa Stigende Kurs (1987), Folk og Rovere i Kardemomme by (1988), A Handful of Time (1990), and Ute av Drift! (1992). He also starred as Henry Pettersen in the Norwegian television series Mot i Brostet in 1993 and was Good Old Gammel Nok in the 1994 mini-series The Julekalender.

Arve Opsahl

David Oppenheim

OPSAHL, ARVE Norwegian actor Arve Opsahl, who starred as Egon Olsen in the popular Olsenbanden film series, died of heart failure in an Oslo, Norway, hospital on April 29, 2007. He was 85. Opsahl was born in Norway on May 14, 1921. He performed in cabarets in the early 1940s and made his film debut in 1941. He was seen in such movies as Svendsen gar Videre (1949), It Happened One Night (1958), Millionaer for en Aften (1960), Sonner ay Norge (1961), Bussen (1961), Sailors (1964), Nydelige Nelliker (1964), Hurra for Andersens (1966), Stompa til Sjos! (1967), The Smugglers (1968), Skulle det Dukke opp Flere lik, sa er det Bare a Ringe... (1970), Norske Byggeklosser (1972), Bor Borson Jr (1974), Knutsen & Ludvigsen (1974), and Bor Borson II (1976). Opsahl began playing gang leader Egon Olsen in Olsenbanden in 1969, the first in a long line of films about a comic gang of Norwegian crimi-

ORALOGLU, LALE Turkish actress Lale Oraloglu died in Istanbul, Turkey, of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 15, 2007. She was 82. Oraloglu was born in Izmir, Turkey, on August 15, 1924. She began her career as a stage and film actress in the early 1950s. She starred in such films as Yildirim Beyazit ve Timurlenk (1952), The Bloody Money (1953), Under the Lilacs (1954), Nilgun (1954), Mechul Kadin (1955), The

Lale Oraloglu

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Bastard (1956), My Children’s Killer (1957), Karasu (1958), A Woman’s Trap (1958), His Cavalryman (1959), The Broken Pots (1960) which she also scripted, Aysecik (1960), The Shameless Man (1961), Law Is Law (1962), The Bad Seed (1963), Vur Patlasin cal Oynasin (1970), Menekse Koyu (1991), and Kisik Ateste 15 Dakika (2006). she was also featured in the television productions Ah Yasamak var Ya! (2002) and Candan Ote (2006).

ORAMAS, F AUSTINO Cuban singer and songwriter Faustino Oramas, who had success late in his career performing with the Buena Vista Social Club, died in Holguin, Cuba, on March 27, 2007. He was 96. Oramas was born in Holguin on January 4, 1911. He began his musical career in the mid–1920s, singing with the Benigno Mesa Septet. He achieved fame in 1938 after writing and performing the popular song “El Guayaber” (“Passion Fruit”), which became his nickname. Oramas remained a popular musical figure in Cuba for the next six decades. In the 1990s, he joined with a group of other aging Cuban musicians to form the Buena Vista Social Club. While Oramas was not a part of the 1998 album and film about the group, his composition “El Candela” was performed by them.

agua, Nicaragua, in February of 1976. He came to the United States as a child and began working as an actor in the late 1990s, appearing in the 1997 film Lord of the City. He also appeared on television in episodes of Strong Medicine and CSI: Miami. Ortega’s other film credits include roles in Exit 8A (2004), Game Over (2006), and G.I. Jesus (2006). He also produced, scripted and starred as Matt in the 2006 film Speed Dating 101.

ORTON, PETER British children’s television executive Peter Orton died of cancer in London on December 5, 2007. He was 64. Orton was born in Portsmouth, England, on June 17, 1943. He began working as a salesman in the early 1960s; he joined Television International Enterprises in 1966, and began working with the Jim Henson Company as head of international sales in the early 1970s. Orton was instrumental in making international hits out of such Henson productions as The Muppets and Fraggle Rock. He left Henson in 1989 and founded HIT Entertainment. Orton was involved in the creation and production of the popular children’s series Bob the Builder. He also acquired distribution rights to such series as Barney, Pingu the Penguin, Angelina Ballerina, Kipper, Thomas the Tank Engine, and others, and marketed licensing and merchandising for the programs. HIT was sold to Apax Partners in 2005, and Orton dedicated the remainder of his life to charitable activities.

Faustino Oramas

ORTEGA, ORLANDO Actor Orlando Ortega was shot to death in West Hollywood on the night of May 29, 2007. He was 31. Ortega was born in Man-

Peter Orton (center, with Barney and Bob the Builder)

OSADEBE, STEPHEN OSITA Leading African musician and bandleader Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe died in Waterbury, Connecticut, on May 11, 2007. He was 71. Osadebe was born in Atani, Nigeria, on March 17, 1936. Inspired by singer Nat King Cole, Osadebe began his career in the 1950s. He achieved notoriety with his 1958 recording of “Adamma,” and became a leader in the popular African musical style known as highlife. His 1984 recording of “Osondi Owendi” was the best-selling record in Nigeria’s history. Osadebe also toured the United States several times and had a hit with his 1996 song “Kedu America” (“How Are You, America?”). He wrote the music and lyrics for over 500 songs during his career. Orlando Ortega

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2007 • Obituaries

Stephen Osita Osadebe

Michael Osborne

OSAKA , H IROSHI Japanese animator Hiroshi Osaka died of cancer in Osaka, Japan, on September 24, 2007. He was 44. Osaka was born in Neyagawa, Japan, on June 20, 1963. He began working in animation in the early 1980s, and rose through the ranks to become animation director on such series as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, City Hunter 3, Ronin Warriors, Macross Plus, and Golden Boy. He worked on numerous animes for Sunrise including Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit V Gundam, and Mobile Fighter G Gundam. He teamed with Sunrise producer Masahiko Minami and fellow animator Toshihiro Kawamoto on the popular Cowboy Bebop series, and the trio subsequently formed the BONES animation studio.

OSMOND, GEORGE George Osmond, father of the legendary singing family The Osmonds, died after a long illness at his home in Provo, Utah, on November 6, 2007. He was 90. Osmond was born in Star Valley, Wyoming, on October 13, 1917. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and met and married his wife, Olive, in 1944. The couple had nine children, most of whom became singing stars. Sons Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay were the first to form a musical quartet, The Osmond Brothers, in the early 1960s. With their father’s guidance, they became popular performers at Disneyland and on The Andy Williams Show. Donny Osmond joined the group at the age of six and became the best known of the brothers. They recorded numerous popular tunes and had a major hit with “One Bad Apple (Don’t Spoil the Whole Bunch)” in 1971. Sister Marie also began performing with the group in 1973 and she and Donny became host of the variety show The Donny and Marie Show in 1973. Their musical siblings, who now included youngest brother Jimmy, were frequently featured on the show that continued through 1979. George Osmond served as the guiding force behind all of his children’s careers and was instrumental in their subsequent success. He and his wife Olive remained married until her death in 2004.

Hiroshi Osaka

OSBORNE, MICHAEL British jazz saxophonist Michael Osborne died of lung cancer in England on September 19, 2007. He was 65. Osborne was born in Hereford, England, on September 28, 1941. He performed with the Mike Westbrook Band from 1962 to 1972, and also worked with such musicians as Kenny Wheeler, Michael Gibbs, and Alan Skidmore. He joined with Skidmore and John Surman as part of the saxophone trio S.O.S. from 1974 to 1975. His career was cut short when he was hospitalized for schizophrenia after a European tour with S.O.S., and he retired in 1982.

George Osmond

PAIGE, HALEY Adult film actress Haley Paige died under mysterious circumstances in King City, Cal-

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ifornia, on August 21, 2007. She was 25. She was born Maryam Haley in Mexico on December 30, 1981, and came to the United States in the early 1990s. See began working in the adult entertainment industry as a nude model in 2000 and was appearing in films by 2002. Paige was credited with over 300 films during her brief career including Real XXX Letters 2 (2002), Naughty Bedtime Stories (2002), There’s Something About Jack 28 (2003), School of Hard Cocks: Class of ATM (2003), POV Pervert 1 (2003), Org y Angels 1 (2003), Hot and Spicy Latinass (2003), Filthy Things 1 (2003), Blastrovan 2 (2003), Barely Legal Summer Camp (2003), Winkers (2004), Wild Youth (2004), Welcome to the Valley (2004), Voracious (2004), Uranus or Bust (2004), Tits Ahoy (2004), Tales from the Crack (2004), Stone Cold (2004), Space 2077 (2004), Sex Brat (2004), Rock Hard (2004), Ripe for the Pipe (2004), Puss ’n Boots (2004), Power Shots (2004), Pillow Talk (2004), The Newsgirl (2004), Nasty Little Stripper Girls (2004), Mirage (2004), Love Sucks and Then You Die (2004), Innocences: Baby Blue (2004), Haley Paige AKA Filthy Whore (2004), Fistful of Musketeers (2004), Beach Patrol (2004), To Die For (2005), Syrens of Sex (2005), Out With the Old (2005), Only in America (2005), Man’s Best Friend (2005), Blow (2005), Assylum (2005), Scorpio Rising (2005), Silent Night (2006), Office Whores Behind Closed Doors (2006), Housewives Need Cash (2006), Delusions (2006), The Da Vinci Load (2006), The New Neighbors (2006), Dirty Pretty Lies (2007), and Breast Seller 2 (2007). Paige made her directorial debut in 2006 with the adult film Virgin Territory.

peace advocate, taking part in protests against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons in the 1960s and 1970s. She was featured as Helen in the 1975 film Milestones, about those who sought radical solutions to America’s problems during those decades. She also wrote several collections of poetry, with a final collection, Fidelity: A Book of Poems, scheduled for publication in early 2005. Survivors include her husband, playwright Robert Nichols.

Grace Paley

PANZER, WILLIAM Film and television producer William Panzer died in a Boise, Idaho, hospital on March 17, 2007, of injuries he received in a fall in Sun Valley, Idaho, the previous day. He was 64. Panzer was born in New York City on September 6, 1942. He was best known as the producer of the 1986 film Highlander, about an immortal Scottish swordsman. He was also involved in the production of the sequel films Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994), and Highlander: Endgame (2000), and the popular television spin-offs Highlander and Highlander: The Raven in the 1990s. Panzer also produced the films The Death Collector (1976), Stunts (1977), Steel (1979), St. Helens (1981), O’Hara’s Wife (1982), Sam Peckinpah’s final film as director The Osterman Weekend (19830, Freeway (1988), King of the Wild (1989), Cat Chaser (1989), Cutting Class (1989), and Poison (2000).

Haley Paige

PALEY, GRACE Short-story writer and poet Grace Paley died of breast cancer at her home in Thetford Hill, Vermont, on August 22, 2007. She was 84. She was born Grace Goodside in New York City on December 11, 1922. She began writing in the 1950s, and her first collection of short stories, The Little Disturbances of Man: Stories of Men and Women at Love, was published in 1959. She penned two other short-story collections, many featuring the recurring character Faith Darwin, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974) and Later the Same Day (1985). A trilogy of her stories were filmed under the title Enormous Changes at the Last Minute in 1983. She was also an outspoken

William Panzer

279 PARIGOT, GUY French character actor Guy Parigot died in France on January 15, 2007. He was 84. Parigot was featured in such films as The Bar at the Cross (1972), Debarquement (1974), The Roaring Forties (1982), Inspecteur Lavardin (1986), Le Dernier Rituel (1996), and Marcel and Co. (1998). He also appeared in television productions of Un Homme, une Ville (1973), Silas (1981), Les Grands Ducs (1982), Marion du Faouet (1997), Entre Terre et Mer (1987), and Le Champ Dolent, le Roman de la Terre (2002).

2007 • Obituaries

ger, training him and serving as his mentor when he began bodybuilding.

PARKER, BRANT Cartoonist Brant Parker, who co-created The Wizard of Id comic strip, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia, on April 15, 2007. He was 86. Parker was born in Los Angeles on August 26, 1920. He studied at the Otis Art Institute and began working at Disney Studios in the early 1940s. Parker served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and returned to Disney after to the war to work on Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse cartoons. Later in the 1940s he began working as the political cartoonist for the Birmingham Press. Parker joined with fellow cartoonist Johnny Hart to create the popular Wizard of Id comic strip in 1965. The cartoon antics of the diminutive tyrant and his court appeared in over 1000 newspapers and was adapted for an animated television special in 1969. Parker’s son, Jeff, largely took over his father’s role on the strip in 1997. Parker’s death came shortly over a week after that of his long time collaborator, Johnny Hart.

Guy Parigot

PARK, REG Bodybuilder and actor Reg Park died of melanoma in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22, 2007. He was 79. He was born Roy Park in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, on June 7, 1928. He became involved in bodybuilding in 1946 and won the Mr. Britain title in 1949. He placed second to Steve Reeves in the 1950 Mr. Universe competition, but came back to win the title in 1951, 1958, and 1965. Park moved to South Africa in the early 1950s where he operated a chain of fitness gyms. Park starred in a handful of Italian muscleman epics in the early 1960s, playing Hercules as other legendary strongmen in Hercules and the Captive Women (1961), Hercules in the Haunted World (1961), Maciste in King Solomon’s Mines (1964), Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (aka Terror of the Kirghiz) (1964), and Hercules the Avenger (1965). He was also instrumental in the early career of Arnold Schwarzeneg-

PARR, SALLY Actress Sally Parr Van Name died of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 23, 2007. She was 82. She was born Sally Frances Carmichael in Dallas, Texas, on May 13, 1925. She appeared in the 1950 film noir The Sun

Reg Park

Sally Parr

Brant Parker

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Sets at Dawn and was featured in an episode of Stars Over Hollywood on television. She also performed frequently on the local stage.

PARRY, KEN British character actor Ken Parry died in a London hospital on December 5, 2007. He was 77. Parry was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, on June 20, 1930. The heavyset actor appeared frequently on British television from the late 1950s. Parry was seen in television productions of The Secret Kingdom (1960), Ape and Essence (1966), Mister Misfit (1967), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Another Day, Another Dollar (1967), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1971), The Merchant of Venice (1972), The Crazy Kill (1975), Nicholas Nickleby (1977), Blott on the Landscape (1985), and Oliver Twist (1999). His other television credits include episodes of No Hiding Place, Maigret, Zero One, Out of the Unknown, The Baron, The Avengers, The Wednesday Play, Armchair Theatre, Champion House, Home A’Plenty, Dixon of Dock Green, Nearest and Dearest, The Benny Hill Show, Never Say Die, The Troubleshooters, Z Cars, The Sweeney, Angels, Coronation Street, Van der Valk, ITV Playhouse, The Devil’s Crown, Hazell, The Young Ones, Crossroads, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Saracen, Children’s Ward, and The House of Windsor. Parry also appeared in such films as Friends and Neighbours (1959), Just for Fun (1963), Otley (1968), Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Spring and Port Wine (1970), A Hole Lot of Trouble (1971), That’s Your Funeral (1972), Burke and Hare (1972), The Nelson Affair (1973), Mistress Pamela (1974), Lisztomania (1975), What’s Up Nurse! (1977), Joseph Andrews (1977), Come Play with Me (1977), Hawk the Slayer (1980), Lifeforce (1985), and The Rainbow Thief (1990).

Ken Parry

PARSONS, BENNY Auto racer Benny Parsons died of complications from lung cancer in a Charlotte, North Carolina, hospital on January 18, 2007. He was 65. Parsons was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on July 21, 1941. He began racing cars in the early 1960s and was the Automobile Racing Club of America’s season champion in 1968 and 1969. Parsons won Nascar’s Winston Cup in 1970, and was stock-car racing’s Daytona 500 champion in 1975. He participated

in over 500 races through 1988, winning 21 of them. He also became a racing analyst and announcer for television in the 1980s, and earned an Emmy Award for his work with ESPN in 1996. Parsons appeared in cameo roles in several films including Stockcar! (1977), Daytona 500 (1979), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). He was also seen in the tele-films Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (1994) and Steel Chariots (1997).

Benny Parsons

PARVEZ , YUNUS Indian character actor Yunus Parvez died of complications from diabetes at his home in Mumbai, India, on February 11, 2007. He was 75. Parvez appearing in over 200 films from the mid–1960s. His many film credits include Pinjr Ke Pancchi (1966), Uphaar (1971), Hot Winds (1973), Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara (1973), Girl Without a Name (1973), The Chain (1973), The Distance (1974), Sanyasi (1975), Sankalp (1975), I’ll Die for Mama (1975), Zakhmee (1975), Hera Pheri (1976), Life (1976), A Friends’ Friend (1977), The Other Man (1977), Alaap (1977), Blood Sweat (1977), Trident (1978), Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979), The Jewelled Lamp (1979), Mr. Natwarlal (1979), Hanky Panky (1979), Black Stone (1979), The Burning Train (1980), Asha (1980), The Scales of Justice (1980), Shaan (1980), The Mute (1981), The Question (1982), Bazaar (1982), Angoor (1982), Marriage (1982), Star (1982), The Labourer (1983), Avtaar (1983), Disco Dancer (1983), All Rounder (1984), Lorie (1984), The Festival (1984), Laila (1984), Sanjog (1985), Tawaif (1985), Yudh (1985), Fire and Flames (1986), People (1987), Mr. India (1987), Address (1987), Will Power and Hard Work (1987), Shahenshah (1988), Ram-Avtar (1988), Salaam Bombay! (1988), Gharana (1989), The Coin (1989), Jaan-E-Wafa (1990), Honourable (1990), Aag Ka Gola (1990), Amiri Garibi (1990), Bound by an Oath (1991), Khel (1991), Benaam Badsha (1991), Saajan (1991), Love on the Sly (1992), Heart (1992), Yaad Rakhegi Duniya (1992), Anaam (1992), The Eyes (1993), The Mirror (1993), Boy Friend (1993), Professor Ki Padosan (1993), The Law (1994), Mohra (1994), Mr. Azaad (1994), Kismat (1995), Ab Insaf Hoga (1995), Hahakaar (1996), Loafer (1996), Share Bazaar (1997), Daadagiri (1997), Zameer: The Awakening of a Soul (1997), Mehndi (1998), Jai Hind (1999), Integam (2001), Kranti

281 (2002), Ansh: The Deadly Part (2002), My Heart Became a Stranger (2003), Patli Kamar Ambe Baal (2004), Suno Sasurjee (2004), and Bunty Aur Babli (2005).

PASCAL, GISELLE

French actress Giselle Pascal, who had a decade long affair with Monaco’s Prince Rainier before his marriage to actress Grace Kelly, died in Nimes, France, on February 2, 2007. She was 85. Pascal was born Giselle Marie Madeleine Tallone in Cannes, France, on September 17, 1921. She began her career on stage in the early 1940s and made her film debut in Marc Allegret’s L’Arlesienne (1942) with Raimu. She soon became a popular star in French films, with such credits as Twilight (1942), Two Shy Ones (1943), La Vie de Boheme (1945), Lunegarde (1946), Madame et son Flirt (1946), Les J3 (1946), Dropped from Heaven (1946), Amours, Delices et Orgues (1947), The Last Refuge (1947), Apres l’Amour (1948), Mademoiselle Has Fun (1948), The Chocolate Girl (1949), Veronique (1949), The Naked Woman (1949), Beautiful Love (1951), Fire Under Her Skin (1953), Endless Horizons (1953) as pioneer aviatrix Helene Boucher, Royal Affairs in Versailles (1954), Night of Shame (1954), La Madone des Sleepings (1955), Mademoiselle from Paris (1955), Sacha Guitry’s If Paris Were Told to Us (1956), Pity for the Vamps (1956), Sylvane de mes Nuits (1957), It Only Happens to the Living (1959), The Iron Mask (1962) with Jean Marais, Seul ... A Corps Perdu (1963), Un Caso di Coscienza (1969), and Secret World (1969). Pascal appeared frequently on French television from the 1970s, appearing in productions of La Mort des Capucines (1971), La Mort d’un Champion (1972), La Verite Tient a un Fil (1976), Amours sous la Revolution: Andre Chenier et la Jeune Captive (1978), Symphonie (1986), Fest im Sattel (1988), Nick Chasseur de Tetes (1989), and Tous en Selle (1992). She also appeared in episodes of La Vie des Autres, Les Cing Dernieres Minutes, Madame S.O.S., Les Enquetes du Commissaire Maigret, and Medecins de Nuit. Her later film credits include At the Tome of the Stairs (1983), Com Dads (1983), The Public Woman (1984), and July in September (1988). Pascal’s relationship with Rainier began during World War II, but became strained after he assumed the throne of Monaco in 1949. After their split in the early 1950s, Pascal was briefly linked romantically with actor Gary Cooper,

Giselle Pascale

2007 • Obituaries

whom she met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. She married French actor Raymond Pellegrin in 1955, with whom she had a daughter, actress Pascale Pellegrin.

PASKALIS, KOSTAS Greek operatic baritone Kostas Paskalis died in Athens, Greece, on February 9, 2007. He was 77. Paskalis was born in Levadia, Greece, on September 1, 1929. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Athens and made his operatic debut there starring in Rigoletto in 1954. He became noted for his performances in the works of Verdi including Aida as Amonasro, Othello as Iago, and Don Carlos as the Marquis of Posa. He starred in Macbeth in his British debut at Glyndebourne in 1964, and sang the role at Covent Garden in 1969. He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in La Forza del Destino in 1965. He returned to the Met in Falstaff in 1972. He was a member of the Vienna State Opera for 20 years, and performed with most major operas throughout Europe and the United States. He retired from the stage in the late 1970s, though he remained active as a teacher and competition judge.

Kostas Paskalis

PATTERSON, LEE Actor Lee Patterson, who was best known for his role as detective Dave Thorne in the Surfside 6 television series in the early 1960s, died of cancer in Texas on February 14, 2007. He was 77. Patterson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 31, 1929. He attended college in Ontario before moving to England in the early 1950s to embark upon a career as an actor. Patterson was seen in numerous films throughout the decade including Malta Story (1953), Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953), 36 Hours (1953), The Good Die Young (1954), Diamond Expert (1954), Passing Stranger (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955), Soho Incident (1956), Reach for the Sky (1956), Dry Rot (1956), Checkpoint (1956), Man-Eater (1957), The Counterfeit Plan (1957), The Key Man (1957), The Story of Esther Costello (1957), Time Lock (1957), Night Girls (1957), The Flying Scot (1957), The Golden Disc (1958), The Spaniard’s Curse (1958), Man with a Gun (1958), Cat and Mouse (1958), Please Turn Over (1959), Breakout (1959), Jack the Ripper (1959), Deadly Record (1959), The White Trap (1959), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), October Moth (1960), and The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960). He was also seen on British

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television during the 1950s with roles in such series as The New Adventures of Martin Kane, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, Assignment Foreign Legion, The Vise, International Detective, The Avengers, and Jason King. Patterson came to the United States to star in the television detective series Surfside Six with Troy Donahue and Van Williams from 1960 to 1962. He remained a familiar face on television, guest-starring in episodes of Kraft Mystery Theater, The Deputy, The Alaskans, Arrest and Trial, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat!, The Virginian, Perry Mason, Twelve O’Clock High, Bonanza, The Immortal, Magnum, P.I., The Fall Guy, Matt Houston, Riptide, The A-Team, Hunter, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Lytton’s Diary, MacGyver, and Zorro. Patterson starred in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live as Joe Riley from 1968 throughout most of the 1970s, and again from 1986 to 1988. He also appeared as Dr. Kevin Cook in the soap operas Another World and Texas in the early 1980s. He also appeared in such tele-films as Valley of Mystery (1967), All the Money in the World (1983), Hunter (1984), The Last Days of Patton (1986), and War and Remembrance (1988). Patterson was also seen in a handful of films during his career including The Ceremony (1963), The Search for the Evil One (1967), Chato’s Land (1972), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Death Wish 3 (1985), Bullseye! (1990), and Healer (1994).

Lee Patterson

PAUSCH, NATALIE Film producer Natalie Pausch died of heart failure on January 2, 2007. She was 29. Pausch was born in Ohio on June 20, 1977. She was a leading gymnast and dancer, and appeared in a theatrical production of The Patchwork Girl of Oz in Los Angeles. She served as a producer on the 2007 short film Conditions of the Heart and the science fiction Supercroc in 2007. Pausch was also featured as Sheriff Nasty in the 2007 independent film Pongers, and was a producer on the documentary TunaHaki in 2007. PAVAROTTI, LUCIANO Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who was one of the world’s most acclaimed operatic stars, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Modena, Italy, on September 6, 2007. He was 71. Pavarotti was born in Modena on October 12, 1935. His interest in music began in his teens when he per-

Natalie Pausch

formed in an amateur chorus with his father. Pavarotti made his professional operatic debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme, which became one of his signature roles, in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1961. He continued to perform at opera houses in Italy and other venues. He gained recognition in 1965 opposite Joan Sutherland in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, touring the United States, Europe, and Australia. He made his debut at La Scala in 196, the San Francisco Opera in 1967, and at the Metropolitan Opera the following year. Pavarotti was particularly noted for his roles in lyrical Italian operas by Verdi, Puccini and Bellini. He made a series of recordings with Sutherland and was a major star by the time he appeared in a production of Regiment at the Met in 1972. His popularity soon exceeded that of any other opera performer through a series of concerts and recordings that attracted a large mainstream following. Pavarotti starred in the first Live from the Met television broadcast in 1977. He remained a familiar figure on television with numerous concerts and specials as well as appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Late Show with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live. He starred in the 1982 film Yes, Giorgio, and sang with a diverse group of other musical talents including Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Eric Clapton, and the Spice Girls. He joined with fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in a benefit concert in Rome in 1990. The popularity of the trio, who

Luciano Pavarotti

283 became known as the Three Tenors, led to their continued association over the next decade with concerts, recordings and television performances. Pavarotti, who had become an international celebrity, also had his share of controversy. He left his wife of 37 years for his much younger secretary whom he later married. His singing prowess also diminished in his later years, though he remained a commanding presence on stage. He announced his retirement several times in the 2000s, but surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2006 sidelined his series of farewell concerts.

PAYET, ALAIN French exploitation film director Alain Payet died of cancer in Paris on December 14, 2007. He was 60. Payet was born in France on January 17, 1947. He began his career in films in the early 1970s, and directed numerous adult features over the next thirty years. He was sometimes credited as James Gartner, John Love, or Jean Pardaillan as helmer of such exploitation classics as Bangkok Porno (1977), Love Train for the SS (1977), and Golden Temple Amazons (1986). His numerous film credits also include La Marque de Zorro (1975), Prostitution Clandestine (1975), Furies Sexuelles (1976), French Erection (1976), Nadia la Jouisseuse (1978), Le Sexe qui Jouit (1978), Les Gourmandes de Sexe (1978), Nathalie: Escape from Hell (1978), Obsessions Pornos (1978), Marie Salope (1979), Les Enfonceuses Expertes (1979), Bangkok Connection (1979), Barmaids a Jouir (1979), Monique et Julie, deux Dollegiennes en Partouze (1979), Langues de Petites Filles (1980), Clinique pour Soins Tres Speciaux (1980), Adolescentes a Depuceler (1980), Candice, Petite Fille sans Culotte (1981), Les Filles du Camping (1982), L’Inconnue (1982), L’Emir Prefere les Blondes (1983), L’Anthologie du Plaisir (1987), Maitresses ... Folles du Cul (1988), Garces un Uniformes (1988), Gode-Party (1991), Les Visiteuses (1994), Play Hard (1994), Dirty Lady (1995), The First Lady (1997), The Maze (1997), The Panty Thief (1997), Prison (1997), Illusions (1998), Make Me an Offer (1999), The Marionette (1999), Hotdorix (1999), La Dresseuse (1999), Les Tontons Tringleurs (2000), Dangerous Woman (2000), 2000 ans d’Amour (2000), A Feu et Sexe (2000), S.O.S. Infirmieres (2000), Q Spot (2001), Petites Culottes et Fines Dentelles (2001), Legs in the Air (2001), Desir Fatal (2001), La Course au Sexe (2001), Call Girls

2007 • Obituaries

de Luxe (2001), L’Affaire Katsumi (2001), La Fete a Gigi (2001), Anything You Want (2002), Natacha (2002), Les Campeuses de St. Tropez (2002), Die 8. Sunde (2002), Hotel Particulier (2002), Marc Dorcel: Sex & Sun (2003), Le Palais des Phantasmes (2003), Melanie la Jouisseuse (2003), Hot Sex a St. Tropez (2003), Les Celibataires (2003), Die Psycho-Klinik (2004), Priscila Vices & Prostitution (2004), Katsumi Provocation (2004), Katsumi a l’Ecole des Sorcieres (2004), Hardcore Models (2004), Oksana: Flic en Uniforme (2005), Katsumi a l’Ecole des Infirmieres (2005), and Madame le PDG (2007).

PAYNE, CECIL Baritone saxophonist Cecil Payne died of prostate cancer in Stratford, New Jersey, on November 27, 2007. He was 84. Payne was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 14, 1922. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 until 1946, then embarked on a career in music. He performed with Roy Eldridge’s Big Band before joining Dizzy Gillespie in 1946. He performed with the band on the recording “CubanoBe/Cubano-Bop,” and was the featured soloist on the records “Ow” and “Stay on It” in 1947. He left Gillespie in 1949 and played with Coleman Hawkins for several years. He was a member of Illinois Jacquet’s band from 1952 to 1954, and also performed with Tadd Dameron, Randy Weston, and James Moody. Payne was featured in the Off-Broadway play The Connection in the early 1970s. He joined Count Basie’s band in 1970, and performed with the New York Jazz Repertory Company in 1974, touring Europe with a jazz production of The Musical Life of Charlie Parker. He also appeared frequently at the Newport Jazz Festival during the 1970s and early 1980s. Payne rejoined Jacquet in the 1980s and was featured in the 1991 documentary film Texas Tenor: The Illinois Jacquet Story. He continued to perform and record regularly through the 1990s, releasing such albums as Cerupa (1993), Scotch and Milk (1997), Payne’s Window (1999), and Chic Boom: Live at the Jazz Showcase (2001) through Delmark Records.

Cecil Payne

Alain Payet

PEIRIS, ASOKA Sri Lankan actor Asoka Peiris died in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, on December 24, 2007. He was 65. Peiris was featured in the 1966 film Between Two Worlds, and produced, directed, and scripted 1967’s

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Sarana. He was also featured in the films Death Stone (1987), Spies Inc. (1988), Manika, the Girl Who Lived Twice (1989), Fire on Ice (1991), The Promise (1993), and Saroja (2000).

Asoka Peiris

PEKNY, ROMUALD Leading Austrian character actor Romuald Pekny died in Linz, Austria, on November 9, 2007. He was 87. Pekny was born in Vienna on July 1, 1920. He began performing on stage in Munich in the late 1950s. He was noted for his performances in the Shakespearean productions Timons of Athens (1961), Othello (1962) as Iago, and Richard III (1963) under director Fritz Kortner. Pekny was also featured in such films and television productions as The Miracle of Father Malachia (1961), Romulus der Grosse (1963), Columbus (1964), Romulus der Grosse (1965), Affare Dreyfuss (1968), Der Ruckfall. (1969), Der Junge Baron Neuhaus (1971), Der Schlaf wagenkontrolleur (1971), Komtesse Mizzi (1975), Frag nach bei Casanova (1975), Leonce und Lena (1975), Ein Glas Wasser (1977), Wallenstein (1978), Der Schuler Gerber (1981), ’38—Vienna Before the Fall (1987), Faust (1988) as Mephistopheles, and Das Biest in Bodensee (1999). Pekny’s other television credits include episodes of Der Kommissar, Tatort, and Derrick.

Romuald Pekny

PELLEGRIN, RAYMOND French actor Raymond Pellegrin died in Garons, France, on October 14,

2007. He was 82. Pellegrin was born in Nice, France, on January 1, 1925. His acting career spanned six decades from the early 1940s, appearing in such films as Six Petites Filles en Blanc (1943), Destitute Mary (1945), Nais (1945), Jericho (1946), La Femme en Rouge (1947), A Cop (1947), Le Diamant de Cent Sous (1948), Le Clochard Milliardaire (1951), Coupable? (1951), Three Women (1952), The Smugglers’ Banquet (1952), Are We All Murderers? (1952), Forbidden Fruit (1952), Fire Under Her Skin (1953), Manon of the Spring (1953), The Midnight Witness (1953), Companions of the Night (1953), Tempest in the Flesh (1954), The Plotters (1954), Card of Fate (1954), Nights of Shame (1954), The Light Across the Street (1955), The Lowest Crime (1955), Human Cargo (1955), Napoleon (1955) in the title role, Woman of Rome (1955), La Craneur (1955), Doctors (1955), Law of the Streets (1956), Burning Fuse (1957), Until the Last One (1957), Bitter Victory (1957), Good Medicine (1956), Mimi Pinson (1958), El Casco Blanco (1959), It Only Happens to the Living (1959), Les Fruits du Peche (1959), Jack of Spades (1960), A View from the Bridge (1961), Unexpected (1961), The Fabiani Affair (1962), Bells Without Joy (1962), The Mysteries of Paris (1962), and Imperial Venus (1963). Pellegrin provided the voice for Jean Marais in his role of the master criminal Fantomas in a trilogy of films in the mid–1960s, Fantomas (1964), Fantomas Strikes Back (1965), and Fantomas Against Scotland Yard. His prolific film career continued with such credits as Careless Love (1964), Behold a Pale Horse (1964), OSS 117: Mission for a Killer (1965), A Night in Tiberias (1966), The Friday Man (1966), Second Breath (1966), Maigret at the Pigalle (1967), The Man Who Was Worth Millions (1967), Cost of Dying (1968), The Return of Monte Cristo (1968), Un Caso di Coscienza (1969), Beatrice Cenci (aka The Conspiracy of Torture) (1969) as Cardinal Lanciani, Angel’s Leap (1971), The Lion’s Share (1971), Scandal Man (1972), Shadows Unseen (1972), Gang War in Naples (1972), The Intruders (1972), The Big Family (1973), Blood Brothers (1973), A Police Officer Without Importance (1973), The Conspiracy (1973), The Loner (1973), The Knock Out Cop (1973), Shoot First, Die Later (1974), Only the Wind Knows the Answer (1974), When the City Awakes (1975), The Climber (1975), The Manhunt (1975), Change (1975), Hot Stuff (1976), A Special Cop in Action (1976), The Hokey-Pokey Gang! (1976), Bait (1976), Scandal (1976), Antonio Gramsci: The Days of Prison (1977), The Telephone Bar (1980), Bolero (1981), Le Rose et le Blanc (1982), Ronde de Nuit (1984), Long Live Life (1984), Jubiaba (1987), and Don Bosco (1988). Pellegrin also appeared frequently on French television from the late 1970s in such productions as Histoires de Voyous: L’elegant (1979), Docteur Teyran (1980), L’Homme de Hambourg (1981), Madame Sans-Gene (1981), Le Truqueur (1982), Les Uns et les Autres (1983), La Bavure (1984), Louisiana (1984), L’Ombra Nera del Vesuvio (1987), Big Man: The False Etruscan (aka Professore — Il Fanciulla che Ride) (1988) in the recurring role of Caruso, An Unusual Insurance (1988), Adorable Julia (1988), La Garconne (1988), Big Man: Boomerang (1989), Der Leibwachter (1989), Il Professore — Polizza Droga (1989), Professore — Il Diva (1989), Maigret in

285 New York (1990), and Notes sur le Rire (2002). He also starred as Commissioner Rocca in the television series Le Triple Gagnant and Rocca from 1989 to 1995.

Raymond Pellegrin

PELTOLA, MARKKU Finnish actor Markku Peltola died in Finland on December 31, 2007. He was 51. Peltola was born in Helsinki, Finland, on July 12, 1956. He began his career in films in the early 1980s, appearing in The War We Left Behind (1980), The Liar (1981), The Prodigal Son (1992), Seasick (1996), Drifting Clouds (1996), Juha (1999), Aki Kaurismaki’s The Man Without a Past (2002) which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, The Book of Fate (2003), Young Gods (2003), Glass Jaw (2004), Vares: Private Eye (2004), For the Living and the Dead (2005), Kamome Diner (2006), Jade Warrior (2006), V2: Dead Angel (2007), Intruder (2007), and I Was Here (2008). He was also featured in television productions of The Wrestler (1985), Saari (1998), and Epailyksen Varjo (2001), and appeared in episodes of Alhola, Nortia, Ota ja Omista, Thilia Thalia, Hiljaista On, and Tie Eedeniin. Peltola also was the lead singer for the Finnish band Motelli Skronkle in the 1980s, and had released two solo albums in the past several years.

2007 • Obituaries

as W.S. Gilbert in a one man show, died of cancer in London on May 13, 2007. He was 67. Pemberton was born in Leyland, Lancashire, England, on September 19, 1939. He began his career on stage with the Bristol Old Vic Company in the early 1960s. He was soon appearing on British television in such series as Crossroads, Softly Softly, Doctor Who as a Cyberman, Callan, Dixon of Dock Green, Nearest and Dearest, Special Branch, Follyfoot, Doctor in Charge, Coronation Street, Return of the Saint, Danger UXB, Sapphire and Steele, Bless Me Father, The Professionals, Minder, Escape, the 1980 Hammer House of Horror production of Charlie Boy, Shoestring, ITV Playhouse, Terry and June, Juliet Bravo, In Loving Memory, Jack of Diamonds, Play for Today, A Fine Romance, The Box of Delights, Poirot, All Creatures Great and Small, Virtual Murder, Then Churchill Said to Me, All Quiet on the Preston Front, Annie’s Bar, The Vicar of Dibley, and Foyle’s War. Pemberton also appeared in television productions of The Naked Civil Servant (1975), A Pocket Full of Rye (1985), Oliver Twist (1985), The Russian Soldier (1986), Scoop (1987), John Le Carre’s A Perfect Spy (1987), Great Expectations (1989), Sir Norbert Smith, a Life (1989), God on the Rocks (1990), Never Come Back (1990), A Murder of Quality (1991), A Perfect Hero (1991), The Dwelling Place (1994), Pat and Margaret (1994), P.G. Wodehouse’s Heavy Weather (1995), Anybodys Nightmare (2001), and Trapped: King of Fridges (2004). Pemberton was also seen in a handful of films during his career including Eskimo Nell (1975), Brannigan (1975), Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1976), The Black Panther (1977), Love Trap (1977), Porridge (1979), Dangerous Davies —The Last Detective (1981), Playing Away (1987), The First Kangaroos (1988), and The Four Feathers (2002). In recent years he toured extensively throughout England and Europe performing in the one-man show W.S. Gilbert— A Disagreeable Man?, about the life of the 19th century composer.

Charles Pemberton

Markku Peltola

PEMBERTON, CHARLES British actor Charles Pemberton, who was noted for starring on stage

PENA, ZAYDA Mexican singer Zayda Pena Arjona was shot in the heart in a hospital in Matamoros, Mexico, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, on December 1, 2007. She was recovering from a gunshot wound to her neck she had received in an attack the previous day. She was 28. Pena was leader of

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the band Zayda y los Culpables (Zayda and the Guilty Ones), and performed an accordion-based ballad style of music from northern Mexico. The murder was believed to be another in a series of attacks on Mexican singers by drug traffickers. Pena produced three albums under the Balboa label, Sensible, Estoy Enamorada, and Zayda y los Culpables, and recorded Coleccion de Oro: La Sentimental for Musart.

Emma Penella

Zayda Pena

PENELLA , EMMA Spanish actress Emma Penella died of complications of septicemia and diabetes in Madrid, Spain, on August 27, 2007. She was 77. She was born Manuela Ruiz Penella in Madrid on March 2, 1930. She was a popular performer in Spain from the early 1950s until her death. Penella’s numerous film credits include Los Ojos Dejan Huellas (1952), Dona Francisquita (1953), Che, que Loco! (1953), Carne de Horca (1953), La Patrouille des Sables (1954), The Adventurer of Seville (1954), Comedians (1954), Desert Fighters (1954), El Guardian del Paraiso (1955), Red Fish (1955), Fedra, the Devil’s Daughter (1956), El Batallon de las Sombras (1957), Un Marido de ida y Vuelta (1957), Back to the Door (1959), Sentencia Contra una Mujer (1960), Un Angel Tuvo la Culpa (1960), Scano Boa (1961), El Amor de los Amores (1962), La Hora Incognita (1963), La Cuarta Ventana (1963), Alegre Juventud (1963), Carta a una Mujer (1963), Not on Your Life (1963), Magnificent Brutes of the West (1964), Golden Goddess of Rio Beni (1964), Death Travels Too Much (1965), Lola, Espejo Oscuro (1966), The Search (1967), Fortunata and Jacinta (1970), La Primera Entrega (1971), The Regent’s Wife (1974), Our Father (1985), A Love Bewitched (1986), La Estanquera de Vallecas (1987), Viento de Colera (1988), Fugaz (1988), Doblones de a Ocho (1990), Mar de Luna (1995), Naufragos (1997), Creeme, Estoy Muerto (1998), Pidele Cuentas al Rey (1999), Bulgarian Lovers (2003), and Midsummer Dream (2005). Penella was also featured on television in productions of Juncal (1987), La Huella del Crimen 2: El Crimen de Don Benito (1990), Don Quixote de la Mancha (1991) as Teresa Panza, and Blasco Ibanez (1997). She starred as Concha in the Spanish television series Aqui no Hay Quien Viva from 2004 to 2006, and was Dona Charo de la Vega in La Que se Avecina in 2007.

PEROCEVIC, EDO Croatian actor Edo Perocevic died of a heart attack in Zagreb, Croatia, on April 28, 2007. He was 69. Perocevic was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Yugoslavia, on October 3, 1937. He had a successful career as a radio announcer and began appearing in films in the 1960s. Perocevic was featured in such films as Donator (1969), An Event (1969), The Fed One (1970), Ann and Eve (1970), Handcuffs (1970), The Pine Tree in the Mountain (1971), To Live on Love (1973), The House (1975), The Rat Savior (1976), Train in the Snow (1976), The Last Mission of Demolitions Man Cloud (1978), The Man to Kill (1979), The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla (1980), The Melody Haunts My Memory (1981), Visitors from the Galaxy (1981), The Falcon (1983), Horvatov Izbor (1985), My Uncle’s Legacy (1988), The Time of Warriors (1991), Story from Croatia (1991), A Time for... (1993), and Marshal Tito’s Spirit (1999). Perocevic was also seen in television productions of Harmonika (1976), Nikola Tesla (1977), Smogovci (1982), Leo i Brigita (1989), Tudjinac (1990), Prepoznavanje (1996), and Duga Mracna Noc (2006).

Edo Perocevic

PERRY, MARGARET Margaret Frueauff Fanning, who appeared on stage and in films under the name Margaret Perry, died at her home in Colorado on April 8, 2007. She was 94. She was born in Denver, Colorado, on February 23, 1913, the daughter of actress and director Antoinette Perry, for whom the Tony

287 Awards are named. Margaret Perry began performing on stage in 1929 and made her Broadway debut in John van Druten’s After All in 1931. She also appeared in the plays Ceiling Zero and Now You’ve Done It (1937), both directed by her mother. She also appeared in several films including New Morals for Old (1932), Ceiling Zero (1936), and Go West Young Man (1936). Perry directed several short-running Broadway productions in the 1940s including The Shop at Sly Corner, Love Me Long, and Mrs. Barry’s Etchings before retiring to Colorado in the 1950s. She was married and divorced three times, to newspaperman Windsor French, actor Burgess Meredith, and scenic designer Paul Fanning.

2007 • Obituaries

Yale Films from 1982 to 1989, where he produced and directed the documentary A Class Divided, about racial discrimination. It originally aired on PBS’s Frontline in 1985 and earned an Emmy Award. Peters was also the author of such books as The Southern Temper (1959), For Us, the Living (1967) about assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers written with his widow Myrlie, A More Perfect Union (1987) about the U.S. Constitution, and a follow-up volume A Class Divided: Then and Now (1987).

PETERSEN, JOHN Drummer John Petersen, who played with the Beau Brummels during the 1960s, died of a heart attack on November 11, 2007. He was 65. Petersen was born in Rudyard, Michigan, on January 8, 1942. The Beau Brummels were formed in San Fransisco in 1963 by lead singer Sal Valentino, and were a popular folk rock group. Petersen played drums with the band on the hit songs “Laugh, Laugh” and “Just a Little.” He also appeared with the group in the cult scifi films Village of the Giants (1965) and 1966’s Wild Wild Winter. After leaving the Brummels, Petersen helped form Harper’s Bizarre, playing on such songs as “Anything Goes” and “The 59th Street Bridge Song.”

Margaret Perry

PETERS, WILLIAM Journalist and documentary filmmaker William Peters died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in Guilford, Connecticut, on May 20, 2007. He was 85. Peters was born in San Francisco, California, on July 30, 1921. He served as a pilot in the Army Air Force during World War II. After the war, he worked in public relations before becoming a freelance journalist. He began working for CBS Reports as a specialist in race relations in 1962. He produced the award-winning documentary Storm Over the Supreme Court there in 1963. He subsequently moved to ABC, where he produced the documentaries Africa (1967), Eye of the Storm (1970), and Suddenly an Eagle (1976), about the American Revolution. Peters worked with

William Peters

John Petersen

PETERSON, OSCAR Legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson died of kidney failure at his home in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada, on December 23, 2007. He was 82. Peterson was born in Montreal, Canada, on August 15, 1925. He learned to play the piano at an early age. As a young man he gained a reputation as a technically skilled jazz pianist and was heard regularly on Canadian radio. He made his debut in the United States at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1949. Music impresario Norman Granz became Peterson’s manager for much of his career. He performed with such stars as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Coleman Hawkins. He formed the Oscar Peterson Trio in the early 1950s. The group initially included Ray Brown and Charlie Smith, but membership fluctuated with various other musicians throughout the decade. Peterson was also a major recording star and earned a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1997. He suffered a stroke in 1993 that affected the left side of his body. After sev-

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eral years on the sidelines, Peterson returned to the piano on a limited basis to tour and record to great acclaim.

Oscar Peterson

PFLEGERL, DIETMAR Austrian theatre and opera director Dietmar Pflegerl died of cancer in Klagenfurt, Austria, on May 17, 2007. He was 63. Pflegerl was born in Klagenfurt on September 6, 1943. He studied theatre and music in Vienna, and made his professional debut as a director in Basel, Switzerland, in 1970. He directed productions at major venues throughout Austria and Germany over the next twenty years. He returned to Klagenfurt in 1992, where he was artistic director of the Stadttheater until his death. He directed several television productions including Die Sternstunde des Josef Bieder (1992) and Der Mann von La Mancha (1994). Pflegerl also directed numerous operas from 1998 including productions of Tosca, La Traviata, and Madame Butterfly.

Dietmar Pflegerl

PHILIPPE , ANDRE Actor Andre Philippe died of congestive heart failure in Venice, California, on April 29, 2007. He was 79. Philippe was born Everett Cooper in the Bronx, New York, in 1927. He served in the military during World War II and went to Paris after the war. He adopted the name Andre Philippe while he sang in nightclubs there. He appeared

frequently on television from the early 1960s, gueststarring in the recurring role of Paul on Hawaiian Eye from 1959 to 1962, and as Everett Johns in Mr. Novak from 1963 to 1965. Philippe also appeared in episodes of Surfside 6, Adventures in Paradise, The Gallant Men, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The F.B.I., The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Combat!, The Monkees, Bonanza, The Virginian, Wild Wild West, The Girl, Get Smart, Medical Center, Charlie’s Angels, and Magnum, P.I. He was good friends with director Paul Mazursky, and was featured in many of Mazursky’s films including Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969), Alex in Wonderland (1970), Harry and Tonto (1974), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Scenes from a Mall (1991), and The Pickle (1993). He was also seen in the cult sci-fi film Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), and the features Black Belt Jones (1974), Goodbye, Norma Jean (1976), Oh, God! Book II (1980), and Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn (1989). He also appeared in the tele-films The Scorpio Letters (1967), The Challenge (1970), and I Love a Mystery (1973).

PHILLIPS, ALEX, JR. Mexican cinematographer Alex Phillips, Jr., died in Mexico City from complications from stomach ulcers on February 12, 2007. He was 72. Phillips was born in Mexico City on January 11, 1935, the son of legendary Mexican cinematographer Alex Phillips. The younger Phillips began working in films in the 1950s as an assistant on his father’s films and documentaries. He also served as an official photographer for Mexico’s president, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, from 1958 to 1964. Phillips made his debut as a cinematographer for the 1961 film Yanco. He photographed commercials and tele-novellas throughout South America in the early 1960s. He served as director of photography for the 1965 thriller The Fool Killer. Phillips went on to photograph over 100 films in Mexico and the United States including El Hombre Propone... (1965), Our Regiment (1966), The Three Sins (1966), La Fiebre del Deseo (1966), Los Mediocres (1966), Operation Tiburon (1967), Monday’s Child (1967), Agente 00 Sexy (1968), Un Largo Viaje Hacia la Muerte (1968), Sam’s Song (1969), Las Virgenes de la Nueva Ola (1969), 24 Hours of Pleasure (1969), Andante (1969), Fray Don Juan (1970), La Vida Inutil de Pito Perez (1970), Emiliano Zapata (1970), River of Gold (1971), El Idolo (1971), The Fearmaker (1971), The Barefoot Eagle (1971), Once During the Night (1971), Sidney Poitier’s directorial debut Buck and the Preacher (1972), Queen Doll (1972), The Wrath of God (1972), Vaness (1972), El Vals Sin Fin (1972), National Mechanics (1972), Nefertiti y Aguenatos (1973), Juicio de Socrates (1974), Galileo (1974), Hernan Cortez (1974), Las Calles no se Siembran (1974), Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), En Busca de un Muro (1974), The Savage Is Loose (1974), Chac: The Rain God (1975), Man Friday (1975), the cult horror film The Devil’s Rain (1975), El Cumpleanos del Perro (1975), Canoa (1976), Foxtrot (1976), The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976), The Heist (1976), Kaliman en el Siniestro Mundo de Humanon (1976), Las Poquianchis (1976), The Bricklayers (1976), the television mini-series The Rhinemann

289 Exchange (1977), Wolf Lake (1978), La Guera Rodriguez (1978), El Complot Mongol (1978), Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979), Survival Run (1979), Sunburn (1979), Mexico of My Loves (1979), Seducation (1980), Caboblanco (1980), Fade to Black (1980), High Risk (1981), Demonoid, Messenger of Death (1981), The Goat (1981), Sorceress (1982), Lagunilla 2 (1983), Surf II (1984), Robert Zemeckis’ Romancing the Stone (1984), Blame It on the Night (1984), To Kill a Stranger (1985), Torchlight (1985), Little Treasure (1985), King Solomon’s Mines (1985), La Rebelion de los Colgados (1986), Murphy’s Law (1986), Firewalker (1986), Number One with a Bullet (1987), Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), Born in East L.A. (1987), The Trouble with Spies (1987), Blue Blood (1988), Mujer de Cabaret (1991), Burbujas de Amor (1991), Desvestidas y Alborotadas (1991), Imperio Blanco (1992), Forbidden Homework (1992), Dreaming About You (1992), Entre el Poder y el Deseo (1993), Hostage (1993), Fray Bartolome de las Casas (1993), Para Quererte (1994), Shadow of the Pepper Tree (1995), Mujeres Infieles (1995), Perdoname Todo (1995), Besame en la Boca (1995), A Oscuras me da Risa (1995), La Mujer de los Dos (1996), Mexico (2000), Luminaries (2000), and Casi el Infierno (2001).

Alex Phillips, Jr.

PHILLIPS, RONNIE Diminutive British actor Ronnie Phillips, who played one of the furry aliens known as Ewoks in the 1983 Star Wars film Return of

2007 • Obituaries

the Jedi, died in a Lymington, England, hospital from injuries he received in a series of falls on April 27, 2007. He was 95. Phillips toured performed with the Fred Roper Midget Troop (also known as the Famous Wonder Midgets) in the 1940s and 1950s.

Ronnie Phillips (his Ewok mask)

PHILLIPS, THOMAS HAL Novelist and screenwriter Thomas Hal Phillips died in Kossuth, Mississippi, on April 3, 2007. He was 84. Phillips was born near Corinth, Mississippi, on October 11, 1922. He began his literary career in the 1950s, writing the novel The Bitterweed Path. He continued writing such novels as The Golden Lie, Search for a Hero, Kangaroo Hollow, and The Loved and Unloved. He began working in films in the 1970s, often in association with director Robert Altman. He served as an associate producer for Altman’s 1974 film Thieves Like Us, and designed the onscreen presidential campaign for 1975’s Nashville, voicing candidate Hal Phillip Walker in the film. Phillips was also featured as the Mayor in the 1976 tele-film Nightmare in Badham County, and wrote, produced, and appeared as the General in the 1977 sci-fi film The Brain Machine. He also appeared in small roles in the tele-films Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1978) and Barn Burning (1980), and the films O.C. and Stiggs (1987) and Matewan (1987).

Thomas Hal Phillips Ronnie Phillips (with Dr. Becky Evans)

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PICKETT, BOBBY “BORIS” Bobby “Boris” Pickett, whose musical impersonation of Boris Karloff on the novelty song “Monster Mash” brought him to the top of the charts, died of leukemia in a Los Angeles hospital on August 25, 2007. He was 69. Pickett was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on February 11, 1938. He began his career as a nightclub comedian in the 1950s, where he perfected his impression of horror film icon Karloff. He also used the voice while performing with his band, the Cordials, and supplied the spoken parts of the Diamonds’ hit recording “Little Darling.” Pickett and his band, renamed the CryptKickers for the recording, put “Monster Mash” together in 1962. It became a No. 1 hit after its release in October of 1962, and remained a popular Halloween anthem over the decades. With the unforgettable chorus “He did the monster mash... It was a graveyard smash,” the song again topped the charts when rereleased in August of 1970 and again in May of 1973. Pickett also had minor hits with the follow-up recording “Monster’s Holiday” in December of 1962 and “Graduation Day” in June of 1963. But “Monster Mash” was the song that made him a popular performer, particularly around Halloween, until his final live performance in November of 2006. Pickett also appeared on television, with small roles in such series as The Lieutenant, Twelve O’Clock High, The Long, Hot Summer, Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Bonanza. He was also featured in several films during his career including It’s a Bikini World (1967), the tele-film Three’s a Crowd (1972), The Baby Maker (1970), Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), Deathmaster (1972), Hot Money (1983), Strange Invaders (1983), Sister, Sister (1987), Frankenstein General Hospital (1988), and Lobster Man from Mars (1989). Pickett starred as Dr. Victor Frankenstein in the 1995 film Monster Mash: The Movie.

heim’s Sunday in the Park with George at the National Theatre in 1990, and had a huge success with his revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1993. He directed the musical at theatres around the world as well as the 1999 filmed production starring Donny Osmond. Pimlott also served as associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1996, where he directed productions of such works as Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Measure for Measure. He was featured on British television in the role of a Judge in an episodes of Midsomer Murders in 2002. Pimlott also directed the hit musical Bombay Dreams, which appeared on Broadway in 2004.

Steven Pimlott

PIMP C Rap singer Chad Butler, who was known as Pimp C, half of the rap duo UGK, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room on December 4, 2007. He was 33. Butler was born on December 29, 1973. He and Bun B began their rap career in Port Arthur, Texas. A part of the Southern rap scene, the were best known for performing with Jay-Z’s track “Big Pimpin’” in 2000. The also performed with Outkast on the song “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You).” Pimp C had performed at Los Angeles’ House of Blues with Too Short several days before his death.

Bobby “Boris” Pickett

PIMLOTT, STEVEN British theatrical director Steven Pimlott died of lung cancer at his home near Colchester, England, on February 14, 2007. He was 53. Pimlott was born in Stockport, England, on April 18, 1953. He began working as a producer at the English National Opera in 1976 and the Royal Opera Company in 1978. He directed operatic productions on stages throughout the world. He also staged Steven Sond-

Pimp C

291 PINTEA, ADRIAN Romanian actor Adrian Pintea died of complications from cirrhosis, pulmonary and kidney hypertension, in Bucharest, Romania, on June 8, 2007. He was 52. Pintea was born in Beius, Romania, on October 9, 1954. He appeared frequently in films from the late 1970s including Rage (1977), Between Facing Mirrors (1978), Falansterul (1979), Iancu Jianu, the Tax Collector (1980) and Iancu Jianu, the Outlaw (1981) as Iancu Jianu, An Item of News (1984), Adela (1985), Battle in the Shadows (1986), Vulcanul stins (1987), The Forest Woman (1987), Proud Heritage (1989), Un Bulgare de Huma (1989), Those Who Pay with Their Lives (1991), Mandroid (1993), Trancers 4: Journeys Through the Dark Zone (1994), H.P. Lovecraft’s Lurking Fear (1994), Nostradamus (1994), Josh Kirby ... Time Warrior: Chapter One, Planet of the Dino-Knights (1995), Domnisoara Christina (1996), Captain Conan (1996), Diplomatic Siege (1999), The Elite (2001), Dracula the Impaler (2002), Vlad (2003), 7 Seconds (2005), Femeia Visurilor (2005), Natasha (2006), and Youth Without Youth (2007). He also appeared on television in such productions as Lights and Shadows (1981) as Zeno, Das Alibi (1995), Une Mere Comme on N’en Fait Plus (1997), Caved In (2006), Daria, Iubirea Mea (2006), and Attack of the Gryphon (2007).

2007 • Obituaries

Gringo (1989), The Ballad of Sad Cafe (1991), V.I. Warshawski (1991), House of Cards (1993), Bed of Roses (1996), Julian Po (1997), A Thousand Acres (1997), Where the Money Is (22000), The Opportunists (2000), and Unfaithful (2002). Pitoniak also appeared in the tele-films Concealed Enemies (1984), A Doctor’s Story (1984), A Mistaken Charity (1986), Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story (1986), No Place Like Home (1989), In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness (1994), The Mother (1994), The Christmas Tree (1996), and Grace & Glorie (1998). She was featured as Mildred Potter in the short-lived spinoff series AfterMASH in 1984, and guest-starred in episodes of Hill Street Blues, The Equalizer, Cheers, CBS Summer Playhouse, H.E.L.P., ER, Trinity, Becker, Third Watch in the recurring role of Mrs. Irene Sullivan, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Anne Pitoniak

Adrian Pintea

PITONIAK, ANNE Stage, film and television actress Anne Pitoniak died at her home in Manhattan, New York, on April 22, 2007. She was 85. Pitoniak was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, on March 30, 1922. She began her career on stage late in life, appearing in Marsha Norman’s first play, Getting Out, at Louisville, Kentucky’s, Actors Theatre in the late 1970s. She made her Broadway debut in Norman’s ’night, Mother in 1983, earning a Tony Award nomination for her role as Kathy Bates’ mother. She received an Obie Award for her role in the Off-Broadway production of the Pygmalion revival in 1991, and earned a second Tony nomination in the revival of William Inge’s Picnic on Broadway in 1994. She also began appearing frequently on films and television in the early 1980s, with such film credits as The Survivors (1983), Old Enough (1984), Agnes of God (1985) as Jane Fonda’s mother, Sister, Sister (1987), Best Seller (1987), Hiding Out (1987), Housekeeping (1987), The Wizard of Loneliness (1988), Old

PITTIS, FLORIAN Romanian actor and folk musician Florian Pittis died of prostate cancer in Bucharest, Romania, on August 5, 2007. He was 63. Pittis was born in Bucharest on October 4, 1943. He began his career on stage with the Bulandra Theatre in the early 1960s. He soon became a leading singer in Romania, popularizing such Western artists as Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Pittis was also feature in several films during his career including Gioconda Fara Suris (1967), Bolondos Vakacio (1968), Adio,

Florian Pittis

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Draga Nela! (1972), Veronica se Intoarce (1973), Ma-ma (1976), and The Last Night of Love (1979). He was founding member of the band Pasarea Colibri in 1992, and hosted several radio and television programs.

PLASSCHAERT, ALEX Dancer and stuntman Alex Plasschaert died suddenly in his sleep in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 25, 2007. He was 75. Plasschaert was born in California on March 24, 1932. He began his career as a dancer and choreographer in the 1960s. He appeared as a dancing chimneysweep in Disney’s fantasy classic Mary Poppins and was a waiter in the 1969 musical Hello, Dolly! Plasschaert also appeared in an episode of television’s Mister Ed, and was choreographer for the 1967 western comedy The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin. He also performed stunts for such films as Logan’s Run (1976), Melvin and Howard (1980), City Heat (1984), Explorers (1985), Big Top Pee-wee (1988), Batman Forever (1995), The Omega Code (1999), and Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001).

Alex Plasschaert

Kennen Sie Urban? (1971), The Legend of Paul and Paula (1973), Liebe Mit 16 (1974), Die Neuen Leiden des Jungen W. (1976), Gluck im Hinterhaus (1980), Island of Swans (1983), Bockshorn (1984), Der Fall O. (1991), and The Suspicion (1991). Plenzdorf also scripted the television productions Der Konig und Sein Narr (1980), Es Geht Seinen Gang Oder Muhen in Unserer Ebene (1981), Ein Fliehendes Pferd (1985), Hupf, Haschen, Hupf (1991), Vater Mutter Morderkind (1993), Der Trinker (1995), Matulla und Busch (1995), Abgehauen (1998), and Der Laden. He also wrote episodes of the 1994 television series Liebling — Kreuzberg.

PLOWDEN, ALISON British historian and author Alison Plowden died of a brain hemorrhage in England on August 17, 2007. She was 75. Plowden was born in Quetta, India (now Pakistan), on December 18, 1931. She began her career as a secretary with the BBC and was soon writing scripts for such television productions as Mistress of Hardwick, Sweet England’s Pride, and The Case of Eliza Armstrong. She left the BBC in 1970 to write full time, and produced her first book, The Young Elizabeth, in 1972. She continued her Elizabethan Quartet with Danger to Elizabeth (1973), Marriage with My Kingdom (1977), and Elizabeth Regina (1980). She also wrote the books Tudor Women — Queens and Commoners (1979), Young Victoria (1983), Two Queens in One Isle: The Deadly Relationship of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots (1984), Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen (1985), Caroline and Charlotte (1989), The Elizabethan Secret Service (1991), The Stuart Princesses (1996), Women All on Fire: Women of the English Civil War (1998), Henrietta Maria: Charles I’s Indomintable Queen (2001), and In a Free Republic — Life in Cromwell’s England (2006). Her final book was a biography of Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen, and was scheduled for publication in spring of 2008.

PLENZDORF, ULRICH German author and dramatist Ulrich Plenzdorf died of cancer in Berlin, Germany, on August 9, 2007. He was 72. Plenzdorf was born in Berlin on October 26, 1934. He studied philosophy and film in Leipzig and worked as a writer at DEFA. He wrote such films as Mir Nach, Canaillen! (1964), Karla (1965), Weite Strassen Stille Liebe (1969),

Alison Plowden

Ulrich Plenzdorf

POCOCK, PETER British stuntman and actor Peter Pocock died of cancer in Weybridge, Surrey, England, on May 5, 2007. He was 72. Pocock performed stunt work in several films including Carry on Cowboy (1966), International Velvet (1978), and Superman (1978). He also worked on such television series as Doctor Who and Dick Turpin.

293 POLIAKOV, POLI Leading Israeli comedian and actor Yisrael “Poli” Poliakov died of cancer in a Tel Aviv, Israel, hospital on October 29, 2007. He was 66. Poliakov was born in Jerusalem in 1941. He began his professional career in 1961 as a member of the band Hatarnegolim (The Roosters). He and bandmates Shaike Levy and Gavri Banai formed the comedy trio Hagashash Hahiver (The Pale Scout) in 1963. They became a leading comedy act in Israel and were awarded the Israeli Prize for lifetime achievement in 2000. Poliakov also appeared in numerous films, often with his fellow Hagashash Hahiver members, from the early 1960s. His screen credits include The Simhon Family (1964), Ervinka (1967), Fish, Football and Girls (1968), Before Tomorrow (1969), Take Off (1970), Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer (1975), The Hit (1979), Morning Star (1980), Battle of the Chairmanship (1986), Campaign (1997), Body in the Sand (1999), The Gospel According to God (2004), and Out of Sight (2006). In recent years he appeared on television in his daughter’s comedy show It’s All Honey, and performed on stage in such productions as God’s Finger and The Rubber Merchants.

Poli Poliakov

PONTI, CARLO Italian film producer Carlo Ponti, who discovered actress Sophia Loren as a teen and later became her husband, died of pulmonary complications in a Geneva, Switzerland, hospital on January 10, 2007. He was 94. Ponti was born in Magenta, Italy, on December 11, 1912. He was a practicing lawyer before he became involved in film production in the late 1930s. He produced the 1941 film Piccolo Mondo Antico (aka Old-Fashioned World) which resulted in him being briefly imprisoned by the Fascist government on charges that the film was anti–German. He went on to serve as producer of over 100 films including Giacomo the Idealist (1943), La Primadonna (1943), Two Anonymous Letters (1945), A Yank in Rome (1946), Professor My Son (1946), Lost Youth (1947), To Live in Peace (1947), Prelude to Madness (1948), Les Miserables (1948), Without Pity (1948), The Taming of Dorothy (1949), The Emperor of Capri (1949), The White Line (1949), and The Mill on the Po (1949). Ponti teamed with fellow producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1950 to continue to release some of the most important Italian films of the era. Ponti’s films include Miss Italy (1950),

2007 • Obituaries

Outlaw Girl (1950), A Dog’s Life (1950), Last Meeting (1951), Toto the Third Man (1951), Accidents to the Taxes!! (1951), Cops and Robbers (1951), Anna (1951), The Eleven Musketeers (1952), Three Corsairs (1952), Toto in Color (1952), Hell Raiders of the Deep (1952), She Wolf (1952), Yolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair (1952), Brothers of Italy (1952), The Piano Tuner Has Arrived (1952), No Greater Love (1952), Ship of Condemned Women (1953), Easy Years (1953), Toto in Hell (1954), Il Medico dei Pazza (1954), A Day in Court (1954), Neapolitan Carousel (1954), An American in Rome (1954), Where Is Freedom? (1954), Poverty and Nobility (1954), Federico Fellini’s La Strada (1954) which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Mambo (1954), Vittorio de Sica’s The Gold of Naples (1954), Attila (1954), Human Torpedoes (1954), L’Ultimo Amante (1955), Girls of Today (1955), Eighteen Year Olds (1955), Ulysses (1955) starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn, Woman of Rome (1955), The Miller’s Beautiful Wife (1955), Woman of the River (1955) starring Sophia Loren, War and Peace (1955), Guendalina (1956), The Railroad Man (1956), Rice Girl (1956), March’s Child (1957), and Marisa (1957). He severed his relationship with De Laurentiis in 1957, and headed his own production company. Ponti had first met Loren in the early 1950s while judging a beauty contest she had entered and was soon promoting film projects for her. Ponti had been married to Giuliana Fiastri since 1946 and divorced her to marry Loren by proxy in Mexico in 1957. Italy did not recognize Ponti’s divorce and he faced charges of bigamy there. He and Loren lived in exile, eventually taking French citizenship and remarrying in Paris in 1966. Ponti continued to produce such films as The Black Orchid (1958), Female Three Times (1959), That Kind of Woman (1959), Heller in Pink Tights (1960), Il Corazziere (1960), Lettere di una Novizia (1960), A Breath of Scandal (1960), Two Women (1960) which earned Loren an Academy Award for Best Actress, Lola (1961), A Woman Is a Woman (1961), The Forgiven Sinner (1961), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961), Boccaccio ’70 (1962), The Third Lover (1962), Redhead (1962), The Condemned of Altona (1962), The Finger Man (1962), Arturo’s Island (1962), The Empty Canvas (1963), Bluebeard (1963), The Carabineers (1963), Contempt (1963), Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Countersex (1964), The Ape Woman (1964), Marriage Italian-Style (1964) which starred Loren opposite Marcello Mastroianni, The Man with the Balloons (1965), Kiss the Other Sheik (1965), Operation Crossbow (1965), Casanova ’70 (1965), The Tenth Victim (1965), Lady L (1965), David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago (1965), Closely Watched Trains (1966), Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966), The 25th Hour (1967), The Girl and the General (1967), More Than a Miracle (1967), The Firemen’s Ball (1967), Smashing Time (1967), Ghosts — Italian Style (1968), A Place for Lovers (1968), Diamonds for Breakfast (1968), Zabriskie Point (1970), Sunflower (1970), Lady Liberty (1971), The Priest’s Wife (1971), Deadly Trap (1971), White Sister (1972), Il Caso Pisciotta (1972), What? (1972), Hercules Against Karate (1973), Dirty Weekend (1973), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1973), Dear Parents

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(1973), Violent Professionals (1973), Massacre in Rome (1973), Revolt of the City (1973), Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein (aka Flesh for Frankenstein) (1973), Torso (1973), Virility (1974), Policewoman (1974), The Voyage (1974), Claretta and Ben (1974), Run, Run, Joe! (1974), Loving Cousins (1974), The Verdict (1974), Brief Encounter (1974) with Richard Burton, The Beast (1974), The Flower in His Mouth (1975), The Passenger (1975) with Jack Nicholson, Get Rita (1975), The Babysitter (1975), The Secrets of a Sensuous Nurse (1975), Whisky and Ghosts (1976), Cipolla Colt (1976), Down and Dirty (1976), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), A Special Day (1977), The Night o the High Tide (1977), and The Squeeze (1978). Ponti largely retired in the late 1970s, though he continued to produce occasional projects for film and television including Aurora by Night (1984), Running Away (1988), Saturday, Sunday and Monday (1990), and Liv (1998). He is survived by Loren, two children from his first marriage, Guendolina and Alexander, and two sons with Loren, conductor Carlo Jr. and film producer Edoardo.

Carlo Ponti

POSTON, TOM Comic actor Tom Poston, who entertained audiences in films and television for more than fifty years, died at his home in Los Angeles after a brief illness on April 30, 2007. He was 85. Poston was born in Columbus, Ohio, on October 17, 1921. He was an amateur boxer as a young man and served in the Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II. After his discharge, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He began appearing on stage and in television in the early 1950s. He was seen as an alien from the planet Mercury in an early episode of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet in 1950, and appeared in episodes of Lights Out, Studio One, Good Year Television Playhouse Playwrights’ 56, Robert Montgomery Presents, Sgt. Bilko, The United States Steel Hour, and Play of the Week. Poston also starred as Toby Winfield in the short-lived television soap opera Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 in 1953, and hosted the daily ABC variety show Entertainment in 1955. He also appeared in television productions of The Christmas Tree in 1958 and The Tempest in 1960, and hosted the 1959 game show Split Personality. Poston made his Broadway debut in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? in 1955. His

other Broadway appearances include Golden Fleecing (1959), Mary, Mary (1961), and the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1972). Poston was a regular performer on The Steve Allen Show from 1959 to 1960, frequently appearing in the show’s “Man on the Street” segments, with fellow performers Don Knotts and Louis Nye. He had made his film debut in a small role in the 1953 drama City That Never Sleeps. He starred in the 1962 fantasy Zotz! and William Castle’s comic remake of The Old Dark House in 1963. His other film credits include Soldier in the Rain (1963), Cold Turkey (1971), The Happy Hooker (1975), Rabbit Test (1978), Up the Academy (1980), Carbon Copy (1981), Krippendorf ’s Tribe (1998), and The Story of Us (1999). He was also seen in the tele-films The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa (1977), The Guide to the Married Woman (1978), Fame (1978), The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite (1981), I’ve Had It Up to Here (1982), Fresno (1986), Save the Dog! (1988), and A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder (1990). Poston appeared often as a panelist on game shows such as I’ve Got a Secret, Password, Missing Links, Get the Message, Pantomime Quiz, To Tell the Truth, What’s My Line?, Beat the Clock, Super Password, and The New Hollywood Squares. His other numerous television credits include guest roles in such series as Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, The Defenders, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Gentle Ben, Get Smart, The Good Guys, On the Rocks, Alice, We’ve Got Each Other, CHiPs, King’s Crossing, The Love Boat, Hotel, Crazy Like a Fox, St. Elsewhere, Good Grief, The Simpsons as the voice of Captain City Goof ball, Dream On, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, George & Leo, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me!, Touched by an Angel, Suddenly Susan, The Larry Sanders Show, Maggie Winters, Cosby, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as Uncle Cosmo, Diagnosis Murder, Malcolm & Eddie, Dharma & Greg, Normal, Ohio, The Drew Carey Show, King of the Hill as the voice of Mr. Popper, ER, The Lone Gunmen, The Ellen Show, Apple Valley Knights, Becker, Will & Grace, Good Morning, Miami, 8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Poston starred as Cliff Murdock, one of Bob’s many patients, in the comedy series The Bob Newhart Show from 1975 to 1977, and was Franklin Delano Bickley on Mork and Mindy with Robin Williams and Pam Dawber from 1979 to 1982. He reunited with Bob Newhart in the comedy series Newhart, playing George Utley from 1987 to 1990, and appeared as Jerry Fleisher in Newhart’s short-lived 1993 comedy series Bob. He appeared as Dr. Art Hibke in several episodes of Coach from 1990 to 1995, and appeared in Family Matters in the recurring role of Mr. Looney from 1994 to 1995. He was also seen in Murphy Brown as Old Man Swenson in several episodes in the mid–1990s and appeared regularly as Floyd Norton in Grace Under Fire with Brett Butler from 1995 to 1998. Poston also appeared as Burt Sigurdson, Eric’s grandfather, on That ’70s Show in 2002. He starred as Clown in the short-lived comedy series Committed in 2005. His later credits include the tele-film The Duke of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000), and the films Beethoven’s 5th (2003), The

295 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) as Lord Palimore, and Christmas with the Kranks (2004) as Father Zabriskie. Poston had met actress Suzanne Pleshette while they appeared together on Broadway in 1959. After a brief romance, they each married others but were reunited more than forty years later, marrying in 2001.

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pense Theatre, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hazel, Perry Mason, Wild Wild West, Jericho, Mission: Impossible, Daniel Boone, Gentle Ben, Bewitched, Here Come the Brides, Ironside, The Silent Force, The Man and the City, This Is the Life, Charlie’s Angels, and Murder, She Wrote. She also taught acting and performed on stage. Her final roles were as Mama Teresa in the 2002 film Hitters, and a stage appearance in Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood at the Laguna Playhouse in 2002.

Tom Poston

POWERS, MALA Leading actress Mala Powers died of complications from leukemia in a Burbank, California, hospital on June 11, 2007. She was 75. She was born Mary Ellen Powers in San Francisco, California, on December 20, 1931. Powers made her film debut at the age of 11 in the 1942 Bowery Boys film Tough as They Come. She returned to the screen in 1950, appearing as Roxanne opposite Jose Ferrer in his Oscar-winning role in Cyrano de Bergerac. She also appeared as rape victim Ann Walton in Ida Lupino’s controversial 1950 film Outrage. Powers remained active in film and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Her other film credits include Edge of Doom (1950), Rose of Cimarron (1952), City Beneath the Sea (1953), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Geraldine (1953), The Yellow Mountain (1954), Rage at Dawn (1955), Bengazi (1955), The Storm Rider (1957), Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), The Unknown Terror (1957), Death in Small Doses (1957), Man on the Prowl (1957), the 1958 science fiction classic The Colossus of New York, Sierra Baron (1958), Fear No More (1961), Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961), Rogues’ Gallery (1968), Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting (1969), The Doomsday Machine (1972), Where the Wind Dies (1976), and Six Tickets to Hell (1981). Powers starred as Rebecca Boone in Walt Disney’s Daniel Boone series from 1960 to 1961. Her numerous television credits also include roles in episodes of such series as Pantomime Quiz, Studio 57, Appointment with Adventure, The Ford Television Theatre, On Trial, Zane Grey Theater, Matinee Theatre, Wagon Train, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Restless Gun, Frontier Justice, Bonanza, Bourbon Street Beat, Tombstone Territory, The Rebel, Bronco, Sugarfoot, The Man and the Challenge, Lock Up, Maverick, Surfside 6, General Electric Theater, Lawman, Cheyenne, The Bob Cummings Show, Boris Karloff ’s Thriller, Everglades, 77 Sunset Strip, Rawhide, The Gallant Men, Hawaiian Eye, The Wide Country, Dr. Kildare, Arrest and Trial, Kraft Sus-

Mala Powers

PRATHER, RICHARD Mystery writer Richard Prather, who was best known for his series of stories featuring private eye Shell Scott, died of complications from pulmonary disease at his home in Sedona, Arizona, on February 14, 2007. He was 85. Prather was born in Santa Anna, California, on September 9, 1921. He served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II and began his writing career in the late 1940s. He introduced the character Shell Scott, a former Marine who finds himself in odd predicaments as a private investigator, with the 1950 novel Case of the Vanishing Beauty. Prather featured Scott in over 30 subsequent novels during the next 40 years. The erstwhile detective encountered nudists, circus freaks, porno filmmakers, and zombies during his often tongue-in-cheek exploits. Prather’s numerous works, most featuring Shell Scott, also include Bodies in Bedlam (1951), Everybody Had a Gun (1951), Find This Woman (1951), Way of a Wanton (1952), Pattern for Murder/The Scrambled Yeggs (1952), Lie Down, Killer (1952), Dagger of Flesh (1952), Darling, It’s Death (1952), The Peddlar (1952), Ride a High Horse/Too Many Crooks (1953), Always Leave ’Em Dying (1954), Pattern for Panic (1954), Strip for Murder (1955), Dragnet: Case #561 (1956), The Wailing Frail (1956), Three’s a Shroud (1957), Have Gat—Will Travel (1957), Slab Happy (1958), Take a Murder, Darling (1958), Over Her Dear Body (1959), Double in Trouble (1959), Dance with the Dead (1960), Dig That Crazy Grave (1961), Shell Scott’s Seven Slaughters (1961), Kill the Clown (1962), Dead Heat (1963), Joker in the Deck (1964), The Cockeyed Corpse (1964), The Trojan Hearse (1964), Kill Him Twice (1965), Dead Man’s Walk (1965), The Meandering Corpse (1965), The Kubla Khan Caper (1966), Gat Heat (1967), The Cheim Manuscript (1969), Kill Me Tomor-

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row (1969), Dead-Bang (1971), The Sweet Ride (1972), The Sure Thing (1975), The Amber Effect (1986), and Shellshock (1987).

2007. He was 83. He began his career on stage in 1945 in a production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and performed with the National Theatre from 1948 to 1952. He was best known for his role as Veldsman in the television series Kooperasiestories in the 1980s. He also appeared on television in such series as Nommer Asseblief, Vyfster, Grondbaronne, and Isidingo. Pretorius was also seen in several films later in his career including Stander (2003), Drum (2004), and Platinum (2004).

Richard Prather

PRATT, WAYNE Antique appraiser Wayne Pratt, who was featured on PBS television’s Antique Roadshow for six seasons, died of complication from heart surgery in a Hartford, Connecticut, hospital on July 6, 2007. He was 64. Pratt was born on June 16, 1943. He began his career as an antique dealer in Massachusetts in the late 1960s, specializing in Windsor chairs, primitive portraits, painted country furniture, folk art, and mechanical banks. He relocated to Connecticut in 1993. Pratt was involved in the corruption scandal that brought down the administration of Connecticut’s Governor, John G. Rowland. Pratt pled guilty in 2004 to a federal tax charge that he had purchased Rowland’s condominium in Washington, D.C., at a price greatly above market value. He admitted being a front man for a state contractor. He was also involved in a legal dispute over the ownership of an original version of the Bill of Rights that was eventually claimed by the state of North Carolina.

Wayne Pratt

PRETORIUS, EMGEE Veteran South African actor Emgee Pretorius died in a Pretoria, South Africa, hospital of complications from a heart attack on May 1,

Emgee Pretorius

PRINCE, ROBERT Film and television composer Robert Prince died in Los Angeles after a brief illness on March 4, 2007. He was 77. Prince was born in New York City on May 10, 1929. He attended Juilliard School and worked as a composer and producer at Decca and Columbia Records. He also composed the score for Jerome Robbins’ Ballet USA production Opus Jazz. Prince began scoring films in the early 1960s, with such credits as Strangers in the City (1962), Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now (1966), A Great Big Thing (1968), Newman’s Law (1974), the cult horror film Squirm (1976), J.D.’s Revenge (1976), and Claws (1977). Prince also scored the tele-films A Little Game (1971), What’s a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971), Cool Million (1972), Gargoyles (1972), The Return of Charlie Chan (aka Happiness Is a Warm Clue) (1973), The Man of Destiny (1973), Scream, Pretty Pegg y (1973), Big Rose: Double Trouble (1974), A Cry in the Wilderness (1974), Nourish the Beast (1974), A Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974), The Chinese Prime Minister (1974), Where Have All the People Gone? (1974), For the Use of the Hall (1975), The Dead Don’t Die (1975), The Desperate Miles (1975), Snowbeast (1977), Columbo: The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case (1977), The Gathering, Part II (1979), The Seduction of Miss Leona (1980), and The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981). Prince was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the television series The Name of the Game episode “LA 2017” in 1971. His other television credits include such series as Ironside, Mannix, Wild Wild West, McCloud, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Alias Smith and Jones, Mission: Impossible, The Streets of San Francisco, Ghost Story, The Sixth Sense, The Blue Knight, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Fantastic Journey, Flying High, Buck

297 Rogers in the 25th Century, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

2007 • Obituaries

peared on the television series Hollywood Squares, and was featured in the Off-Broadway comedy Nunsense as the Mother Superior.

Robert Prince Pudgy!

PROESKE, TOSI Macedonian singer Tosi Proeske was killed on October 16, 2007, on the Zagreb-Lipovac highway near Nova Gradiska, Croatia, when the car he was a passenger in crashed into the back of another vehicle. He was 26. Proeske was born in Prilep, Macedonia, on January 25, 1981. He began performing while in his teens and had his first hit with “Let Me Go” in 1997. He continued to sing such popular songs as “Lips on Lips” and “The Sun in Your Golden Hair,” and recorded his debut album, Somewhere in the Night, in 1999. Proeske represented Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. He wrote several of his own hit songs including “Is There a Day for Us,” “Can you Hear,” and “Field Flower.” Proeske’s fifth album, After You, made him a popular star throughout the former Yugoslavia. His final album, Game Without Borders was released in August of 2007.

Tose Proeski

PUDGY ! Beverly Wines, who entertained nightclub audiences as the acerbic comic Pudgy!, died in Las Vegas on December 24, 2007. Wines began her career in Chicago, and became noted for her roasting style of comedy. She moved to Vegas in 1993, where she headlined acts at many of the casinos. Pudgy! also ap-

RABEN , PEER German composer Peer Raben, who worked frequently on film scores for director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, died in Mitterfels, Germany, on January 21, 2007. He was 66. Raben was born in Viechtafell, Bavaria, Germany, on July 3, 1940. He was a prolific film composer from the late 1960s, composing scores to such features as Love Is Colder Than Death (1969), Gods of the Plague (1970), Mathias Kneissl (1970), Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970), The American Soldier (1970), Whity (1971), Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), Chetan, Indian Boy (1973), The Tenderness of Wolves (1973), Fight-Fight of Freedom (1975), Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975), Shadow of Angels (1976), Satan’s Brew (1976), Chinese Roulette (1976), Violanta (1977), Half and Half (1977), Despair (1978), Spiel der Verlierer (1978), In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), The Ortlieb Woman (1979), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), The Latest on Robber Hotzenplotz (1979), The Third Generation (1979), Portrait of a Female Drunkard (1979), Purity of Heart (1980), Mosch (1980), Winter City (1981), Lili Marleen (1981), Malou (1981), Der Mond Is nur a Nackerte Kugel (1981), Lola (1981), Heute Spielen wir den Boss (1981), Grenzenlos (1982), Veronika Voss (1982), Day of the Idiots (1982), Querelle (1982), Dies Rigorose Leben (1983), The Wizard of Babylon (1983), A Woman in Flames (1983), The Swing (1983), Cheaters (1984), The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press (1984), Embers (1984), Flamberede Hjerter (1986), Inside Out (1987), The Venus Trap (1988), Sirup (1990), Happy Birthday, Turke! (1992), Gluck 1 (1992), The True Story About Men and Women (1992), Off Season (1992), Fassbinder’s Women (2000), Die Konigin — Marianne Hoppe (2000), 2046 (2004), Eros (2004), and Kontakt (2005). Raben also composed music for numerous television productions including The Coffeehouse (1970), The Niklashausen Journey (1970), Rio das Mortes (1971), Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1971), Adele Spitzeder (1972), JailBait (1973), Kleiner Mann —Was Nun? (1973), Fear of Fear (1975), Ice Age (1975), Alpensaga (1976), I Only Want You to Love Me (1976), The Stationmaster’s Wife (1977), The Other Smile (1978),

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Zuhaus in der Fremde (1979), Die Jahre Vergehen (1980), Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), Fathers and Sons (1986), Bismarck (1990), Lulu (1991), Vino Santo (2000), and Heimatfilm! (2002).

RADOCAJ , IVAN Canadian professional wrestler Ivan Radocaj was founded beaten to death at his home in Armstrong, near Inwood, Manitoba, Canada, on September 17, 2007. He was 42. He began his wrestling career in 1981 with New Brand Wrestling in Winnipeg, Canada. He was sometimes known in the ring as Ivan the Giant and the Croatian Giant. He sometimes competed in mixed martial arts competitions under the name Big John Radocaj. He wrestled with New Brand until it folded in 1984 and was largely inactive in the ring thereafter.

Peer Raben

RADEMAKER , FONS Dutch film director Fons Rademaker, whose 1986 film De Aanslag (The Assault) earned the Oscar for best foreign language film, died of emphysema in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on February 22, 2007. He was 86. Rademaker was born in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, on September 5, 1920. He began working in films in the 1950s, serving as an assistant to such directors as Jean Renoir, Vittorio De Sica, and Charles Crichton. He made his directorial debut with 1958’s Doctor in the Village, which he also scripted. Rademaker also directed the films The Joyous Eve (1960), The Knife (1961), Like Two Drops of Water (1963), The Dance of the Heron (1966), Mira (1971), Because of the Cats (1973), Max Havelaar (1976) about the Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia, The Judge’s Friend (1979), and The Rose Garden (1989). Rademaker also appeared onscreen in several films including The Dance of the Heron (1966), The Enemies (1968), Obsessions (1969), Mira (1971), Blood on the Lips (1971), Lifespan (1974), A Girl Called Katy Tippel (1975), Evil Mysteries (1978), and Vrijdag (1981).

Ivan Radocaj (right)

RADULOVICH, MILO Milo Radulovich, who became a symbol of the excesses of anti–Communism in the 1950s, died of complications from a stroke in Vallejo, California, on November 19, 2007. He was 81. Radulovich was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 28, 1926, to Serbian immigrant parents. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1944 and later transferred to the reserve in 1952. He was thought to be a security risk and in 1953 he was discharged because his father and sister were accused of being Communists or Communist sympathizers. Seeking to clear himself and his family, Radulovich gained assistance from legendary CBS news reporter Ed Murrow and producer Fred Friendly. The two self-financed a program, The Case Against Lt. Milo Radulovich, which aired in October 1953. The image of this innocent man and his immi-

Fons Rademaker Milo Radulovich

299 grant father led many viewers to question the impact of McCarthyist tactics for purging the government and military of potential security risks. Radulovich was reinstated one month after the broadcast. His story was featured in the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, which was directed by George Clooney, with Radulovich serving as an advisor. His life and tribulations were recounted in Michael Ranville’s book To Strike at a King: The Turning Point in the McCarthy Witch-Hunt. Radulovich moved to California, where he became a meteorologist with the National Weather Service and was chief meteorologist in Lansing, Michigan, until his retirement in 1994.

RAGAN, DENISE Theatrical producer and actress Denise Ragan died in her sleep in Chatham, Illinois, on February 11, 2007. She was 53. Ragan was born in Springfield, Illinois, on November 15, 1953. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in dance in the 1970s. She appeared on several television productions including Divorce Court. She turned to producing in the 1980s, and was a founder of the Attic Theater Ensemble in Los Angeles. Ragan served as executive producer of the company from 1987 to 1999. She produced more than sixty plays with the Attic, including works by Terrance McNally, Stephen Sondheim, and Joyce Carol Oates.

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Brush with Fate (2003), Pietje Bell II: De Jacht op de Tsarenkroon (2003), Karin (2004), and Highland Gardens (2007). Ragas starred as Detective Rinus de Gier in the television series Grijpstra & de Gier from 2004 to 2006, and was featured as Prins Willem-Alexander in the mini-series De Kroon in 2004. He also appeared in episodes of the series Bureau Kruislaan, Pleidooi, Flodder, Coverstory, Voor hete Vuren, Windkracht 10, 12 Steden, 13 Ongelukken, Unit 13, Baantjer, Wildschut & De Vries, Trauma 24/7, Spangen, and Russen.

Roef Ragas

RAIN, ISAK Norwegian professional wrestler Isak Bjerknes, who competed in the ring under the name Isak Rain, was killed in an automobile accident on route to his job at a construction site outside of Darbu, Norway, on October 10, 2007. He lost control of his car and crashed into a tree. Bjerknes was born in Drammen, Norway, on July 6, 1985. He began his career as a wrestler in Norway in 2003 as part of the tagteam Fremtiden (Future). He competed throughout Europe with the World Association of Wrestling (WAW) based in England. Rain was also active with his church, and appeared in several Dutch Christian youth movies including I Skyggen av Sannheten (2004). Denise Ragan

RAGAS, ROEF Dutch actor Roef Ragas died of a heart attack in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on August 30, 2007. He was 42. Ragas was born in Harderwijk, the Netherlands, on May 25, 1965. He was a popular performer in Dutch films and television shows from the early 1990s. His film credits include A Turk from Italy (1992), Heating for England (1993), Love Hurts (1993), The Shadow Walkers (1995), Mykosch (1995), JuJu (1996), Red Rain (1996), My Mom Has a Gun Too (1996), Breaking the Waves (1996), De Nieuwe Moeder (1996), De Zeemeerman (1996), Gitanes (1997), Rondootje (1997), De Fiets (1997), All Stars (1997), The Stowaway (1997), I See You (1998), Ivory Guardians (1998), Celluloid Blues (1998), The Polish Bride (1998), Vicious Circle (1999), Missing Link (1999), Mates (1999), Total Loss (2000), Hundred Percent (2000), The Black Meteor (2000), Necrocam (2001), The Enclave (2002), Peter Bell (2002),

Isak Rain

RAITA, MARJATTA Finnish actress Marjatta Raita died of cancer in Helsinki, Finland, on Septem-

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ber 27, 2007. She was 63. Raita was born in Pori, Finland, the daughter of actors Eino and Valli Raita, on February 17, 1944. She studied acting in the early 1960s and became a leading stage performer in Finland. She also appeared in a number of films and was best known for her role as Elisabeth Turhapuro in Spede Pasanen’s Uuno Turhapuro film series from the 1970s through the 1990. She was also seen in the 1973 film It’s Up to Us, and appeared in the television series Muodollisesti Pateva from 1999 to 2004.

Marjatta Raita

RAMOS, VIC Actor turned casting director Vic Ramos died of heart failure in a New York City hospital on October 20, 2007. He was 77. Ramos was born in Los Angeles on September 1, 1930. He began working in films as an actor in the early 1960s. He appeared in small roles in the television series Naked City and Route 66, and the films The Sin of Mona Kent (1961), Where’s Poppa? (1970), and Born to Win (1971). Ramos also began working as a casting director for Naked City in 1960, supplying authentic looking street extras for the police drama. He worked on casting such films as Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), Where’s Poppa? (1970), The Anderson Tapes (1971), Little Murders (1971), Shamus (1973), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Seeds of Evil (1975), Bugsy Malone (1976), Star Wars (1977), Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979),

The Black Stallion (1979), Apocalypse Now (1979), Over the Edge (1979) casting Matt Dillon in his first major role, Dressed to Kill (1980), The Blue Lagoon (1980), My Bodyguard (1980), Gloria (1980), Thief (1981), and The First Time (1983). He also cast the tele-films The World Beyond (1978), Who’ll Save Our Children (1978), and Coach of the Year (1980). He formed his own talent management company, Ramos Management, in 1981. He also served as executive producer for the 1982 film Liar’s Moon and was associate producer for Kansas in 1988.

RAMUS, NICK Native American actor Nick Ramus died in Benson, Arizona, on May 30, 2007. He was 77. Ramus was born in Seattle, Washington, on September 9, 1929. He appeared frequently in films and television from the 1970s. He was seen in the films Black Eye (1974), The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), Windwalker (1980) starring as Smiling Wolf and Crow Brother in the first native language film, Invasion U.S.A. (1985) with Chuck Norris, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) as the helmsman of the Saratoga, Love at Stake (1988), Journey to Spirit Island (1988), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), The Treasure of the Painted Forest (2006), and Alma (2007). Ramus also appeared in the tele-films I Will Fight No More Forever (1975), The Quest (1976), Kit Carson and the Mountain Men (1977), Centennial (1978), The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982) as Left Hand Bull, Born to the Wind (1982), The Mystic Warrior (1984), C.A.T. Squad (1986), Son of the Morning Star (1991), and Geronimo (1993). He was featured as Gus Nunouz in the prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest from 1981 to 1982, and appeared in the recurring role of Black Kettle in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from 1993 to 1997. His other television credits include episodes of Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, The Chisholms, Capitol, Stingray, CBS Summer Playhouse, Paradise, Monsters, Northern Exposure, MacGyver, and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Nick Ramus

Vic Ramos

RANDELL , LYNNE Australian pop singer Lynne Randell was found dead at her home in Toorak, Melbourne, Australia, on June 8, 2007. She was 57. Randell was born in Liverpool, England, in 1950, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, with her family as a

301 child. She began singing professionally at the age of 15, and her early recordings of “Heart” and “Going Out of My Head” became hits in Australia. She recorded several other popular songs including “Ciao Baby,” “That’s a Hoe Down,” and “I Need You Boy,” and toured the United States with The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix and Ike and Tina Turner. Several bouts of illness curtailed her career in the late 1960s, and an addiction to diet pills severely damaged her health. She returned to the stage several times in the 1990s, performing at nostalgia concerts.

Lynne Randell

RANDOLPH , BOOTS Saxophonist Boots Randolph, who was best known for his rendition of “Yakety Sax,” died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospital on July 3, 2007. He was 80. He was born Homer Louis Randolph III in Paducah, Kentucky, on June 3, 1927. He played the sax and trombone in an Army band in the latter days of World War II. He played with several small bands after the war and was signed by RCA Record in 1958. Randolph worked as a session musician on the 1960 jazz album The Nashville All-Stars — After The Riot at Newport and Elvis Presley’s post–Army album Elvis Is Back! He also played on the soundtrack for Presley’s 1961 film Blue Hawaii. He left RCA in 1961 and embarked on a solo career at Monument Records. His 1963 release, “Yakety Sax,” was a major hit that later became the theme song

2007 • Obituaries

for the British comedy series The Benny Hill Show. He also had popular hits with the recordings of “Hey, Mr. Sax Man,” “The Shadow of Your Smile” and “With Love.” Randolph was a musical guest on such television variety shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Barbara McNair Show, The Jimmy Dean Show and Hee Haw. He also appeared as himself in the 1966 film That Tennessee Beat and the 1979 tele-film Murder in Music City. Randolph was a regular performer in Nashville nightclubs throughout his life and recorded more than forty albums.

RASKY, HARRY Canadian documentary filmmaker Harry Rasky died of a heart attack in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hospital where he was recovering from a broken hip, on April 9, 2007. He was 78. Rasky was born in Toronto on May 9, 1928. He began working with CBC Television in Canada in the early 1950s, where he was a founder of their news documentary department. He wrote and directed the 1957 production A Day Called X and Ethiopia: The Lion and the Cross (1963). Rasky was best known for his biographical films including Tennessee William’s South (1973), Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love (1977), which earned him an Oscar nomination for best documentary, Author Miller on Home Ground (1979), The Song of Leonard Cohen (1980), Karsh: The Searching Eye (1986), and Eleanor Roosevelt: A Restless Spirit (1994). He made over 50 feature documentaries during his career, and earned over 200 awards at festivals throughout the world. Rasky’s other films include Upon This Rock (1970), Being Different (1981), War Against the Indians (1992), and Nobody Swings on Sunday (2003). His final film was a project about the painter Modigliani.

Harry Rasky

Boots Randolph

RAVEN , PAUL British rock bassist Paul Raven, who played with the post–punk rock group Killing Joke, died of a heart attack in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 20, 2007. He was 46. Raven was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, on January 16, 1961. He began playing with the local punk band Neon Hearts in 1977, and joined the short lived glam rock band Kitsch in 1982. Raven replaced Martin “Youth” Glover as Killing Joke’s bass player in 1982. He

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was featured on their album, Fire Dances, in 1983, and toured North America with the group. He also recorded 1985’s Nightime album, which included the hit song, “Love Like Blood.” He was fired from the group during the recording of 1988’s Outside the Gate, but returned by 1990 to work on the album Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions. Killing Joke disbanded soon after, with Raven joining several other bandmates to form a new group, Murder Inc. He also played with the band Pigface and did not return to Killing Joke when the band reformed in 1992. He next became a part of Prong, playing on their albums Cleansing and Rude Awakening. He left Prong in 1996, and worked as a producer and remixer with such groups as Zilch, Psychic TV, and Spahn Ranch. He performed with Society 1 on the 2003 album Exit Through Fear and was briefly bassist for Godflesh, before returning to Killing Joke later in 2003. Raven played on the albums Killing Joke and Hosannas from the Basements of Hell. He began working for Ministry in 2005, performing on their albums Rio Grande Blood and 2007’s The Last Sucker.

India (1957), Saraswatichandra (1969), Reshma and Shera (1971), Raja Jami (1972), and Dus Mumbri (1976). Raza also directed the 1974 film Pran Jaye par Vachan na Jaye. His final film credit was as scripter for the film English Babu Desi Mem in 1996.

REARDON, MICHAEL Michael Reardon, a former child actor turned film executive who was noted for his extreme rock climbing exploits, perished while climbing an Atlantic Sea cliff on Valentia Island, off the coast of Ireland when he was washed out to sea by a wild wave on July 13, 2007. He was 42. Reardon was born at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island on May 1, 1965. He was a child actor in the early 1970s, appearing in small roles in Scrooge! (1970) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972), as the Frog. He graduated from the Pepperdine School of Law in the late 1980s. He also performed with the rock band Rocks Milan, and appeared in small roles in the films That’s Life! (1986), Love Potion (1987), Loverboy (1989), Poison (1991), The Doors (1991), and Mesmer (1994). He was also seen on television in the tele-films National Lampoon’s Men in White (1998) and The Princess and the Barrio Boy (2000), and an episode of That’s Life. He also worked as a lawyer for Harvey Entertainment, handling legal affairs for film projects featuring their characters Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost. He formed Black Sky Entertainment in the early 2000s, which produced Eli Roth’s debut horror feature Cabin Fever (2002). Reardon also appeared in a cameo role in the film. An avid rock climber whose adventures were recognized by National Geographic, he produced and directed several rock climbing videos, including Bachar: One Man One Myth One Legend about fellow climber John Bachar.

Paul Raven

RAZA, ALI Indian screenwriter Ali Raza died of complications of heart problems in a Mumbai, India, hospital on November 1, 2007. He was 85. Raza began his career in the late 1940s, and often worked with fellow writer Mehboob Khan. His film credits include A Matter of Style (1949), Savage Princess (1952), Mother

Michael Reardon

Ali Raza (his film Mother India)

REED , MYRTLE British character actress Myrtle Reed died in Northwood, Middlesex, England, on June 30, 2007. She was 77. Reed was born in London on December 23, 1929. She appeared frequently in supporting roles in films from the early 1950s including Top Secret (1952), Street Corner (1953), Delayed Action (1954), Cast a Dark Shadow (1955), The Weapon (1957), Please Turn Over (1959), Snowball (1960), A Pair of Briefs (1962), Seventy Deadly Pills (1964), The

303 Eyes of Annie Jones (1964), The Comedy Man (1964), Bless This House (1972), and The Slipper and the Rose (1976). Reed was also featured in episodes of such television series as BBC Sunday Night Theatre: Number Three, ITV Television Playhouse, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Educated Evans, Dixon of Dock Green, The Man Who Finally Died, Invisible Man, The Four Just Men, No Hiding Place, and Hancock.

REED , PAUL Veteran character actor Paul Reed died in Maine hospital on April 2, 2007. He was 97. Reed was born Sidney Kahn in Highland Falls, New York, on June 16, 1909. He began his career on the vaudeville stage while in his teens and was singing on the radio by the mid–1930s. He appeared on Broadway from the 1940s in such productions as Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, and Promises, Promises. Reed was a frequent performer on television from the 1950s, often working as a straight man for comic Sid Caesar. He appeared regularly as Captain Martin Block on the comedy series Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961 to 1963, and was Damon Burkhardt on The Cara Williams Show from 1964 to 1965. His other television credits include episodes of The Phil Silvers Show, Alcoa Theatre, The U.S. Steel Hour, The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, The Donna Reed Show in the recurring role of Commissioner Timothy “Tiger” Trimmitt, The Munsters, The Jean Arthur Show, Hey, Landlord, Bewitched, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Reed was also seen in several films during his career including Ride to Hangman’s Tree (1967), Fitzwilly (1967), and Did You Hear the One About the Travelling Saleslady? (1968).

2007 • Obituaries

(1965), The Gold Guitar (1966), The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966), Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar (1966), Cottonpickin’ Chickenpickers (1967), and Sam Whiskey (1969). He also starred in his own syndicated television show, The Del Reeves Country Carnival, in the late 1960s.

Del Reeves

REGUERRAZ , JEAN PIERRE Actor Jean Pierre Reguerraz died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 2, 2007. He was 68. Reguerraz was born in Canada to French parents in 1939. He studied acting in France before moving to Argentina in 1960. He became a leading stage actor in Argentina in such productions as Mother Courage and Her Children and Anton Chekhov’s Ivanov. He was also featured in over 30 films including Camila (1984), Man Facing Southeast (1986), I, the Worst of All (1990), Vivir Mata (1991), The Dark Side of the Heart (1992), Hostage (1993), I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993), Of Love and Shadows (1994), Moebius (1996), El Dia que Maradona Conocio a Gardel (1996), Eva Peron: The True Story (1996), The Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996), The Angry Toy (1998), Garage Olimpo (1999), How Silly We Are to Grow Up (2000), Garua (2001), Un Amor en Moises Ville (2001), El Armario (2001), The Escape (2001), Kara (2005), Como un Avion Estrellado (2005), Family Law (2006), Chicha tu Madre (2006), El Amor y la Ciudad (2006), Las Manos (2006), and XXY (2007).

Paul Reed

REEVES , DEL Country singer Del Reeves died of emphysema in Centerville, Tennessee, on January 1, 2007. He was 74. He was born Franklin Delano Reeves in Sparta, North Carolina, on July 14, 1932. He moved to Nashville in 1962 after serving in the U.S. Air Force. He became a popular performer with the Grand Ole Opry and had a #1 country hit with the song “Girl on the Billboard” in 1965. He also recorded the popular songs “The Belles of Southern Bell,” “Good Time Charlies,” and “Women Do Funny Things to Me.” Reeves was also a popular comic, and appeared in a handful of films in the 1960s including Forty Acre Feud

Jean Pierre Reguerraz

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REID, MIKE British actor Mike Reid, who starred as Frank Butcher in the television soap opera EastEnders, died of a heart attack in Spain on July 28, 2007. He was 67. Reid was born in Hackney, London, England, on January 19, 1940. He began his career as a stand-up comic and appeared frequently on television from the 1960s. He was seen in episodes of such series as Doctor Who, The Saint, The Champions, Department S, The Comedians, Runaround, Yus My Dear, Noah’s Castle, Worzel Gummidge, Minder, Big Deal, The Bob Monkhouse Show, The Detectives, and The Bill. He starred in the 1984 variety series Mates and Music and appeared in the 1997 television production of Underworld (1997). He was featured as Frank Butcher in EastEnders from 1989 through 2005. Reid was also featured in the films Up the Junction (1968), Steptoe and Son (1972), Guy Ritchie’s Snatch (2000) as Doug “the Head” Denovitz, Oh Marbella! (2003), Hey Mr DJ (2005), The Poker Academy (2005), Moussaka & Chips (2005), and Jack Says (2007).

Mike Reid

REILLY, CHARLES NELSON Comic Charles Nelson Reilly, who was best known for his over-the-top antics on television talk shows and The Match Game, died of complications of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California, on May 25, 2007. He was 76. He was born in the Bronx, New York, on January 13, 1931. Reilly began his career on stage and earned a Tony Award for his role as Bud Frump in the original Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1962. He made his film debut in a small role in 1957s A Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith, and also seen in the films Two Tickets to Paris (1962) and The Tiger Makes Out (1967). Noted for the over-sized eyeglasses and ascot he often sported, he became a familiar face on television from 1960s. He appeared on such variety shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Barbara McNair Show, Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers, The Don Knotts Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, The Dean Martin Show, The Merv Griffin Show, Dinah!, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Steve Lawrence Show. Reilly was a regular panelist on the game show The Match Game throughout the 1970s, verbally sparring with fellow guest Brett Somers. He was also a guest panelist on such game shows as What’s

My Line?, Baffle, Super Password, and The Hollywood Squares. Reilly starred as Claymore Gregg on the supernatural sitcom The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from 1968 to 1970 and was Horatio J. Hoodoo on the children’s series Lidsville in 1971. He was Randy Robinson in Arnie from 1971 to 1972, and starred as Uncle Croc in Uncle Croc’s Block. Reilly also guest-starred in such series as Car 54 Where Are You?, The Farmer’s Daughter, The Patty Duke Show, Nanny and the Professor, Here’s Lucy, The Doris Day Show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Honeymoon Suite, McMillan and Wife, Love, American Style, The Love Boat, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, Charles in Charge, Out of This World, B.L. Stryker, Evening Shade which he also directed several episodes of, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Designing Women, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, The Larry Sanders Show, The X-Files starring in the episode “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’,” Family Matters, Dinner for Five, Second Noah, Millennium reprising his role as Jose Chung, The Brian Benben Show, and The Drew Carey Show. Reilly was also a popular voice actor in animated features and cartoons, voicing roles in The Flintstones as Frank Frankenstone, The Wind and the Willows (1987) as Mr. Toad, All Dogs Go to Heaven as Killer in the 1989 feature and the subsequent series and sequels, Spacecats as the Disembodied Omnipotent Ruler of Cats, Rock-A-Doodle (1991), Disney’s Goof Troop, A Troll in Central Park (1994) as King Llort, Babes in Toyland (1997), Hercules as King Midas, and SpongeBob SquarePants as the Dirty Bubble. He was also seen in the live-action tele-films Decisions! Decisions! (1972), Call Her Mom (1972), The City That Forgot About Christmas (1974), The Three Kings (1987), Bandit: Bandit Goes Country (1994), and Boys Will Be Boys (1997). Reilly also appeared in a handful of feature films in his later career including Cannonball Run II (1984), Body Slam (1987), The First of May (1999), and Gaydar (2002) as Uncle Vincent. His most recent work was for his autobiographical one-man show Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly.

Charles Nelson Reilly

REINECKER, HERBERT German screenwriter Herbert Reinecker, who was often credited under the pseudonym Alex Berg, died in Germany on January 27, 2007. He was 92. Reinecker was born in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany, on December 24, 1914.

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He was best known as the creator of the television crime series Derrick starring Horst Tappert, writing 281 episodes of the series during its run from 1974 to 1988. Reinecker wrote propaganda pieces for the Hitler Youth as a young man, and was an official war reporter for the Nazi Waffen SS during World War II. He co-scripted the 1939 short film Der Mann mit dem Plan, and his novel Der Mann mit der Geige was adapted for the 1942 film Der Fall Rainer. He was a prolific screenwriter from the 1950s, scripting such films as Weg in die Freheit (1953), I and You (1953), Canaris: Master Spy (1954), Loving Couples (1954), Children, Mother, and the General (1955), Der Himmel is nie Ausverkauft (1955), Alibi (1955), Kitty and the Great Big World (1956), Anastasia: The Czar’s Last Daughter (1956), The Trapp Family (1956), Spy for Germany (1956), The Star of Africa (1957), Bank Vault 713 (1957), The Fox of Paris (1957), El Hakim (1957), Scampolo (1958), Taiga (1958), The Trapp Family in America (1958), Boomerang (1959), Dorothea Angermann (1959), People in the Net (1959), Eine Frau furs Ganze Leben (1960), Scared Waters (1960), The Hour in Which You’re Happy (1961), The Gripsholm Castle (1963), And So to Bed (1963), An Alibi for Death (1963), The River Line (1964), The Last Ride to Santa Cruz (1964), Nachtzug D 106 (1964), The Mysterious Magician (1964), Conquerors of Arkansas (1964), DM-Killer (1965), Operation Soho (1965), The Daisy Chain (1965), Manhattan Night of Murder (1965), I Am Looking for a Man (1966), Enter Inspector Maigret (1966), The Hunchback of Soho (1966), Murderers Club of Brooklyn (1967), Creature with the Blue Hand (1967), The Monk with the Whip (1967), Rheinsberg (1967), The Horror of Blackwood Castle (1968), Der Tod im Roten Jaguar (1968), Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death (1968), Angels with Burnt Wings (1970), and From Hong Kong with Love (1973). Reinecker began writing primarily for television in the early 1970s, scripting such productions as 11 Uhr 20 (1970), Eine Frau bleibt eine Frau (1973), Die Angste des Dr. Schenk (1978), Unsere Kleine Welt (1978), ...es ist die Liebe (1979), Knobbes Knoten (1980), Die Alten Kommen (1980), Urlaub am Meer (1982), Jakob und Adele (1983), Der Kleine Riese (1985), and Gnadenlos — Zur Prostitution Gezwungen (1996). He also wrote episodes of such television series as Die Funfte Kolonne, Der Kommissar, Polizeiinspektion 1, and Siska.

REINHOLD, ANNELIES German actress Annelies Reinhold died in Oldenburg, Germany, on January 6, 2007. She was 90. Reinhold was born in Germany on January 5, 1917. She was a leading performer in German films in the 1940s, starring in Die Drei Codonas (1940), Violanta (1942), Paracelsus (1943), Die Unheimliche Wandlung des Axel Roscher (1943), Die Affare Rodern (1944), Leckerbissen (1948), Die Nacht der Zwolf (1949), Ein Herz Schlagt fur Dich (1949), Duell mit dem Tod (1949), and Konig fur eine Nacht (1950).

Herbert Reinecker

Bobby Relf

Annelies Reinhold

RELF, BOBBY Singer and songwriter Bobby Relf, who was best known as part of the singing duo Bob & Earl, died on November 20, 2007. He was 70. Relf was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 10, 1937, and formed the group the Laurels in 1954 while still a teenager. He recorded as a solo act in 1956 with “Little Fool,” but met with limited success. He sang with a variety of bands over the next several years including the Upfronts, the Hollywood Flames, the Crescendoes, and Bobby Day and the Satellites. Relf joined with Earl Nelson as part of the duo Bob & Earl in 1962. He replaced singer Bobby Byrd, who had split with Earl earlier in the year. The duo wrote and recorded the hit song “Harlem Shuffle” in 1963. They continued to record and perform together for the next several years, releasing the modest hit “Baby It’s Over” in 1966. They soon split with both singers embarking

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upon solo careers. Relf recorded several songs under the name Bobby Garrett, and briefly reunited with Nelson when the reissue of the “Harlem Shuffle” became a hit in England in 1969. In the early 1970s, Relf produced albums for Love Unlimited and White Heat, and worked with soul artist Barry White.

REMI, JEAN-FRANCOIS French actor JeanFrancois Remi died in France on December 21, 2007. He was 80. Remi was born in Corsica in 1927. He was a popular film actor from the 1950s, appearing in If Paris Were Told to Us (1956), Danger in the Middle East (1959), The Battle of Austerlitz (1960), The Boss (1960), Double Verdict (1961), Three Rooms in Manhattan (1965), The War Is Over (1966), Reseau Secret (1967), If I Were a Spy (1967), Bang Bang (1967), Verdict (1974), Les Murs ont des Oreilles (1974), The Porcelain Anniversary (1975), Silence ... We’re Shooting (1976), Claude Lelouch’s If I Had to Do It All Over Again (1976), Another Man, Another Woman (1977), Lelouch’s An Adventure for Two (1979) as Catherine Deneuve’s father, Signes Exterieurs de Richesse (1983), and The Seventh Target (1984). He performed with the Comedie Francaise from 1971 until 1998, and appeared frequently on television from the 1970s. He appeared in television productions of A Hostage (1970), Christa (1971), Le Rendez-vous des Landes (1972), Du Plomb Dans la Tete (1973), Les Faucheurs de Marguerites (1974), Ondine (1975), Orient-Express (1979), Malesherbes, Avocat du Roi (1982), Murder on Demand (1986), Les Aventuriers du Nouveau-Monde (1986), and L’Ete de la Revolution (1989). Remi was featured as Courtenay-Gabor in the Aux Frontiers du Possible series from 1971 to 1974, and was Alex Santucci in the 1983 series The Tiger Brigades. His other television credits include episodes of Les Cinq Dernieres Minutes, Commissaire Moulin, and Messieurs les Jures.

Jean-Francois Remi

RENAY, LIZ Liz Renay, whose colorful career ran the gamut of stripper, cult film star, and gangster’s gal, died of gastric bleeding in a Las Vegas hospital on January 22, 2007. She was 80. Renay was born Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins in Chandler, Arizona, on April 16, 1926. She headed to Vegas in the 1940s where she worked as show girl and model. She made her film

debut as an extra in the 1950s The Sound of Fury, and her flamboyant behavior during filming led to a photo feature in Life magazine. After two failed marriages, Renay toured the country working as a stripper in clubs frequented by mobsters. She became involved with racketeer Mickey Cohen in 1957, who helped further her career in Hollywood. She appeared in Groucho Marx’s television gameshow You Bet Your Life and had a small role in the 1958 film The Naked and the Dead. Her relationship with Cohen eventually led to a stint in prison after her conviction for perjury in her boyfriend’s tax evasion trial in 1959. Her notoriety led to a successful career starring in cult exploitation films after her release. She starred in such schlock as Date with Death (1959), The Thrill Killers (1964), The Nasty Rabbit (aka Spies-a-Go-Go) (1964), Day of the Nightmare (1965), Deadwood ’76 (1965), Hot Rods to Hell (1967), A Time to Sing (1968), Lady Godiva Rides (1969), The Divorcee (1969), The Hard Road (1970), Refinements in Love (1971), Blackenstein (1973), The Virgin Cowboy (1975) as Minnie the Madam, Peeper (1975), Marilyn and the Senator (1975), Tonite ... I Love You (1975), and Deep Roots (1977). She also appeared in an episode of Adam-12. Renay’s best known screen role was as Muffy St. Jacques in John Water’s 1977 Desperate Living, where she smothered a babysitter in dog food. She prolonged her fame with such antics as streaking Hollywood Boulevard and writing the memoirs My Face for the World to See and My First 2000 Men. Renay’s daughter, Brenda, began performing with her mother on stage until killing herself in 1982 at the age of 39. She continued to appear in low-budget films over the next two decades, with such credits as Interlude of Lust (1981), Las Vegas Girls (1983), Lady Streetfighter (1985), Dimensions in Fear (1998), The Corpse Grinders 2 (2000), and Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002)

Liz Renay

REYNOSO, HUMBERTO Argentine wrestler Humberto Reynoso, who competed in the ring as Caballero Rojo (The Red Knight) on the popular television program Titans of the Ring, died in San Pedro, Argentina, on June 14, 2007. He was 72. Clad in a bright red costume with a red and white mask, he was a popular star on the Argentine wrestling program that aired

307 from 1962 through the 1980s. Reynoso often feuded with the gruesome ring villain the Mummy before Titans in the Ring ended. He later worked as a longshoreman after retiring from the ring.

2007 • Obituaries

tack at her home in Payson, Arizona, on October 14, 2007. She was 97. She was born Irene Frances Luthern Deffenbaugh in Spokane, Washington, on January 8, 1910. She was the daughter of leading stage and film star Irene Rich and was adopted by her mother’s second husband. She followed in her mother’s footsteps as an actress and made her debut on Broadway in a production of Brief Moment in 1931. She soon began appearing in films, with such credits as Unholy Love (1932), The Thirteenth Guest (1932), Officer Thirteen (1932), The Diamond Trial (1933), Zoo in Budapest (1933), and Pilgrimage (1933). She turned down a Hollywood contract to embark on a career in fine art and trained as a sculptor. Rich was noted for her marble statue dedicated to nurses who died during military service that was erected in Arlington National Cemetery in 1938. During World War II, she served as a special assistant for the Navy’s WAVES, director Mildred McAffee. She subsequently worked full time as a sculptress, often from her studio in Palm Springs.

Humberto Reynoso

RIBAS, ANTONI Spanish film director Antoni Ribas died of a heart attack in Barcelona, Spain, on October 3, 2007. He was 71. Ribas was born in Barcelona on October 27, 1935. He worked in films as an assistant director from the early 1960s, with such credits as Legions of the Nile (1960), La Reina del Chantecler (1962), Tierra de Todos (1962), Tu y yo Somos Tres (1962), El Senor de La Salle (1964), Crucero de Verano (1964), and Samba (1965). Ribas began writing and directing his own films with Las Salvajes en Puente San Gil in 1966. His other film credits include Palabras de Amor (1968), Amor y Medias (1969), La Otra Imagen (1973) which was nominated for a Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, The Burned City (1976), Catalans Universals (1980), Victoria! La Gran Aventura d’un Poble (1983), Victoria! 2: La Disbauxa del 17 (1983), Victoria! 3: El Seny i la Rauxa (1984), El Primer Torero Porno (1986), Dali (1991), Tierra de Canones (1999), Centenario (2004), and Gabies d’Or (2007).

Frances Rich

RICHARDS, CAROL Singer Carol Richards died in Vero Beach, Florida, on March 16, 2007. She was 84. She was born Carol June Vosburgh on June 6, 1922, in Harvard, Illinois, and moved to Hollywood in the early 1940s after winning a Bob Hope talent contest. She was featured as a regular performer on the television variety show The Bob Crosby Show from 1953

Antoni Ribas

RICH , F RANCES Frances Rich, an actress turned sculptress, died of complications after a heart at-

Carol Richards (singing with Desi Arnaz)

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to 1957. She was also featured in episodes of I Love Lucy, The Ezio Pinza Show, The Saturday Night Revue, and Name That Tune. Richards sang the title song for the 1956 film The Women of Pitcairn Island, and was the singing voice for Joan Caulfield for the film The Petty Girl (1950). She also sang for Vera-Ellen in Call Me Madam (1953), Betta St. John for the 1953 biblical classic The Robe, and was Cyc Charisse’s singing voice for Brigadoon (1954), Deep in My Heart (1954), It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), and Silk Stockings (1957). She was also note for singing the classic Christmas song “Silver Bells” with Bing Crosby. Richards moved to Chicago in the 1960s to raise a family. She continued to perform in nightclubs and made frequent appearances on Don McNeil’s radio program The Breakfast Club.

RICHARDS, JILL Actress and fashion designer Jill Richards died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in a Beverly Hills, California, senior living facility on April 21, 2007. She was 85. Richards was born Jill Fishkin in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 29, 1921. She moved to Los Angeles with her family as a child. She began working in films in the early 1950s, appearing in such features as Starlift (1951), Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951), April in Paris (1952), and The Silver Star (1955). She also was seen on television in episodes of Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok and Dragnet. She retired from the screen later in the decade and began designing fashion in the late 1960s. Noted for her feminine dress styles, she outfitted such notables as Nancy Reagan and Victoria Principal before retiring in the mid–1990s.

Jill Richards

RICHARDSON, IAN British actor Ian Richardson, who was best known for his role as scheming politician Francis Urquhart in the British television mini-series House of Cards and its sequels, died in his sleep at his home in London on February 9, 2007. He was 72. Richardson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 7, 1934. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and was a founding member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He performed with the company for many seasons, and also appeared on the Broadway stage. He was featured as Jean-Paul Marat in the 1965 Broadway production of

Peter Brook’s Marat/Sade, and reprised the role in the 1967 film version. He earned a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady in 1976. Richardson also starred in Edward Albee’s 1981 Broadway adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. He was seen frequently in films and television from the 1960s. His numerous film credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968) as Oberon, Eyeless in Gaza (1971), The Darwin Adventure (1972), Man of La Mancha (1972), Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) as the narrator, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985), Whoops Apocalypse (1986), The Fourth Protocol (1987), Cry Freedom (1987), Burning Secret (1988), King of the Wind (1989), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) as Polonius, Year of the Comet (1992), Dirty Weekend (1993), M. Butterfly (1993), Words Upon the Window Pane (1994), Savage Play (1995), B*A*P*S (1997), The Fifth Province (1997), Incognito (1997), the science fiction thriller Dark City (1998) as Mr. Book, 102 Dalmatians (2000), From Hell (2001) as Sir Charles Warren, Greyfriars Bobby (2005), Joyeux Noel (2005), Desaccord Parfait (2006), and Becoming Jane (2007). Richardson was also featured in television productions of A Voyage Round My Father (1969), The Canterbury Tales (1969), Much Ado About Nothing (1978), Danton’s Death (1978) as Robespierre, Churchill and the Generals (1979) and Ike (1979) as Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, John Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), Charlie Muffin (1979), Gauguin the Savage (1980) as Degas, Private Schulz (1981), A Cotswold Death (1982), The Woman in White (1982), Passing Through (1982), The Sign of the Four (1983) and The House of the Baskervilles (1983) as Sherlock Holmes, Mistral’s Daughter (1984), The Master of the Balantrae (1984), Blunt (1985) as Anthony Blunt, Star Quality (1985), Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1986) as Nehru, Monsignor Quixote (1987), The Devil’s Disciple (1987), Porterhouse Blue (1987), Troubles (1988), Under a Dark Angel’s Eye (1989), Pursuit (1989), The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990) as General Beck, The Winslow Boy (1990), The Phantom of the Opera (1990) as Cholet, and The Gravy Train (1990). He first starred as the devious Tory whip Francis Urquhart in the 1990 television mini-series House of Cards, and earned the BAFTA Best Television Actor Award for his performance. He was also nominated for his role as Urquhart in the two sequels, To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut (1995). Richardson was also seen in productions of The Gravey Train Goes East (1991), An Ungentlemanly Act (1992), Foreign Affairs (1993), Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Remember (1993), A Change of Place (1994), Catherine the Great (1995), Treasure Seekers (1996), A Royal Scandal (1996), The Woman in White (1997), The Canterville Ghost (1997), A Knight in Camelot (1998) as Merlin, Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998), The Magician’s House (1999), Murder Rooms: The Dark Origins of Sherlock Holmes (2000) as Dr. Joseph Bell, Mervyn Peake’s fantasy classic Gormenghast (2000) as Lord Groan, Murder Rooms: The Patient’s Eyes (2001), Murder Rooms: The Photographer’s Chair (2001), Murder Rooms: The Kingdom of Bones (2001), Murder Rooms: The White Knight Stratagem

309 (2001), Strange (2003) as Canon Adolphus Black, Daemos Rising (2004) as the narrator, Imperium: Nero (2004), Marple: The Body in the Library (2004), Bleak House (2005), The Booze Cruise II: The Treasure Hunt (2005), The Booze Cruise III (2006), and Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather (2006) as the voice of Death. His other television credits include episodes of Number 10, Brass, Chillers, and Highlander. Richardson was also widely known for his appearances in commercials for Grey Poupon Dijon mustard as the man in the Rolls-Royce who inquires of a neighboring vehicle, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?” His survivors include his wife, the former actress Maroussia Frank, and two sons.

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2007. He was 66. Riley began his career in radio as the original announcer of New York’s Hot 97, soon after launching Power 105, as well as working for Power 106 in Los Angeles. He became an afternoon drive-time hit on Indianapolis’ WIBC radio station, before moving to California in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, Riley became known as the Voice of Emmis Radio. He performed on numerous commercials and promoted thousands of films for such companies as Warner Bros., Fox, Universal, and Paramount. He narrated the films The Killing of America (1982) and Galaxies Are Colliding (1992), and can be heard on Oliver Stone’s 1995 film Nixon. He also narrated the television productions Die Harder: The Making of Die Hard 2 (1990) and Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (1991). Riley performed numerous promos for such networks as CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX, and was the original announcer for the celebrity watchdog program EXTRA and the hit reality show Big Brother. He also recorded such children’s audio books as Star Wars, Atlantis, Mario Brothers, and the R.L. Stein series, and voiced documentaries for the History Channel. Riley’s most moving narrative was of the 9/11 tribute, which was played nationally.

Ian Richardson

RICIOPPO, PAUL Actor Paul Ricioppo died of cancer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on February 5, 2007. He was 45. Ricioppo was born in New York City on August 19, 1961. He appeared on television in the 1997 tele-film Love-Struck, and was seen in episodes of Ghost Stories, Daring Capers, and The F.B.I. Files. Ricioppo also appeared in the films Gravity (2004), The Killing Kind (2004), and Judges (2005).

Paul Ricioppo

RILEY, CHUCK Voiceover artist and radio personality Chuck Riley died from renal complications at his home in Los Angeles, California, on May 10,

Chuck Riley

RILEY , DOUG Doug Riley, an acclaimed Canadian composer, arranger and pianist known as “Dr. Music,” died of a sudden heart attack while waiting aboard a plane at the Calgary Airport in Canada on August 27, 2007. He was 62. Riley was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 24, 1945, and began playing the piano at the age of four. Riley’s musical talents included such genres as jazz, classical, film scores, and ballet. He went on to become an acclaimed composer, collaborating on more than 300 recordings with such artist as Ray Charles and Anne Murray. He wrote more than 2,000 jingles and arranged music for several television programs in the late 1960s and 1970s. Riley was arranger and pianist for The Ray Stevens Show from 1969 to 1971, and Rolling on the River from 1970 to 1972, featuring Kenny Rogers & the First Edition. He was also music director for Music Machine, Tommy Ambrose’s Celebration, The Wolfman Jack Show, Honky Tonk, and specials starring such performers as Anne Murray, Lou Rawls, and others. During the 1970s Riley

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became the leader of Dr. Music, a 16-piece vocal and instrumental ensemble, taking on the nickname for himself. He also composed scores for such feature films as Foxy Lady (1971), Cannibal Girls (1973), Metric (1974), The Naked Peacock (1975), Shoot (1976), and The American Dream (1976). He was conductor and music arranger for the tele-film The Gunfighters (1987), and was wrote the soundtrack for 1999’s Liberty Heights. In 2006, he toured throughout Canada and the U.S. with Les Miserables star Michael Burgess and performed with the Doug Riley Quartet.

series of Knots Landing, E/R, Charles in Charge, Amazing Stories, Growing Pains, Airwolf, O’Hara, and Doctor.

RINALDI, GIUSEPPE Italian actor Giuseppe Rinaldi, who provided the Italian voice for hundreds of English-language actors, died in Rome on December 15, 2007. He was 89. Rinaldi was born in Rome on September 14, 1918. He made his film debut in the late 1930s and appeared in such films as Heartbeat (1939), Department Store (1939), The Night of Tricks (1939), Tormented Hearts (1940), The Knight of Kruja (1940), La Prima Donna che Passa (1940), Il Prigioniero di Santa Cruz (1941), L’Elisir d’Amore (1941), La Bocca Sulla Strada (1941), Oro Nero (1942), Turbamento (1942), Forbidden Music (1942), Addio, Amore! (1943), Il Ratto delle Sabine (1945), Immigrants (1948), and Singing Taxi Driver (1950). He was a leading dubbing voice for Italian releases of English language films from the 1950s, voicing such stars as Rock Hudson, Jack Lemmon, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Peter Sellers, Glenn Ford, Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, George Peppard, Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, and hundreds of others.

Doug Riley

RILEY, GARY Actor Gary Riley died of injuries he received in an automobile accident in Queens, New York, after leaving a bar on June 10, 2007. He was 43. Riley was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 19, 1963. He was best known for his role as Charlie Hogan in the 1986 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Stand by Me. He also appeared in such films as The Wild Life (1984), Back to the Future (1985), The Journey of Natty Gann (1985), Just Between Friends (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Ratboy (1986), Summer School (1987), No Man’s Land (1987), Plains, Trains & Automobiles (1987), Lost Angels (1989), and Fear (1996). Riley also appeared in a handful of tele-films including The Jerk, Too (1984), Playing with Fire (1985), Brotherhood of Justice (1986), and Casebusters (1986). His other television credits include episodes of such

Gary Riley

Giuseppe Rinaldi

RIPSTEIN, ALFREDO , J R. Mexican film producer Alfredo Ripstein, Jr., died of respiratory failure at his home in Mexico City on January 20, 2007. He was 90. Ripstein was born in Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico, on December 10, 1916, the son of a Polish immigrant. He worked as an accountant before becoming involved in films as a production manager and producer in the early 1940s. Ripstein produced numerous films in a career that lasted more than sixty years, and formed his own company, Alameda Films, in 1950. His many film credits include La Mujer de Todos (1946), La Vida Intima de Marco Antonio y Cleopatra (1947), El Diablo no es tan Diablo (1949), Apasionada (1952), Amor de Locura (1953), Mi Adorada Clementina (1953), Swamp of the Lost Monster (1957), Raffles (1958), The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959), The Living Coffin (1959), Vacations in Acapulco (1961), Virtually Married (1961), La Marca del Muerto (1961), The Young and Beautiful Ones (1962), El Zorro Vengador (1962), Rio Hondo (1965), Time to Die (1966), La Muerte es Puntual (1967), Juego Peligroso (1967), Crown of Tears (1967), Las Visitaciones

311 del Diablo (1968), Memories of the Future (1969), Rosario (1971), Triangulo (1972), Pepito y Chabelo Contra los Monstruos (1973), Chabelo y Pepito Detectives (1974), and Picardia Mexicana (1978). He returned to films after an absence of more than a decade, producing The Beginning of the End (1993), Miracle Alley (1995), Divine (1998), Otilia Rauda (2001), and The Crime of Father Amaro (2002). Ripstein’s survivors include his son, Arturo, who worked with his father on several film projects.

Alfredo Ripstein, Jr.

RIZZUTO, PHIL Legendary baseball player and sportscaster Phil Rizzuto died of pneumonia in a West Orange, New Jersey, nursing home on August 13, 2007. He was 89. Rizzuto was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 25, 1917. He began his long association with the New York Yankees in 1941. Except for a three year stint in the Navy during World War II, Rizzuto played shortstop for the team for 13 seasons. He participated in nine World Series competitions with the Yankees, winning seven. He was replaced on the team in 1956 but remained with the Yankees as their broadcaster from 1957 to 1996. Rizzuto made television history in February of 1950, when he was the first mystery guest on the quiz show What’s My Line? He later returned to the show on several occasions as a guest panelist. He also appeared in episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show, Person to Person and Down You Go. Rizzuto

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was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. His years as a broadcaster were noted for his often rambling anecdotes, punctuated by the exclamation “Holy Cow!” He made an impact in the music world as the sportscaster heard during Meatloaf ’s rock anthem “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.” Rizzuto also made cameo appearances in the 1990 tele-film Working Tra$h, and episodes of Arli$$ and The Tony Danza Show.

ROACH , MAX Jazz drummer Max Roach died in a Manhattan, New York, hospital after a long illness on August 16, 2007. He was 83. Roach was born in Newland, North Carolina, on January 10, 1924. He moved to New York City with his family as a child and began playing the drums by the age of ten. He was playing professionally in the early 1940s, and was a pioneer bebob drummer with his imaginative percussions. Roach performed with most of the leading jazz musicians of the day, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Sonny Rollins. He formed Debut Records with Charles Mingus in 1952, releasing the concert recording Jazz at Massey Hall, and Roach’s Percussion Discussion. He led several jazz groups in the 1950s and recorded the popular album Jazz in 1 ⁄ 4 Time in 1957. He also accompanied singer Dinah Washington on several occasions later in the decade. He composed the early civil rights anthem “We Insist!— Freedom Now” in 1960, and teamed with Mingus and Duke Ellington for the album Money Jungle 1962. He led a percussion orchestra known as M’Boom in the 1970s. Roach formed another jazz quartet later in the decade, and also performed and recorded as a solo act. He earned an Obie award for his compositions for an Off-Broadway production of three of Sam Shepard’s plays in 1985, and teamed with the Uptown String Quartet, led by his daughter Maxine, to form the Max Roach Double Quartet. He was one of the first jazz musicians to teach college level courses from the 1970s, and continued through the early 1990s. He remained active as a performer and composer through the early 2000s.

Max Roach

Phil Rizzuto

ROBERT , F RANK Norwegian actor Frank Robert died of heart failure in Norway on July 13, 2007. He was 88. Robert was born in Oslo, Norway, on Oc-

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tober 12, 1918. He began appearing in films in the early 1940s, with such credits as Two Lives (1946), Trine (1952), Flukt fra Paradiset (1953), Fjols til Fjells (1957), Freske Fraspark (1963), Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (1975), Wives: Ten Years After (1985), Herman (1990), Gurin with the Foxtail (1998), and Olsenbandens Siste Stikk (1999). Robert was best known for his role as Chicago gangster Dickie Dick Dickens on Norwegian radio in the 1960s.

the 1990s and returned to Canada to operate a wrestling school. Robertson appeared in an episode of the 1992 horror sit-com Maniac Mansion as The Atomizer. He was the author of a 2006 autobiography Bang Your Head: The Real Story of The Missing Link.

ROBINSON, WEEPIN’ WILLIE Blues singer Weepin’ Willie Robinson died in a nursing home in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, on December 30, 2007, when he started a fire while smoking a cigarette in bed. He was 81. Robinson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1926, and worked as a sharecropper before serving in the U.S. Army in the 1940s. He later worked as a doorman at blues clubs in Trenton, New Jersey, where he met B.B. King. He sang with King’s orchestra for a while before settling in Boston. Robinson was noted for the songs ’ Willie’s Boogie Woogie” and “Can’t Go Wrong.” He released his first album, At Last, on Time, in 1999. Robinson suffered hard times and was living on the streets in recent years. When other musicians learned of his plight in 2004, they held a benefit concert to assist him. He had recently performed with Steven Tyler and Bonnie Raitt.

Frank Robert

ROBERTSON, DEWEY Dewey Robertson, who was best known as the maniacal professional wrestler known as the Missing Link, died of cancer in a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, hospital on August 16, 2007. He was 68. He was born Byron John Robertson in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, on February 28, 1939. He began his career in Canada in the 1960s under his own name, often teaming with Billy Red Lyons. He held several singles and tag team championships in Canada and the United States in the 1970s and early 1980s, teaming with Johnny Weaver, Rufus R. Jones, Hercules Hernandez, and Steve Regal. He changed his wrestling persona to that of a crazed wildman known as the Missing Link in Mid-South Wrestling in 1983. He was signed by the WWE in 1985, where he was managed by Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan. The following year he competed in World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas. He retired from the ring in

Dewey Robertson

Weepin’ Willie Robinson

ROBOTHAM, GEORGE Actor and stuntman George Robotham died in Germany of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on February 1, 2007. He was 86. Robotham was born on January 10, 1921. He attended college at UCLA, where he played football. He began his film career in the early 1940s, playing a henchman in the 1943 serial Batman. He continued to perform stunts and appear in small roles in such films and serials as Destination Tokyo (1943), Joan of Arc (1948), The Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949), Bride of Vengeance (1949), Batman and Robin (1949), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) as Kirk Alyn’s Superman stunt double, Cody of the Pony Express (1950), Chain Gang (1950), Mysterious Island (1951), Captain Video (1951), Lone Star (1952), Savage Mutiny (1953), The Robe (1953), Gunfighters of the Northwest (1954), Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954), Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), The Prodigal (1955) as the human sacrifice, Many Rivers to Cross (1955), The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), The Way to the Gold (1957),

313 The Deerslayer (1957), The Garment Jungle (1957), Twilight for the Gods (1958), Warlock (1959), Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), Spartacus (1960), North to Alaska (1950), The Last Sunset (1961), Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962), The Ugly American (1963), It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Strange Bedfellows (1965), The Great Race (1965), Blindfold (1965), Seconds (1966), Tobruk (1967), Gunn (1967), Never a Dull Moment (1968), Five Card Stud (1968), The Split (1968), The Undefeated (1969), Darling Lili (1970), Hornets’ Nest (1970), the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971), What’s Up, Doc? (1972), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Showdown (1973), Cleopatra Jones (1973), Charley Varrick (1973), The Don Is Dead (1973), Magnum Force (1973), The Towering Inferno (1974), Rooster Cogburn (1975), The Last Survivors (1975), Invisible Strangler (1976), The Manitou (1978), The Prisoner of Zenda (1979), Meteor (1979), 1941 (1979), Power (1980), The Island (1980), The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980), S.O.B. (1981), Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), Flashdance (1983), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), Bachelor Party (1984), The Wild Life (1984), The Goonies (1985), A Fine Mess (1986), Alien Nation (1988), Split Decisions (1988), The Couch Trip (1988), Funny Farm (1988), Mississippi Burning (1988), Mobsters (1991), Mars Attacks! (1986), and Bedazzled (2000). Robotham also worked frequently on television, appearing in such series as Studio 57, Sea Hunt, State Trooper, General Electric Theater, Peter Gunn, Mike Hammer, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Northwest Passage, The Rifleman, Surfside 6, Zane Grey Theater, Bonanza, The Outer Limits as the sea creature in the episode “Tourist Attraction,” Felony Squad, The Green Hornet, Time Tunnel, Laredo, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Invaders, Land of the Giants, It Takes a Thief, Mannix, Alias Smith and Jones, Wonder Woman, and The Return of Captain Nemo. Robotham’s survivors include his wife, German actress Karin Dor, whom he married in 1988.

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opera Carmen. He was also featured in stage productions of Great Expectations and The Winslow Boy in the late 1940s, and made his West End debut in the 1957 musical comedy The Boyfriend. Rodgers remained a popular stage performer in such productions as The Crooked Mile, And Another Thing and John Osborne’s Plays for England. He starred in the title role of the 1963 film production of Pickwick, and reprised his performance on Broadway two years later. Rodgers began appearing in films and television during the late 1950s. His numerous film credits include Operation Stogie (1959), Crash Drive (1959), Night Train for Inverness (1960), Petticoat Pirates (1961), Tarnished Heroes (1961), Part-Time Wife (1961), The Iron Maiden (1962), Carry on Cruising (1962), The Traitors (1962), Carry on Jack (1963), Rotten to the Core (1965), To Chase a Million (1967), Where Eagles Dare (1968), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Scrooge (1970), The Day of the Jackal (1973), Intimate Reflections (1974), East of Elephant Rock (1977), The Fourth Protocol (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Impromptu (1991), Son of the Pink Panther (1993), Secret Passage (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004), The Last Drop (2005), and Go Go Tales (2007). He also performed frequently on television and was best known for his roles as Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge in Ukridge in 1968, as David Gradley in Zodiac in 1974, as William Fields in Fresh Fields and the sequel French Fields in the mid– 1980s, and as Alec Callender in the comedy May to December from 1989 to 1994. He was also featured in television productions of The Old Curiousity Shop (1962), The Elusive Pimpernel (1969) as Sir Percy, A Face of Your Own (1973), Disraeli (1978), Lillie (1978), The Shining Pyramid (1979), Pictures (1981), Murder with Mirrors (1985), Comeback (1987), After the War (1989), Up Rising (1999), Longford (2006), and You Can Choose Your Friends (2007). Rodgers’ other television credits include episodes of such series as The Sky Larks, The Vise, One Step Beyond, Richard the Lionheart, Maigret, Gideon’s Way, Danger Man, Sherlock Holmes, Out of the Unknown, The Wednesday Play, Blanding’s Castle, The Saint, Man in a Suitcase, The Prisoner as Number Two in “The Schizoid Man” episode, The Champions, Department S, My Partner, the Ghost, Fraud Squad, The Organisation, Upstairs, Downstairs, Jason King, ITV

George Robotham

RODGERS , ANTON British actor Anton Rodgers died in England on December 1, 2007. He was 74. Rodgers was born in Wisbeck, Cambridgeshire, England, on January 10, 1933. He made his professional debut on stage at the age of 14 in a production of the

Anton Rodgers

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Playhouse, Armchair Theatre, Thirty-Minute Theatre, Great Mysteries, Affairs of the Heart, The Duchess of Duke Street, Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle, Crown Court, Rumpole of the Bailey, Return of the Saint, Thomas and Sarah, Play for Today, BBC 2 Playhouse, Something in Disguise, Saturday Night Thriller, Play of the Month, Old Bear Stories, Brambly Hedge, Noah’s Ark, The Queen’s Nose, Midsommer Murders, and Where the Heart Is.

RODRIGUES, PERCY Canadian-born actor Percy Rodrigues died of kidney failure at his home on September 6, 2007. He was 83. Rodrigues was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on June 13, 1924, of Afro– Latin American descent. He worked in films as a narrator from the late 1940s, with such credits as the documentaries Who Will Teach Your Child? (1948), No Longer Vanishing (1955), and Honey Bees and Pollination (1957). He appeared in the Canadian television series Tomahawk in 1957 before coming to Hollywood, where he became a familiar face in films and television. Rodrigues performed in some groundbreaking roles for a black actor on television in the 1960s, portraying doctors and professional men in episodes of such series as Naked City, The Nurses, Route 66, Slattery’s People, Ben Casey, Wild Wild West, Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Tarzan, Adventures in Rainbow Country, Then Came Bronson, Star Trek as Commmodore Stone in the 1967 “Court Martial” episode, Marcus Welby, M.D., Mission: Impossible, Mannix, and The Name of the Game. He starred as Dr. Harry Miles in the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place from 1968 to 1969, and was Jason Hart in The Silent Force from 1970 to 1971. He was also featured in such films as The Plainsman (1966), The Sweet Ride (1968), The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972), Rhinoceros (1974), The Legend of Hillbilly John (1974), Invisible Strangler (1976), Enigma (1977), and BrainWaves (1983). Rodrigues was also seen in the tele-films The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970), The Boy from Dead Man’s Bayou (1971), The Forgotten Man (1971), Gene Roddenberry’s Genesis II (1973), The Last Survivors (1975), The Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975), Most Wanted (1976), Arthur Hailey’s The Moneychangers (1976), Ring of Passion (1978), Roots: The Next Generations (1979) as Boyd Moffatt, The Night Rider (1979), Angel Dusted (1981), This Girl for Hire (1983), The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) as Mayor Maynard Jackson, and Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987). Rodrigues starred as Malcolm Gibson in the television drama series Executive Suite from 1976 to 1977, and was Winston in the sit-com Sanford from 1980 to 1981. His other television credits include episodes of Somerset, Ironside, Cannon, Banacek, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Sixth Sense, The Rookies, Faraday and Company, The Starlost, Shaft, Toma, Apple’s Way, Planet of the Apes, Good Times, Sanford and Son, Medical Center, Gemini Man, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Jeffersons, What’s Happening!!, The Duke, The Fall Guy, Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, and Benson in the recurring role of Judge Harper. Rodrigues was also noted for his numerous voice-over

roles in films and commercials. He was the voice of Jorma’s Father in the 1975 animated film Hugo the Hippo, and was Ordric’s voice in the 1980 science fiction film Galaxina. He was heard as Loknar in the 1981 animated feature Heavy Metal, and narrated the 1981 horror movie Deadly Blessing. He also provided voiceovers for several movie trailers including The Exorcist, The Omen, and Jaws. He discussed his work on Jaws for the 2006 documentary film The Shark Is Still Working.

Percy Rodrigues

ROE, TRUDY Actress Trudy Roe died of cancer in Orange County, California, on November 10, 2007. She was 76. Roe was born on May 25, 1931. She headed to Hollywood in the mid–1950s, where she appeared on television in the series The Bob Cummings Show and Big Town. She was also featured in small roles in the films Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) and Ask Any Girl (1959). She abandoned her career after her marriage to television western star, Don Durant, in February of 1959. The two remained married until Durant’s death in March of 2005. ROGERS, MARSHALL Comic artist Marshal Rogers, whose work illustrating Batman comics in the late 1970s helped create the darker version of the character that was carried on by filmmakers a decade later, was found dead at his home in Fremont, California, on March 25, 2007. He was 57. Rogers was born in Flush-

Marshall Rogers

315 ing, Queens, New York, on January 22, 1950. He studied architecture at Kent State University in Ohio and began working in comics at DC in December of 1976, illustrating backup features of Detective Comics, Weird War Tales, House of Mystery, and others. He was best known for his work with writer Steve Englehart illustrating the Batman features in Detective Comics #471 through 476, which was later collected in the trade paperback Batman: Strange Apparitions. Rogers worked with Englehart on other projects including Silver Surfer, Coyote, and a followup to their Batman run, the mini-series Batman: Dark Detective in 2005. He also illustrated Mister Miracle for DC, Dr. Strange and Iron Fist at Marvel, and his own creation Cap’N Quick and a Foozle for Eclipse. Rogers also worked in the video game industry in the 1990s before returning to comics. He and Englehart were planning another Batman project at the time of his death.

ROGERS, THOMAS Author Thomas Rogers died after suffering a heart attack and running his automobile off the road in State College, Pennsylvania, on April 1, 2007. He was 79. He was born Thomas Hunton Rogers, Jr., in Chicago, Illinois, on June 23, 1927. He earned various degrees from Harvard and the University of Iowa in the 1950s, and went on to teach literature at the University of Chicago. His first novel, The Pursuit of Happiness, was published in 1968 and was adapted to film in 1971. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan, and starred Barbara Hershey and Michael Sarrazin. Rogers’ other novels include The Confessions of a Child of the Century by Samuel Heather (1972), At the Shores (1980), and Jerry Engels (2005). He was emeritus professor of English at the Pennsylvania State University, teaching creative writing for three decades, until his retirement in 1992.

Thomas Rogers

ROLAND , JURGEN German film director Jurgen Roland died in Hamburg, Germany, on September 21, 2007. He was 81. Roland was born in Hamburg on December 25, 1925. He began working in films in the late 1940s as an assistant director on such films as Schult allein ist der Wein (1949), Verfuhrte Hande (1949), and Nur Eine Nacht (1950). Roland began directing films in Germany in the late 1950s, helming

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For Love and Others (1959), The Red Circle (1960) which he also appeared in a small role, The Green Archer (1961), Der Transport (1961), The Strange Countess (1961), Hong Kong Hot Harbor (1962), The Black Panther of Ratana (1963), Seven Consenting Adults (1964), Pirates of the Mississippi (1964), Vier Schlussel (1966), A Lotus for Miss Quon (1967), Angels of the Street (1969), St. Pauli Report (1971), From Hong Kong with Love (1973), Battle of the Godfathers (1973), and Deadly Jaws (1974). Roland also worked in German television, directing productions of Die Katze in Sack (1965), and Der Besuch (1984), and episodes Stahlnetz, Dem Tater auf der Spur, Peter Strohm, Tatort, and Grossstadtrevier.

Jurgen Roland

ROLEY, SUTTON Veteran television director Sutton Roley died in Los Angeles on March 3, 2007. He was 84. Roley was born in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, on October 19, 1922. He began working in live television in the 1950s as a director and sometimes writer for such series as The Kate Smith Show and Lights Out. He became one of the most prolific directors in television over the next three decades, helming episodes of the series Harbor Command, Men of Annapolis, Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshal, Adventures in Paradise, 77 Sunset Strip, Bus Stop, Wagon Train, Saints and Sinners, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, Twelve O’Clock High, Rawhide, Combat!, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Big Valley, Felony Squad, Bonanza, T.H.E. Cat, The Invaders, Garrison’s Gorillas, The Rat Patrol, Lost in Space, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Name of the Game, The Sixth Sense, Mission: Impossible, The Magician, Kojak, Kodiak, Mannix, Baretta, S.W.A.T., Switch, Starsky and Hutch, Bronk, Charlie’s Angels, Hawaii 5-O, Vega$, Cliffhangers: The Curse of Dracula, 240-Robert, B.A.D. Cats, Riker, Partners in Crime, Airwolf, Spenser: For Hire, and Shades of L.A. Roley also directed the films The Loners (1972) and Chosen Survivors (1974), and the tele-films Sweet, Sweet Rachel (1971), Snatched (1973), Satan’s Triangle (1975), and The Contender (1980). He made a rare onscreen appearance as a judge in an episode of Hawaii Five-O in 1977. Roley largely retired from directing in the late 1980s. ROLLIS, ROBERT French actor Robert Rollis died of cancer in France on November 6, 2007. He

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was 86. Rollis was born in Epinal, Lorraine, France, on March 14, 1921. He began working in films in the late 1930s and was seen in numerous features over a career that lasted nearly 70 years. Rollis many film credits include Boys’ School (1938), Crossroads (1938), The End of a Day (1939), L’Enfer des Anges (1941), Notre Dame de la Mouise (1941), Her First Affair (1941), Sins of Youth (1941), Caprices (1941), Annette and the Blonde Woman (1942), Les Cadets de l’Ocean (1945), Dawn Devils (1946), Amours, Delices et Orgues (1947), Blanc Comme Neige (1948), The Chocolate Girl (1949), Tous les Deux (1949), The Lovers of Verona (1949), Firemen’s Ball (1949), The Naked Woman (1949), The Story of Dr. Louise (1949), Justice Is Done (1950), Le Roi des Camelots (1951), Good Enough to Eat (1951), Chacun son Tour (1951), The Long Teeth (1952), Jamais Deux Sans Trois (1952), The House on the Dune (1952), Allo ... je t’Aime (1952), Adorable Creatures (1952), L’Incantevole Nemica (1953), Wonderful Mentality (1953), His Father’s Portrait (1953), Virgile (1953), Une Vie de Garcon (1954), L’Oeil en Coulisse (1954), Faites-Moi Confiance (1954), Papa, Mama, the Maid and I (1954), Magic Village (1955), Black Dossier (1955), The Fugitives (1955), La Madelon (1955), Papa, Mama, My Wife and Me (1956), Les Duraton (1956), That Naughty Girl (1956), La Garconne (1957), L’Etrange Monsieur Steve (1957), Nous Autres a Champignol (1957), Three Days to Live (1957), The Big Bluff (1957), Love Is at Stake (1957), A Legitimate Defense (1958), The Mirror Has Two Faces (1958), The Big Chief (1959), The Indestructible (1959), The Gendarme of Champignol (1959), Signed, Arsene Lupin (1959), Without Trumpet or Drum (1959), The Fenouillard Family (1960), There Is the Brunette (1960), Murder by Two (1960), Ravishing (1960), Les Totillards (1960), Paris Loves (1961), Panurge’s Sheep (1961), My Wife Is a Panther (1961), The American Beauty (1961), All the Gold in the World (1961), Red Culottes (1962), Le Petit Garcon de l’Ascenseur (1962), War of the Buttons (1962), C’est pas Moi, c’est l’Autre (1962), The Sword and the Balance (1963), Any Number Can Win (1963), People in Luck (1963), Laissez Tiere les Tireurs (1964), The Counterfeit Constable (1964), Weekend at Dunkirk (1964), Les Baratineurs (1965), What’s New, Pussycat (1965), La Tete du Client (1965), The Boss of Champignol (1962), Three Disordered Children (1966), The Gardener of Argenteuil (1966), A Strange Kind of Colonel (1968), The Mad Adventures of the Bouncing Beauty (1968), The House in the Country (1969), Faites donc Plaisir aux Amis (1969), The Bitch Wants Blood (1969), Three Men on a Horse (1969), A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973), The Right of the Maddest (1973), Le Concierge (1973), The Down-in-the-Hole Gang (1974), Shut Up, Gulli (1974), Impossible Is Not French (1974), Operation Lady Marlene (1975), The Seventh Company Has Been Found (1975), The Day of Glory (1976), Dis Bonjour a la Dame (1977), Stop Calling Me Baby! (1977), General ... Nous Voila! (1978), The Other One’s Mug (1979), Touch’ pas a mon Biniou (1980), Le Jour se Leve et les Conneries Commencent (1981), Te Marre pas ... c’est Pour Rire! (1982), Le Braconnier de Dieu (1983), Nuit Docile (1987), A Notre Regrettable Epoux (1988), Bonjour l’Angoisse (1988), Tout Pres (1999), Monique (2002), Les

Amateurs (2003), and Camping a la Ferme (2005). Rollis was featured as Jehan in the television series Thierry la Fronde from 1963 to 1966. He also appeared in the series Madame etes-vous Libre?, Au Theatre ce Soir, Arsene Lupin, Le Vagabond, Un Cure de Choc, Les Pilotes de Courses, Les Zingari, Commississaire Moulin, La Vie des Autres, Vivement Lundi, Dossier: Disparus, Avocats & Associes, and Faites Comme Chez Vouz. His other television credits include such productions as La Vie de Plaisance (1975), Le Milliardaire (1976), Le Passe-Muraille (1977), Les Folies Offenbach (1977), Tout le Monde m’Appele Pat (1980), Arsene Lupin Joue et Perd (1980), Des Yeux Pour Pleurer (1982), Pere Noel et Fils (1983), Peches Originaux (1984), Le Tiroir Secret (1986), and Un Beau Petit Milliard (1992).

Robert Rollis

ROMERO, ALEX Choreographer Alex Romero, who worked with Elvis Presley on several films, died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home in Woodland Hills, California, on September 8, 2007. He was 94. He was born Alexander Bernard Quiroga in San Antonio, Texas, on August 20, 1913. He began dancing professionally while a teen, performing with his three brothers through the late 1930s. He headed to Hollywood in the 1940s and was a featured dancer in the films On the Town (1949) and An American in Paris (1951). He was a staff choreographer for MGM from the late 1940s and served as assistant choreographer for the 1952 film The Belle of New York. He also served as choreographer or dance director for the films Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Fastest Gun Alive (1957), tom thumb (1958), Say One for Me (1959), A Private’s Affair (1959), The Gazebo (1959), and Pepe (1960). He first worked with Elvis Presley on the 1957 film Jailhouse Rock, choreographing the music legend’s unorthodox dance moves. He went on to work on several other Elvis films including Double Trouble (1967), Clambake (1967), and Speedway (1968). Romero’s other film credits include The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962), The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Stripper (1963), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), For Singles Only (1968), The Grissom Gang (1971), Some Call It Loving (1973), Hustle (1975), Love at First Bite (1978) featuring George Hamilton as Count Dracula, The Frisco

317 Kid (1979) which also featured Romero in a cameo role as a wild old man, Xanadu (1980), Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981), and Heidi’s Song (1982).

RONNE, DAVID Film sound mixer David Ronne, who was nominated for Academy Awards for his work on the films On Golden Pond, The River, and Silverado, died in Los Angeles after a brief illness on January 23, 2007. He was 63. Ronne was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 23, 1943. He began working as a sound engineer and supervisor in film documentaries for David Wolper in the 1960s. He worked on numerous segments of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, National Geographic Specials, and the Oscar-winning documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971). He was also a sound mixer on the films Terror in the Wax Museum (1973), Arnold (1973), Conrack (1974), Lifeguard (1976), Obsession (1976), Burnt Offerings (1976), Marathon Man (1976), Scott Joplin (1977), The Domino Principle (1977), Heroes (1977), The Big Fix (1978), Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979), The Main Event (1979), Melvin and Howard (1980), Touched by Love (1980), Thief (1981), On Golden Pond (1981), Man, Woman and Child (1983), Star 80 (1983), Crackers (1984), The River (1984), Perfect (1985), Silverado (1985), One Crazy Summer (1986), The Morning After (1986), The Lost Boys (1987), Nadine (1987), Beetlejuice (1988), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Crazy People (1990), Man Trouble (1992), Stargate (1994), Clueless (1995), Dangerous Minds (1995), The Baby-Sitters Club (1995), Last of the Dogmen (1995), Strange Days (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Spy Hard (1996), The Rock (1996), Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997), Face/Off (1997), Air Force One (1997), G.I. Jane (1997), Jane Austen’s Mafia! (1998), Dance with Me (1998), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), LA. Sheriff ’s Homicide (2000), Heartbreakers (2001), Rat Race (2001), Hart’s War (2002), Unconditional Love (2002), Pee Shy (2004), Torque (2004), Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004), Miami Vice (2006), and Slipstream (2007). Ronne also worked on numerous tele-films including Gargoyles (1972), Get Christie Love! (1974), Unwed Father (1974), Born Innocent (1974), Katherine (1975), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977), Mary White (1977), When

David Ronne

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Every Day Was the Fourth of July (1978), Child’s Cry (1986), Rock ’n’ Roll Mom (1988), Exile (1990), Swing Vote (1999), The David Cassidy Story (2000), Geppetto (2000), and These Old Broads (2001). His other television credits include the series The Bradys, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women, and 7th Heaven.

RONSON, PETER Peter Ronson, the Icelandic Olympic athlete who was featured in the 1959 film version of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, died in Orange County, California, on January 16, 2007. He was 72. Ronson was born in Iceland on April 22, 1934. He came to the United States in the 1950s, where he attended the University of Southern California. A track and field athlete, Ronson represented Iceland at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. He was featured as Hans Belker, the spelunker’s guide whose pet duck, Gertrude, meets an untimely end in Journey to the Center of the Earth. James Mason, Pat Boone, and Arlene Dahl also starred as members of the intrepid band who travel beneath the earth. Ronson did not pursue an acting career but instead became a successful real estate investment broker in Orange County.

Peter Ronson (with his goose Gertrude from Journey to the Center of the Earth)

ROSE, SYDNEY British producer and impresario Sydney Rose died in London of pancreatic cancer on April 30, 2007. He was 68. Rose was born in England on January 10, 1939. He began his career as a freelance writer, photographer and publicity agent. He produced the 1965 and 1966 Glad Rag Ball concerts at Wembley Arena, with such artists as the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Hollies performing. He became an international agent during the 1970s, working on productions with such legendary stars as Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Bob Hope, Grace Kelly, and Dean Martin. Rose served as assistant producer on The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972) and as executive producer on the Who rockumentary The Kids Are Alright (1979). He was also executive producer on the television productions An Audience with Alf Garnett (1997), A Royal Celebration for Prince Charles’ 50th Birthday (1998), and Hollywood Costume Carnival (2004). Rose was the founder of Airshow International, which produced promotional travel films for airlines and produced the television documentary The Innovators. He also directed

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the television documentary The Ravenswood Experience for broadcast on Thames Television.

ROSENBERG, STUART Stuart Rosenberg, who was best known as the director of Paul Newman’s 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, died of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on March 15, 2007. He was 79. Rosenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 11, 1927. He began working in television as an apprentice editor in New York in the early 1950s. He was soon director for episodic television, directing over 300 episodes of such series as Decoy, Naked City, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Hong Kong, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Adventures in Paradise, Bus Stop, The Nurses, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, The Richard Boone Show, Espionage, The Reporter, The Defenders which earned him an Emmy Award, For the People, Rawhide, The Trials of O’Brien, and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. He also directed the films Murder, Inc. (1960) and Question 7 (1961), and the telefilm Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966). He was best known for bringing Donn Pearce’s novel, Cool Hand Luke, about a prisoner on a chain gang who becomes a reluctant hero to the other inmates, to the screen in 1967. He also directed the romantic comedy The April Fools starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve in 1969. Rosenberg again worked with Paul Newman on the films WUSA (1970), Pocket Money (1972), and The Drowning Pool (1975). He also directed the films Move (1970), The Laughing Policeman which he also produced, Voyage of the Damned (1976), the 1979 horror film The Amityville Horror, Love and Bullets (1979), Brubaker (1980) starring Robert Redford, The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Let’s Get Harry (1986), and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991).

in 1969. During his lengthy stay at MGM he was involved in the production of such films as Doctor Zhivago (1965), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Sunshine Boys (1975), and Network (1976). He led MGM’s negotiations to acquire United Artists in 1981, and became UA’s chief executive in 1982. He later moved to London for the company and worked as a consultant.

Frank Rosenfelt

ROSENGARDEN , BOBBY Jazz drummer Bobby Rosengarden, who was bandleader for Dick Cavett’s television talk show in the late 1960s, died of kidney failure in Sarasota, Florida, on February 27, 2007. He was 82. Rosengarden was born in Elgin, Illinois, on April 23, 1924. He began playing the drums at an early age and performed with U.S. Army bands during World War II. He moved to New York City after the war where he played in nightclubs. He was soon performing in bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Skitch Henderson, Benny Goodman, and Quincy Jones. As a session musician Rosengarden played percussions with Harry Belafonte, Arlo Guthrie, and Jay and the Americans. He also played the triangle on Ben E. King’s recording of “Stand by Me” and created sound effects for a version of the popular spaghetti-western theme song The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. He performed on television in such variety series as Sing Along with Mitch, The Ernie Kovacs Show, The Steve Allen Show, and The Tonight Show with

Stuart Rosenberg

ROSENFELT, FRANK Film executive Frank Rosenfelt, who led Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1970s and early 1980s, died in Los Angeles on August 2, 2007. He was 85. Rosenfelt was born in New York on November 15, 1921. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He attended Cornell University Law School and joined RKO as an attorney in 1950. Rosenfelt moved to MGM in 1955, and rose to general counsel

Bobby Rosengarden

319 Johnny Carson. Rosengarden led the band on The Dick Cavett Show from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, where he would often banter with Cavett and his guests.

ROSHI, KADRI Albanian actor Kadri Roshi died in Tirane, Albania, on February 6, 2007. He was 83. Roshi was born in Mallakaster, Albania, on January 4, 1924. He was a leading stage and screen actor in Albania, and was featured in such films as Tana (1958), Once at Dawn (1971), Confrontation (1976), Red Poppies on the Wall (1976), Man of the Cannon (1977), The General Gramophone (1978), Balle per Balle (1979), Apasionata (1983), Fejesa e Blertes (1984), Pesha e Kohes (1988), Misioni pertej Detit (1988), Vdekja e Burrit (1991), and Short Days (1995).

Kadri Roshi

ROSSANO, HERVAL Brazilian television director Herval Rossano died of heart failure in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 8, 2007. He was 74. Rossano was born in Campos dos Goitacases, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, on April 23, 1933. He worked as an actor in several television series from the 1970s including Cuca Legal (1975), A Sombra dos Laranjais (1977), As Tres Marias (1980), Padre Cicero (1984), Bambole (1987), Republica (1989), and Salome (1991). He was best known for directing numerous series including O Novico (1975), Helena (1975), Senhora (1975), A Moreninha (1975), Vejo

2007 • Obituaries

a Lua no Ceu (1976), Escrava Isaura (1976), A Sonmbra dos Laranjais (1977), Dona Xepa (1977), Sinhazinha Flo (1977), Maria, Maris (1978), Gina (1978), A Sucessora (1978), Memorias de Amor (1979), Super Bronco (1979), Cabocla (1979), Olhai os Lirios do Campo (1980), As Tres Marias (1980), Ciranda de Pedra (1981), Terras do Sem-Fim (1981), Vanessa (1982), La Gran Mentira (1982), El Juego de la Vida (1983), A Gata Corneu (1985), Dona Beija (1986), Novo Amor (1986), Tudo ou Nada (1986), Mania de Querer (1986), Pacto de Sangue (1989), Gente Fina (1990), Salome (1991), O Patador (1991), Caminos Cruzados (1994), Quern E Voce? (1996), Brava Gente (2000), A Escrava Isaura (2004), and Cristal (2006).

ROSSI, CARMEN Spanish actress Carmen Rossi died of lung cancer in a Madrid, Spain, hospital on October 2, 2007. She was 75. Rossi was born in Malaga, Spain, in 1932. She was a leading stage actress who also appeared frequently on Spanish television. She starred as Justina in the series Este es mi Barrio from 1996 to 1997, and was Carmina in Manos a la Obra from 1997 to 2001 and in Manolo & Benito Corporeision from 2006 to 2007. She also appeared in the series La Peguena Comedia, La Risa Espanola, A Traves de la Tiniebla, Novela, Noche de Teatro, Estudio 1, Primera Funcion, Historias del Otro Lado, Un Lugar en el Mundo, Paco y Veva as Tina in 2004, El Comisario, and Hospital Central. She was also seen in television productions of La Forja de un Rebelde (1990), and El Mundo de Celia (1992). Rossi appeared in several films during her career including Juego de Hombres (1963), Blood and Passion (1975), Buscando a Perico (1982), El Arreglo (1983), Captain Estrada’s Widow (1991), Tres Palabras (1993), Men Always Lie (1995), Malena es un Nombre de Tango (1996), Suburbs (1996), La Vuelta de El Coyote (1998), El Lobo (2004), and Crossing Borders (2006).

Carmen Rossi

Herval Rossano (with wife, actress Mayara Magri)

ROSSI DRAGO, ELEONORA Italian actress Eleonora Rossi Drago died in Palermo, Italy, on December 2, 2007. She was 82. Rossi Drago was born Palmira Omiccioli in Quinto al Mare, Luguria, Italy, on September 23, 1925, of Spanish-Italian descent. She began her career in films in the late 1940s after working in Italy as a sales clerk. She appeared in numerous

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films over the next twenty years including Captain Sirocco (1949), Behind Closed Shutters (1950), Due Sorelle Amano (1950), L’Ultima Sentenza (1951), Three Forbidden Stories (1951), Verginita (1952), Hell Raiders of the Deep (1952), Barefoot Savage (1952), The Flame (1952), Ship of Condemned Women (1953), The Slave (1953), Love, Soldiers and Women (1954), A Woman Alone (1955), The Girlfriends (1955), Kean: Genius or Scoundrel (1956), The Awakening (1957), Everybody Wants to Kill Me (1957), King on Horseback (1958), The Year Long Road (1958), Winter Holidays (1959), The Coin (1959), Dagli Appennini alle Ande (1959), The Facts of Murder (1959), and Violent Summer (1959). During the 1960s Rossi Drago was frequently cast in character roles, appearing in La Garconniere (1960), L’Impiegato (1960), David and Goliath (1960), Under Ten Flags (1960), The Red Hand (1960), Schlussakkord (1960), Caccia all’Uomo (1961), Sword of the Conqueror (1962), Love at Twenty (1962), The Carpet of Horror (1962), Anima Nera (1962), Pigeon Shoot (1962), Hypnosis (1962), Beach Casanova (1962), Storm Over Ceylon (1963), Il Treno del Sabato (1964), Let’s Talk About Women (1964), Love and Marriage (1964), The Flying Saucer (1964), Up and Down (1965), I Kill, You Kill (1965), El Diablo Tambien Llora (1965), Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1965), Assassination in Rome (1965), John Huston’s The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) as Lot’s Wife, El. Ultimo Sabado (1968), Love Problems (1968), Gli Angeli del 2000 (1969), Forbidden Love (1969), D’Artagnan (1969), Dorian Gray (1969), and In the Folds of the Flesh (1970). Rossi Drago retired from the screen in 1970.

Serge Rousseau

ROUX, MICHEL French actor Michel Roux died of heart disease in Paris on February 2, 2007. He wa 77. Roux was born in Colombes, France, on July 22, 1929. He began his career on stage at the age of 14, and went on to great acclaim in such plays as The Dinner Game and La Cages aux Folles. He also appeared in numerous films from the early 1940s including Love Around the Clock (1943), Children of Chaos (1944), My First Love (1945), Impeccable Henri (1948), The Chocolate Girl (1949), Forbidden to the Public (1949), Holiday for Henrietta (1952), Illicit Motherhood (1953), The Secret of Helene Marimon (1954), La Joyeuse Prison (1956), A Woman Like Satan (1959), Croquemitouffe (1959), The Price of Flesh (1960), Something Fishy (1994), and Golden Boy (1996). Roux also dubbed the voices of such stars as Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon for the French-language release of their films. He starred as Inspecteur Matthieu in the French television series Recherche dans l’Interet des Families in 1977. Roux was also seen in television productions of Les Folies Offenbach (1977), Monsieur Masure (1979), La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (1980), Cabrioles (1980), A Nous de Jouer (1981), Face a Face (2001), Faut-il Tuer le Clown? (2004), and Le Charlatan (2005). He made his final appearance on stage in a production of Le Charlatan in 2006.

Eleonora Rossi Drago

ROUSSEAU , SERGE French actor Serge Rousseau died of cancer in France on November 3, 2007. He was 77. Rousseau was born in Aube, France, on March 13, 1930. He began his career on stage in the 1940s, and acted and sang in cabaret productions over the next decade. He also became a leading artistic agent in France in the early 1960s. Rousseau was featured in such films as Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case (1959), Naked Autumn (1961), Mata-Hari (1964), The Sleeping Car Murders (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966), The Bride Wore Black (1968), Stolen Kisses (1968), We Won’t Go to the Woods Anymore (1970), Les Zozos (1973), The Green Room (1978), and A Judgment in Stone (1995).

Michel Roux

321 RRURRAMBU, GEORGE Australian Aboriginal rock musician George Rrurrambu died of cancer in Galiwinku, on Elcho Island, Northern Territory, Australia, on June 10, 2007. He was 50. Rurrambu was born in Galiwinku in 1957. He began his musical career in Central Australia in the late 1970s with the Warumpi Band. Rrurrambu sang the 1983 single “Jailanguru Pakarnu” (“Out of Jail”) in his Aboriginal language. He and the band released three albums, Big Name No Blanket (1985), Go Bush (1988), and Too Much Humbug (1996), which included the popular songs “Blackfella Whitefella” and “My Island Home.” Rrurrambu was featured in a television documentary about the Warumpi Band, The End of the Corrugated Road, in 2001. He toured Australia in a one-man show about his life in 2005, and released his final album, Baru, with the band Birdwave in 2006. According to Aboriginal custom he became known as George Burarrwanga upon his death.

George Rrurrambu

2007 • Obituaries

fore turning to writing as a scriptor of radio programs. He was also seen in small roles in several films including Delayed Action (1954) and You Pay Your Money (1957). Rudge teamed with songwriter Ted Dicks in 1960 to create the musical show And Another Thing. He and Dicks wrote the popular comedy tunes “Hole in the Ground” and “Right Said Fred,” which became hit recordings for Bernard Cribbins in 1962. They also wrote the album On Pleasure Bent for comedian Kenneth Williams and had another hit with Ronnie Hilton’s rendition of their “A Windmill in Old Amsterdam” in 1965. Rudge wrote the soundtrack for the 1966 comedy horror film Carry On Screaming! He also wrote eight children’s plays and scripted television episodes of Comedy Playhouse and Father Charlie.

RUESCH, HANS Swiss race-car driver and novelist Hans Ruesch died of cancer at his home in Lugano, Switzerland, on August 27, 2007. He was 94. Ruesch was born in Naples, Italy, to a wealthy Swiss family on May 17, 1913. He was a pioneer European Grand Prix race-car driver in the 1930s. He competed in over 100 races, piloting Maseratis and Alfa Romeos, and winning 27 competitions. He began writing short fiction in the late 1930s. His first novel, Top of the World, about an Eskimo family, was published in 1950. It was adapted for film as The Savage Innocents starring Anthony Quinn in 1960. Ruesch also penned a novel about his earlier profession, The Racer, in 1953. Kirk Douglas starred in the 1955 film version, The Racers. He also wrote the novel South of the Heart: A Novel of Modern Arabia in 1957. Ruesch became a spokesman for the animal rights movement in Europe, railing against animal testing in his non-fiction Slaughter of the Innocent in the 1970s.

RUDGE, MYLES Lyricist Myles Rudge, who was known for writing the 1960’s novelty songs “Hole in the Ground” and “Right Said Fred,” died in London on October 10, 2007. He was 81. Rudge was born in Bristol, England, on July 8, 1926. He began performing in radio plays for the BBC’s Children’s Hour while still in school, and performed on stage in repertory theaters. He served in the Royal Navy in the later years of World War II and returned to the stage after his discharge. He played comic roles in cabaret sketches be-

Hans Ruesch

Myles Rudge (right, with Ted Dicks)

RUFFO, LEONORA Italian actress Leonora Ruffo died in Rome on May 28, 2007. She was 72. She was born in Rome on January 13, 1935. She began her film career in the early 1950s, originally credited under the name Bruna Falchi in Gli Amanti di Ravello (1951). The following year she starred in the title role in Peter Francisci’s The Queen of Sheba (1952), and starred with Alberto Sordi in Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni (1953). Her other film credits include Mid-Century Loves

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(1954), Ricordami (1955), Ciao, Pais (1956), The Black Devil (1957), Sergente d’Ispezione (1958), Il Vedovo (1959), Due Selvaggi a Corte (1959), Sword Without a Country (1960), Un Dollaro di Fifa (1960), Tenente Sheridan: Vacanze Col Gangster (1960), Goliath and the Dragon (1960) as Dejanira, Goliath and the Vampires (1961), Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) as Princess Deianira, Star Pilot (1966), and Time and Place for Killing (1968). She retired from the screen in the late 1960s, making her last appearance in Fernando Di Leo’s A Woman on Fire in 1969.

Emilio Ruiz del Rio

Leonora Ru›o

RUIZ DEL RIO, EMILIO Spanish set designer and special effects creator Emilio Ruiz del Rio died of respiratory failure in a Madrid, Spain, hospital on September 14, 2007. He was 84. Ruiz del Rio was born in Madrid on April 11, 1923. He began his career in films in the 1950s, working as a special effects artist for such features as Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadin (1955) and Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960). He worked on over 400 films in Europe and the United States over the next 45 years with such credits as Gladiators 7 (1962), The Blancheville Monster (1963), Samson and the Mighty Challenge (1964), Operation Lady Chaplin (1966), Eagles Over London (1969), Travels with My Aunt (1970), Treasure Island (1972), White Fang (1973), High Crime (1973), Here We Go Again, Eh Providence? (1973), Devil’s Possessed (1974), B Must Die (1975), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1976), La Casa (1976), Cipolla Colt (1976), Supersonic Man (1979), The Humanoid (1979), Operation Ogre (1979), Monster Island (1981), Sea Devils (1982), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Pod People (1983), Iron Master (1983), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Dune (1984), Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye (1985), Red Sonja (1985), Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987), Slugs: The Movie (1988), Moon Child (1989), The French Revolution (1989), Cthulhu Mansion (1990), The Rift (1990), Mutant Action (1993), S.P.Q.R.: 2000 and a Half Years Ago (1994), The Good Life (1996), Comanche Territory (1997), The Girl of Your Dreams (1998), Masterpiece (2000), The Devil’s Backbone (2001), The Stone Raft (2002), Soldiers of Salamina (2003), The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2004), and the Oscar-nominated Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). His final film was Jose Luis Garci’s 2007 feature Sunday Light.

RULE , JANE Canadian novelist Jane Rule, who was best known for her early novel of lesbian love, Desert of the Heart, died of complications from liver cancer at her home on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada, on November 27, 2007. She was 76. Rule was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on March 28, 1931. She worked in Massachusetts as an English teacher before settling in Vancouver, Canada, in 1956. Her novel, Desert of the Heart, was published in 1964 and was one of the first major works of literature to focus on a lesbian relationship. Donna Deitch directed a film version, Desert Hearts, in 1985, starring Helen Slater. Rule also wrote the novels This Is Not for You (1970), Against the Season (1971), and After the Fire (1989), and the shortstory collection Theme for Diverse Instruments (1975). She was also featured in several documentary films including Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule (1995) and Little Sister vs. Big Brother (2002).

Jane Rule

RUSSO, AARON Film producer and talent manager Aaron Russo died of cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on August 24, 2007. He was 64. Russo was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 14, 1943. He began working as a rock ’n’ roll promoter while in high school. He began managing singer Bette Midler in the 1970s and produced the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Clams on the Half-Shell Revue. He produced the 1979 film The Rose, starring Midler. He

323 also produced the films Partners (1982), Trading Places (1983) starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, Teachers (1984), Wise Guys (1986), Rude Awakening (1989), Missing Pieces (1991), and Off and Running (1991). Russo was also active in politics, running for governor of Nevada as a Republican in 1998. He also made an unsuccessful race for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2004. Russo’s most recent film, America: Freedom to Fascism, was completed in 2006. He wrote, produced, directed and narrated the documentary attack on the Internal Revenue Service.

Aaron Russo

RUTHERFORD, PAUL British free jazz trombonist Paul Rutherford died of cirrhosis of the liver and a ruptured aorta in London on August 5, 2007. He was 67. Rutherford was born in Greenwich, South East London, on February 29, 1940, and served in the Royal Air Force from 1958 to 1963. After his discharge, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and performed with Neil Ardley’s New Jazz Orchestra. He teamed with fellow military musicians John Stevens and Trevor Watts to form the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Rutherford soon left SME to perform with such groups as the Mike Westbrook Concert Band, Watt’s Amalgam, and Tony Oxley’s sextet. Rutherford formed the band Iskra 1903 in 1970. The free improvising group performed together for three years, and Rutherford remained a popular jazz figure over the next

Paul Rutherford

2007 • Obituaries

several decades. In 1977, he reunited with Iskra 1903, and the group continued together through 1995. Rutherford also recorded numerous sucessful solo albums including The Gentle Arm of the Bourgeoisie (1974), Old Moors Almanac (1976), and Neuph (1978).

RUTTER, GEORGE A. Script supervisor George A. Rutter, who worked on the original Star Trek series in the 1960s, died of complications of a leg infection in a Burbank, California, hospital on November 4, 2007. He was 91. Rutter was born in Glendale, California, on August 18, 1916. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He began his career as a script supervisor in the 1950s, working on such series as Annie Oakley, Lassie, and Fury. He was also script supervisor for such feature films as Last of the Pony Riders (1953), The Iron Sheriff (1957), Gun Duel in Durango (1957), Hong Kong Confidential (1958), Fort Bowie (1958), The Flame Barrier (1958), Badman’s Country (1958), Curse of the Faceless Man (1958), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Pier 5, Havana (1959), The Big Night (1960), Battle at Bloody Beach (1961), Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961), Ride Beyond Vengeance (1966), The Gatling Gun (1973), and the 1977 tele-film The Hostage Heart. He also continued to work in television with such credits as The Outer Limits, Star Trek, Branded, The F.B.I., Lou Grant, and Remington Steele before retiring in the mid–1980s.

George A. Rutter

RYAN, JOHN P. Veteran character actor John P. Ryan died of complications from a stroke in Los Angeles, California, on March 20, 2007. He was 70. Ryan was born in New York City on July 30, 1936. He appeared in numerous films from the mid–1960s, with roles in The Tiger Makes Out (1967), A Lovely Way to Die (1968), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), Shamus (1973), Dillinger (1973), Cops and Robbers (1973), the cult horror classic It’s Alive (1974) as the father of the killer mutant baby, The Missouri Breaks (1976), Futureworld (1976), It Lives Again (1978) reprising his role as Frank Davis, The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), The Escape Artist (1982), Breathless (1983), The Right Stuff (1983), The

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Cotton Club (1984), Runaway Train (1985), City of Shadows (1986), Avenging Force (1986), Three O’Clock High (1897), Fatal Beauty (1987), Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987), Rent-a-Cop (1987), Paramedics (1988), Eternity (1989), Best of the Best (1989), Class of 1999 (1990), Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990), Star Time (1992), White Sands (1992), Hoffa (1992), Young Goodman Brown (1993) as the Devil, The Patriots (1994), Viper (1994), Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill (1995), and Bound (1996). He was also featured in the tele-films A Hatful of Rain (1968), Target Risk (1975), Death Scream (1975), A Killing Affair (1977), Kill Me if You Can (1977), Willow B: Women in Prison (1980), Miss Lonelyhearts (1983), Shooting Stars (1983), Houston: The Legend of Texas (1986), and Blood River (1991). Ryan’s other television credits include guest appearances in such series as The F.B.I., Kojak, Police Woman, Archer in the recurring role of Lieutenant Barney Brighton, Matt Helm, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, Kaz, Hawaii Five-O, Paris, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hart to Hart, M*A*S*H, Matt Houston, Cagney & Lacey, Faerie Tale Theatre’s production of Rip Van Winkle, Miami Vice, Johnny Bago, and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

in 1981 for creating a special effects optical film processor, and gave him a medal of commendation in 1990. Ryan retired from Eastman Kodak in 1986 though remained active holding many positions within the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. In 2000, he earned the Academy’s Gordon E. Sawyer Award and the Eastman Kodak Gold Medal in 2004. He was also the author of numerous books and textbooks that are recognized within the industry as authoritative sources.

Roderick Ryan

John P. Ryan

RYAN, RODERICK T. Photographer Roderick T. Ryan, who was given an honorary Oscar Award for his technical contributions to the film industry with the creation of a special effects film processor, died of the progressive neurological disorder Lewy body disease at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on October 11, 2007. He was 83. Ryan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 11, 1924, and earned several degrees from the University of Southern California in the 1950s. He began his career as a photographer while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, notably shooting footage of the 1946 Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. After the war, Ryan began a 40 year career with Eastman Kodak Co. in Hollywood and subsequently rose through the ranks to become regional director of engineering. His 1966 doctorate thesis was published into a book, A History of Motion Picture Color Technolog y, in 1977. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Ryan with a technical award

RYAN, STEVE Character actor Steve Ryan, who was featured in the recurring role of Secretary of Defense Hutchinson in the television series The West Wing, died after a long illness in Duarte, California, on September 3, 2007. He was 60. Ryan was born in Manhattan, New York, on June 19, 1947. He began his career on stage, appearing in roles with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Milwaukee Repertory, and the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. He subsequently moved to New York, where he performed in productions on Broadway and Off-Broadway including I’m Not Rappaport, Guys and Dolls, and On the Waterfront. He was also seen in a handful of films during his career including Night of the Juggler (1980), D.A.R.Y.L (1985), Quiz Show (1994), I’m Not Rappaport (1996), Best (2000), Partner(s) (2005), and Entry Level (2007). Ryan also appeared in the tele-films Attica (1980), Old Friends (1984), Money, Power, Murder (1989), Stephen King’s Golden Years (1991), Thicker Than Blood (1998), Mary and Rhoda (2000), Silver Bells (2005), and Walkout (2006). He was featured as Detective Nate Grossman in the Crime Story television series from 1986 to 1988, and was Mark Volchek in Wiseguy in 1990. He starred as Officer Mike Healy in Oz in 1997, and was Bobick in Daddio in 2000. Ryan starred as Father Conti in American Dreams from 2003 to 2005, and was Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson in West Wing from 2003 to 2006. His other television credits include episodes of Miami Vice, Law & Order, New York News, Lifestories: Families in Crisis, Swift Justice, New York Undercover in the recurring role of Dave Cooper, Prince Street, Homicide: Life on the Street, Spin City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, Thieves, George Lopez, Six Feet Under, The X Files, NYPD Blue,

325 Reba, Crossing Jordan, The Practice, Without a Trace, Still Standing, Strong Medicine, Cold Case, Yes, Dear, Will & Grace, Center of the Universe, JAG, Reunion, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Boston Legal, Arrested Development in the recurring role of J. Walter Weatherman, 7th Heaven, CSI: Miami, and Las Vegas.

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Prague after the war. He appeared in several films in the early 1950s including Distant Journey (1950) and The Emperor and the Golem (1951). He worked with directors Borivoj Zeman and Elmar Klos as an apprentice and helmed documentaries, television productions, and early music videos during the 1950s. He was best known for his 1964 hit musical The Hop Pickers. He continued to make such popular films as Crime at the Girls School (1965), Lady on the Tracks (1966) starring Jirina Bohdalova, and Six Black-Haired Girls (1969). His career went into decline after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. His later credits include Hvezda Pada Vzhuru (1974), Jen Ho Nechte, At Se Boji (1977), Zlata Slepice (1980), and Babicky Dobijejte Presne! (1983), before he retired in the early 1980s.

Steve Ryan

RYAN, TERRY Author Terry Ryan, who wrote the best-selling book The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, died of cancer at her home in San Francisco, California, on May 16, 2007. She was 60. Ryan was born in Defiance, Ohio, on July 14, 1946, the sixth of ten children. Her mother’s knack for keeping the family afloat by winning contests and writing jingles inspired Ryan’s best-selling memoir The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less in 2001. The book was adapted for a feature film, starring Julianne Moore, in 2005. Ryan also wrote the cartoon T.O. Sylvester for The San Francisco Chronicle from 1983 to 1999.

Ladislav Rychman

RYCK, FRANCIS French detective novelist Francis Ryck died in Paris on August 19, 2007. He was 87. He was born Yves Delville in Paris on March 4, 1920. He began his career as a writer in the early 1950s. He wrote nearly thirty crime and suspense novels over the next fifty years. Many of his novels were adapted for film including A Mouse with the Men (1964), Only the Cool (1970), The Silent One (1973), The Secret (1974), The Swindle (1980), Effraction (1983), Family Business (1986) directed by Costa-Gavras, The Kiss of the Tiger (1987), and Deux Minutes de Soleil en Plus (1988). Some of his works also were adapted as televi-

Terry Ryan

RYCHMAN, LADISLAV Czech film director Ladislav Rychman died of a heart attack in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 1, 2007. He was 84. Rychman was born in Prague (then Czechoslovakia) on October 9, 1922. He survived a Nazi concentration camp during World War II and began his career on stage in

Francis Ryck

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sion productions including The Swindle (1988), De Memoire de Rose (1990), Les Genoux Cagneux (1992), Le Bel Horizon (1994), Le Dernier Vfaoyage (1995), and Matthew’s Summer (1998). His final novel, La Casse, was published several months before his death.

SAAF, ART Comic book artist Art Saaf died of complications from Parkinson’s disease on April 21, 2007. He was 85. Saaf was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 4, 1921. He began his career with McFadden Publishing in the late 1930s and studied art at Pratt Institute. He illustrated such comic series as Clipper Kirk, Phantom Falcons, and Commando Rangers during World War II. He also illustrated covers for the Fiction House titles Jumbo and Wings. After the war, he continued to work for such publishers as Timely Comics, Dell Comics, and Real Life Comics. Saaf joined the Kudner Agency in 1954, and was an assistant director and storyboard artist for television’s The Jackie Gleason Show. He was a freelance artist from the 1960s, illustrating for advertisements and magazines. His final work in comics was for DC’s romance line in the 1970s.

career on Italian television as an impersonator in the late 1970s. He was co-host of the Italian version of the gameshow The Price Is Right (OK, Il Presso e Giusto!) from 1983 to 1986. He also hosted the programs Fantastico 2 (1981), Fantastico 3 (1982), and La sai l’Ultima? (1992). Sabani was also a singer noted for the song “A me mi Torna in Mente una Canzone” in 1983. He was featured in the 1997 film Gli Inaffidabili.

SABAROFF, BOB Television writer Bob Sabaroff died of leukemia on September 19, 2007. He was 72. Sabaroff was born on July 9, 1935. He began working in television in the 1950s, scripting episodes of such series as Death Valley Days, The Deputy, The Beachcomber, Temple Houston, Flipper, The Virginian, Tarzan, The Iron Horse, Bonanza, Star Trek, The Invaders, the semi-animated children’s program The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Marcus Welby, M.D., Then Came Bronson which he co-created and produced in 1969, The Young Lawyers, San Francisco International Airport, The Name of the Game, The Equalizer, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sabaroff also scripted the 1968 film thriller The Split, and the 1984 pilot tele-film Call to Glory.

Art Saaf Bob Sabaro› (with wife, Nancy Berg)

SABANI , GIGI Italian television host and singer Luigi “Gigi” Sabani died of a heart attack in Rome, Italy, on September 4, 2007. He was 54. Sabani was born in Rome on October 5, 1952. He began his

Gigi Sabani

SABERHAGEN, FRED Science fiction writer Fred Saberhagen died of prostate cancer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 29, 2007. He was 77. Saberhagen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 18, 1930. He began writing in the early 1960s and was best known for his Berserker series of books about an invasion of earth by intelligent machines. The series commenced in 1967 and over a dozen novels and short story collections followed through 2003’s Berserker Prime. Saberhagen also wrote a series of novels told from Dracula’s point of view, commencing with The Dracula Tape in 1975. The series also included the novels The Holmes-Dracula File (1978), An Old Friend of the Family (1979), Thorn (1980), Dominion (1982), A Question of Time (1992), Seance for a Vampire (1994), and A Sharpness on the Neck (1996). He was also co-author of the 1992 novelization of the Francis Ford Coppola film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Saberhagen’s other works include the Boris Brazil trilogy with Planeteer (1961), The Golden People (1964), and The Water of Thought (1965),

327 and the Empire of the East trilogy that included The Broken Lands (1968), The Black Mountains (1971), and Changeling Earth (1973). His Book of the Swords trilogy was released in 1983, and was followed by the Book of the Lost Swords series which included Woundhealer’s Story (1986), Sightblinder’s Story (1987), Stonecutter’s Story (1988), Farslayer’s Story (1989), Coinspinner’s Story (1989), Mindsword’s Story (1990), Wayfinder’s Story (1992), and Sheildbreaker’s Story (1994). His Pilgrim, the Flying Dutchman of Time series commenced with Pyramids in 1987, and concluded with After the Fact (1988). Saberhagen’s Books of the Gods series began in 1998 with the novel The Face of Apollo, and continued with Ariadne’s Web (1999), The Arms of Hercules (2000), God of the Golden Fleece (2001), and Gods of Fire and Thunder (2002). The prolific author also wrote such novels as The Veils of Azlaroc (1978), Love Conquers All (1974), The Mask of the Sun (1981), Coils (1981) with Roger Zelazny, Specimens (1981), Octagon (1981), A Century of Progress (1983), The Frankenstein Papers (1986), The White Bull (1988), The Black Throne (1990) with Zelazny, Dancing Bears (1995), Merlin’s Bones (1995), and the 1999 novelization of the science fiction television series Earth Final Conflict, The Arrival.

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Poland, on January 21, 1963. He was featured in the 1996 film Deszczowy Zolnierz, and the 1997 television mini-series Boza Podszewka. Sabiniewicz starred as Norbert Wojciechowski in the 2000 television series M Jak Milosc, and appeared in episodes of Na Dobre i Na Zie and Kryminalni.

ST. JOHN, DENIS Canadian actor Denis St. John died of complications from leukemia in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on November 6, 2007. He was 78. St. John was born in Lambeth, England, on September 27, 1928. He studied with the British Drama League and performed on stage in England. He began his film career in the late 1980s in Canada, appearing in a 1989 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart as the Old Man. He appeared in character roles in numerous films and television productions over the next two decades. St. John’s film credits include You’re Driving Me Crazy (1990), Map of the Human Heart (1993), The Minion (1999), The Long Winter (1999), The List (2000), Heartstrings (2002), The Aviator (2004), Devil’s Rose (2005), The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), 300 (2006) as the Spartan Baby Inspector, Still Life (2007), and I’m Not There (2007) as the Admiral. He also appeared in the tele-films Hiroshima (1995), Jack London’s Wilderness Tales (1996), Captive (1998), Bonanno: A Godfather’s Story (1999), P.T. Barnum (1999), Nuremberg (2000) as Franz von Papen, the 2001 Sherlock Holmes mystery The Sign of Four, Summer (2002), Il Duce Canadese: Le Mussolini Canadien (2004), Ten Days to Victory (2005), and Dr. Norman Bethune (2006). His other television credits include episodes of The Little Lulu Show, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Back to Sherwood, Mona the Vampire, Canada: A People’s History, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Fries with That, and Sophie.

Fred Saberhagen

SABINIEWICZ, MARIUSZ Polish actor Mariusz Sabiniewicz died of cancer in Poland on April 26, 2007. He was 44. Sabiniewicz was born in Poznan,

Dennis St. John

Mariusz Sabiniewicz

ST. JOHN, MARK Rock musician Mark St. John, who was briefly guitarist for the group KISS in 1984, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Los Angeles on April 5, 2007. He was 51. St. John was born Mark Norton in Hollywood on February 7, 1956. He played with the rock cover band Front Page in the early 1980s. He joined KISS in 1983, replacing Vinnie Vincent, who had replaced original band member Ace Frehley the

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previous year. St. John performed on the band’s album Animalize, and appeared on the video for the song “Heaven’s on Fire.” A crippling bout of arthritis curtailed his involvement on tours with the group, and he was replaced by Bruce Kulick later in the year. St. John later led the metal band White Tiger and released two albums as the Mark St. John Project.

Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo as the Strega in 1995. Her final stage credit was in an Off-Broadway revival of All the Way Home in late 2006.

Irma St. Paule

Mark St. John

ST. PAULE, IRMA Character actress Irma St. Paule died in New York City on January 9, 2007. She was 80. St. Paule was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and came with her family to the United States at an early age. She began her acting career late in life, appearing in numerous films and television programs from the mid–1980s. Her film credits include The Oracle (1985), Walls of Glass (1985), Psychos in Love (1987), Rain (1989), The Cemetery Club (1993), Household Saints (1993), The Saint of Fort Washington (1993), Who Do I Gotta Kill? (1994), Party Girl (1995), Jeffrey (1995), Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys (1995), Caught (1996), Love Is All There Is (1996), Trees Lounge (1996), The Big Bajoor (1996), Stephen King’s Thinner (1996), Better Than Ever (1997), Kiss Me, Guido (1997), Dante Tomaselli’s Desecration (1999) as Grandma Matilda, Suits (1999), Coming Soon (1999), Fever (1999), Wirey Spindell (2000), Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), Where the Money Is (2000), Fast Food Fast Women (2000), Fear of Fiction (2000), A Piece of Eden (2000), Cat Lady (2001), Queenie in Love (2001), Errors, Freaks and Oddities (2002), Found Money (2003), Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl (2003), Second Best (2004), The Amazing Floydini (2004), Satan’s Playground (2005), Homecoming (2005), Duane Hopwood (2005), Bittersweet Place (2005), Come Away with Me (2005), Solidarity (2005), Life on the Ledge (2005), 9A (2006), The Last Request (2006), In the Blood (2006), and Made in Brooklyn (2006). She appeared on television in such tele-films as The Bride in Black (1990), and was featured as Ya Ya Andros on the daytime soap opera The Guiding Light from 1992 to 1994. Her other television credits include episodes of Kate & Allie, Sex and the City, Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, Wonderland, Chappelle’s Show, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order. St. Paule performed on Broadway in a revival of

SAKAI, SETH Actor Seth Sakai died in a Honolulu hospital on May 10, 2007. He was 74. Sakai was born in Hawaii on May 22, 1932. He appeared frequently in films and television from the early 1970s, often playing villainous roles. He appeared in numerous episodes of Hawaii Five-O in the 1970s and was frequently seen on Magnum, P.I. in the early 1980s. His other television credits include episodes of The Brian Keith Show, Big Hawaii, Airwolf, Raven, M.A.N.T.I.S., Northern Exposure, and Hawaii. Sakai appeared in several feature films including Inferno in Paradise (1974), Midway (1976), Seven (1979), The Golden Seal (1983), Captive Hearts (1987), The Perfect Weapon (1991), The Next Karate Kid (1994), The Hunted (1995), Pearl Harbor (2001), and American Pastime (2007). He was also seen on television in the tele-films and mini-series Farewell to Manzanar (1976), Pearl (1978), and War and Remembrance (1988).

Seth Sakai

SALEH, JOSEPH Film producer and Angelika Film Center founder Joseph Saleh died of a stroke near his home in Paris on April 18, 2007. He was 73. He was born Joseph Jamiel Menashi Saleh in Hamadan, Iran,

329 on January 18, 1934, and moved to the United Sates with his family in the 1940s. He graduated from Colgate in 1954 and became an associate director of research for CBS News. He was hired as research director for Columbia Pictures in the 1960s. Saleh served as executive producer for the films Savages (1972), Sweet Lorraine (1987), The Big Blue (1988), and The Chair (1989). He was also the executive producer for the documentary Streetwise, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985. Saleh and his first wife, Angelika Ohl, opened the Angelika Film Center in Lower Manhattan in 1989, transforming the short-lived underground cable car system into a six-screen theater in the basement of the Cable Building. The film center was sold to City Cinemas in 1996.

SALLSTROM, JOHANNA Swedish actress Johanna Sallstrom was found dead in her apartment in Malmo, Sweden, on February 13, 2007. She was 32. Sallstrom was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 30, 1974. She began her acting career in the early 1990s, appearing in such films as Cry (1995), Petri Tarar (1995), Sebastian (1995), Beneath the Surface (1997), Magnetist’s Fifth Winter (1999), Swedish Beauty (2000), His and Hers (2001), Hot Dog (2002), and Sokama 2 — Rebelz (2006). She was also featured as Victoria Barnsten in the television series Tre Kronor from 1996 to 1997, and appeared in the mini-series Kvinnan i det lasta Rummet (1998) and Insider (1999). Sallstrom was featured as Angel in the 2001 television series Kommissarie Winter, and starred as Linda Wallander in the television crime series Wallander from 2005 to 2006.

2007 • Obituaries

She was 15 when Aimee McPherson disappeared for over a month and was feared dead. During that time Roberta took over the ministry, leading the ever-growing congregation until her mother returned from what she claimed was a kidnapping. The mother and daughter continued to work together for Aimee’s International Church of the Four-Square Gospel, which was headquartered at the Angelus Temple in Echo Park, California. Roberta became vice-president of the church in the early 1930s, and was groomed to succeed her mother until the two had a falling out in 1934. She sued her mother for slander in a well-publicized trial, and was later removed by the church leadership over a dispute with the management. When Aimee died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills in 1944, she was succeeded by her son, Roberta’s half-brother, Rolf K. McPherson. Roberta went to New York after the break with her mother and was a guest on the NBC radio program Hobby Lobby. She subsequently began working for the program as a researcher, and married the show’s musical director, Harry Salter, in 1941. She worked with her husband over the next two decades, developing the popular radio and television programs Stop the Music and Name That Tune. She and Salter remained married until his death in 1984.

SALTZMAN, PERCY Canadian television weatherman Percy Saltzman died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 16, 2007. He was 91. Saltzman was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1915. He served as a meteorologist during World War II and worked with Canada’s weather service after the war. He became the weather forecaster for CBC Radio in 1947. Saltzman became the first person to appear on Canadian television when CBC-TV began broadcasting in 1952. He remained the weatherman at CBC for the next 20 years. Saltzman also worked as an interviewer and commentator on radio and television, and served as host of several series including Let’s See (1952) and Junior Roundup (1960).

Johanna Sallstrom

SALTER, ROBERTA SEMPLE Roberta Semple Salter, the daughter of pioneering female evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson who later had a career in radio and television, died in New York City on January 25, 2006. She was 96. She was born Roberta Star Semple in Hong Kong, where her parents were serving as missionaries, on September 17, 1910. Her father, Robert Semple, died of malaria shortly before her birth. Her mother, who later remarried Harold McPherson, became a leading traveling evangelist and faith healer, touring with tent revivals throughout the United States. Roberta worked with her mother from an early age.

Percy Saltzman

SAMOA, COCO Ulualoaiga Onosai Tuaolo Emelio, who wrestled professionally under the name Coco Samoa, died in Killeen, Texas, on January 9, 2007. He was 62. He was born in Pago, American

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Samoa, on March 9, 1945. He wrestled as Sabu the Wildman to capture the Southern Heavyweight Title from Jerry Lawler in 1982. He subsequently became known as Coco Samoa, competing with the NWA in the Pacific Northwest region. He held several titles, including the tag team belts with Brady Boone and Ricky Santana. Samoa became an evangelist after retiring from the ring.

two years. He served in the Marines during World War II, managing an officer’s mess and rest camp in Okinawa. He returned to Sardi’s after the war and purchased the restaurant from his father when the latter retired in 1947. The previous year the establishment became the centerpiece of the radio program Luncheon at Sardi’s. A television version, Dinner at Sardi’s, was also briefly aired in 1949. Sardi appeared as himself in two television dramas in the 1950s, Kraft Television Theatre’s production of Now, Where Was I, and Robert Montgomery Presents’ Catch a Falling Star. He also coauthored a cookbook, Curtain Up at Sardi’s, in 1957. He later appeared in a cameo role in the 1977 film Julia. The establishment of another restaurant, Sardi’s East, and a dinner theatre on Long Island both met with failure in the 1960s and 1970s. Sardi sold the original restaurant in 1985, but the purchasers later went bankrupt and closed Sardi’s in 1990. Sardi emerged from retirement to reopen the landmark in 1991, and was successful in revitalizing the business before again retiring in 1997. His partner, Max Klimavicius, took over the management of Sardi’s, which continues to operate.

Coco Samoa

SAMSON, JUNE Script supervisor June Samson died of complications from injuries she received in a fall in Los Angeles on November 3, 2007. She was 77. Samson was born in Battersea, England, in 1930 and came to the Unites States in 1953. She began her career as a script supervisor for the television series Bonanza in the 1960s. She went on to serve as script supervisor on such films as Up in the Cellar (1970), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972), The Stone Killer (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), Bound for Glory (1976), Coming Home (1978), The Deer Hunter (1978), ...And Justice for All (1979), The Mountain Men (1980), Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1980), Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), Neil Simon’s Only When I Laugh (1981), Things Are Tough All Over (1982), The Challenge (1982), Steve Martin’s The Man with Two Brains (1983), Against All Odds (1984), Neil Simon’s The Slugger’s Wife (1985), Murphy’s Romance (1985), Top Gun (1986), Jaws: The Revenge (1987), The Doctor (1991), HouseSitter (1992), the tele-film Somebody’s Daughter (1992), The Shadow (1994), and Dangerous Minds (1995). SARDI, VINCENT, JR. Vincent Sardi, Jr., who owned and operated the famed Broadway restaurant Sardi’s, died of a urinary tract infection at a hospital in Berlin, Vermont, on January 4, 2007. He was 91. Sardi was born in Manhattan, New York, on July 23, 1915. His father began the restaurant that became known as Sardi’s in 1921, and moved it to its longtime home at 234 West 44th in 1927. The establishment became the premiere dining location for New York’s theatre crowd. Numerous deals were sealed and roles cast at Sardi’s tables. The younger Sardi helped out at the restaurant in various capacities from an early age. He earned a degree at the Columbia Business School in 1937, and studied food-service at the Ritz-Carlton for

Vincent Sardi, Jr.

SAUNDERS, JUSTINE Australian Aboriginal actress Justine Saunders died of cancer in the Hawkesbury District Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on April 25, 2007. She was 54. Saunders was born in Queensland on February 20, 1953, a member of the Kanomie clan of Woppaburra indigenous people. She began her career as an actress in the early 1970s, and was featured as Rhonda Jackson on the soap opera Number 96 in 1976. She was also featured in episodes of the series Rush, Pig in a Poke, and Top Mates. Saunders appeared in Fred Schepisi’s 1978 film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Her other film credits include The Fringe Dwellers (1986), Until the End of the World (1991), and Jindalee Lady (1992). She was also featured in television productions of Women of the Sun (1981), Chase Through the Night (1983), Silent Reach (1983), Mail Order Bride (1984), Charly’s Web (1986), Touch the Sun: Top Enders (1988), Heartland (1994), The Tower (1997), and The Violent Earth (1998). Saunders starred as Pamela Madigan in the television series Prisoner: Cell Block H in 1986, and guest starred in episodes of The Flying Doctors, House Gang, Farscape, Blue Heelers, and MDA.

331

Justine Saunders

SAUNDERS, LANNA Actress Lanna Saunders died of complications from multiple sclerosis in Sherman Oaks, California, on March 10, 2007. She was 65. Saunders was born in New York City in 1941, the daughter of actor Nicholas Saunders. She began her career on stage, appearing in Broadway productions of Sunrise at Campobello, Milk and Honey, and Arthur Miler’s After the Fall. She starred as Ellen Dennis Williams on the daytime soap opera The Brighter Day from 1960 to 1961, and was Marie Horton on Days of Our Lives from 1979 to 1985. She was also featured as Roz Kraft in the film noir classic Body Heat in 1981, and appeared in the tele-films Ruby and Oswald (1978) as Marina Oswald and A Family Upside Down (1978). Her other television credits include episodes of Marcus Welby, M.D., The Waltons, The Six Million Dollar Man, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, and Hart to Hart.

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tured songs from the Disney film Mary Poppins. During the 1960s and 1970s, he composed works for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Chattanooga Symphony. Saussy joined with the Neon Philharmonic as songwriter and keyboardist. The group had a Top Twenty hit with 1969’s “Morning Girl,” which was nominated for two Grammy Awards. They released two albums, The Moth Confesses (1968) and The Neon Philharmonc (1969). In 1980, Saussy began editing for The Main Street Journal, serving as advisor on a governmental action intent on the restoring silver and gold monetary system established in the U.S. Constitution. He came under the investigation of the Internal Revenue Service and was found guilty of willfully failing to file a tax return for 1977. A jury concluded the charge was not willful and he was sentenced to serve one year for the single charge of failing to file, though he remained free while his conviction was appealed. His trial made national newspapers and he attracted the attention of president assassin James Earl Ray, who contacted him seeking assistance writing and publishing his autobiography. The two began collaborating and Tennessee Waltz: The Making of an American Political Prisoner saw publication in 1987, the same year Saussy was due to serve his sentence. Afraid of potential retaliation for revelations made in the book, Saussy went into hiding for more than ten years. During this time, he became a prolific researcher of the religious-political components of the American government. In 1997, he came out of hiding and served a 14 month sentence in Taft, California. While in prison, he completed his final manuscript, Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge about Governing Bodies, which was published in 2001. He renewed his musical career in 2006 as a composer, pianist and performer. Saussy’s final album, The Chocolate Orchid Piano Bar, was released two days after his death.

Lanna Saunders

SAUSSY, TUPPER Tupper Saussy, who was a Grammy-nominated songwriter and author, died of a heart attack at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 16, 2007. He was 70. Saussy was born in Statesboro, Georgia, on July 3, 1936, and grew up in Tampa, Florida. He graduated from college in 1958 and taught English and co-founded the advertising agency, McDonald and Saussy. He released several early albums including Discover Tupper Saussy, Said I to Shostakovitch, and The Swingers’ Guide to Mary Poppins, which fea-

Tupper Saussy

SCADUTO, AL Cartoonist Al Scaduto died in Sleepy Hollow, New York, after a brief illness on December 8, 2007. He was 79. Scaduto was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 12, 1928. He studied at the School of Industrial Art before joining the comic art department of King Features. He became assistant to cartoonist Bob Dunn on Jimmy Hatlo’s They’ll Do It Every Time comic strip. Scaduto also helped Dunn on

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the Little Iodine strip for fourteen years. He took over as writer and artist for They’ll Do It Every Time after Dunn’s death in 1989.

Al Scaduto

SCHAEFER, WILL Film and television composer Will Schaefer died of cancer in Palm Desert, California, on June 30, 2007. He was 78. Schaefer was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on November 23, 1928. He was an orchestra conductor from the 1940s and began working in television later in the decade. He served as an orchestrator for such series as Studio One, The Sid Caesar Show, The Jackie Gleason Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. He also worked as a conductor for such series as Gunsmoke, The Flying Nun, Barnaby Jones and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Schaefer also worked as a composer for several films and television productions. His credits include the television series and cartoons Lamp Unto My Feet, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Art Linkletter’s House Party, The Blue Angel, The Phil Silvers Show, Mr. Adams and Eve, The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Strayedaway, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Hogan’s Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Super Friends, The Godzilla Power Hour, and Disneyland, earning an Emmy nomination for Sky Trap in 1979. He also composed for the films Old Yeller (1957), Disney’s The Shagg y Dog (1959), Toby Tyler (1960), The AristoCats (1970), and Forgotten Heroes (1990).

SCHIRRA , WALTER M., JR. Walter M. Schirra, Jr., one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, died of a heart attack in a hospital in La Jolla, California, on May 3, 2007. He was 84. Schirra was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on March 12, 1923. His father was a pioneer aviator and Walter Jr. began flying at the age of thirteen. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945 and become a naval aviator several years later. He served during the Korean War, flying more than ninety missions. After the war, he stayed with the Navy as a test pilot. He was selected for the Mercury Space program in April of 1959, along with John Glenn, M. Scott Carpenter, Alan B. Shepard Jr., Virgil Grissom, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., and Donald “Deke” Slayton. Schirra was instrumental in the development of the life support systems for the astronauts before piloting his own mission aboard Sigma Seven on October 3, 1962. He remained with NASA’s Gemini program, flying his second mission aboard Gemini Six on December 12, 1965, with pilot Thomas Stafford. Schirra commanded the three-man Apollo Seven mission on October 11, 1968, returning America into space after the tragic launch pad fire which killed three astronauts in January of the previous year. He retired from NASA and the Navy in July of 1969 and went on to a successful business career. He was featured prominently in Tom Wolfe’s book about the early days of the space program, The Right Stuff, and was played by Lance Henriksen in the 1983 film adaptation. Schirra appeared in cameo roles in the 1985 tele-film Spaceflight and the documentaries For All Man Kind (1989) and Houston, We’ve Got a Problem (1994). He also appeared in the 1991 television documentary Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special. He remained a prominent spokesman for the space program throughout his life.

Walter M. Schirra, Jr.

Will Schaefer

SCHLOSS, SYBILLE German actress Sybille Schloss died in New York City on December 13, 2007. She was 97. She was born Sybille Storck in Munich, German, on October 15, 1910. She worked as a model before making her film debut in the 1929 semi-documentary Hunger in Waldenburg. She also performed on stage in productions in Munich. Schloss left Germany in the mid–1930s and settled in the United States. She

333 appeared on Broadway in the short-running musical cabaret production The Pepper Mill in 1937. Unable to find film roles in Hollywood, she worked in a bookstore in New York and wrote poetry.

2007 • Obituaries

ran from 1975 to 1983, and The Sunshine Club from 2003. Schneider was also the author of several children’s books.

Howie Schneider Sybille Schloss

SCHMIDT, DAVID HANS

Hollywood scandal monger David Hans Schmidt was found dead in a condominium in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 28, 2007. He was 47. He had hanged himself in a small shower stall in the building. Schmidt was born in Rochester, Minnesota, on May 27, 1960. He was a sleazy figure on the Hollywood scene in recent years, brokering deals for the release of such scandalous materials as Tonya Harding’s honeymoon tape, Colin Farrel’s sex tape and nude photos of Paula Jones. He had recently pled guilty for obtaining stolen wedding photos from actor Tom Cruise and trying to extort $1 million from the star. Schmidt was under house arrest and facing two years in prison at the time of his death.

SCHULZE-ROHR, PETER Germany film director Peter Schulze-Rohr died in Germany on September 22, 2007. He was 81. Schulze-Rohr was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 25, 1926. He began directing for Germany television in the early mid–1960s, helming such productions as Machenschaften (1965), Die Ermittlung (1966), and Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats (1967). He was also seen in the 1970 tele-film The Millions Game as Ziegler. SchulzeRohr continued to work in television, helming Ach so Eine Nette Person (1970), Der 21, Juli (1972), Der Scheck Heiligt die Mittel (1974), Das Anhangsel (1975), Zausel (1983), Hautnah (1985), Amok (1994), Der Mann mit der Maske (1994), Der Geheime Zeuge (1999), Todesflug (2000), Zart und Schuldig (2001), and Ein Trick zu Viel (2002). He also directed episodes of Sonderdezenat K1, Arzte, Bruder Esel, Tatort, Sperling, and Bloch.

David Hans Schmidt

SCHNEIDER , HOWIE

Cartoonist Howie Schneider died of complications following heart surgery on June 28, 2007. He was 77. Schneider was born on April 24, 1930. He was best known as the creator of the syndicated comic strip Eek and Meek, which he drew for 35 years from 1965 to 2000. He also created the syndicated strips The Circus of P.T. Bimbo, which

Peter Schulze-Rohr

SCHUMANN, ERIK German actor Erik Schumann died of cancer in Munich, Germany, on February 9, 2007. He was 81. Schumann was born in Grechwitz, Germany, on February 15, 1925. He was seen in numerous films from the late 1940s. His many film

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credits include Dr. Semmelweiss (1950), Familie Benthin (1950), Reaching for the Stars (1955), Magic Fire (1955), Sky Without Stars (1955), Studentin Helene Willfuer (1956), Regine (1956), Johannisnacht (1956), A Piece of Heaven (1957), Junger Mann, der Alles Kann (1957), The Two-Headed Spy (1958), The Restless Night (1958), Vater, Mutter und neun Kinder (1958), That’s No Way to Land a Man (1959), Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen (1959), Naturlich die Autofahrer (1959), We Cellar Children (1960), Fabrik der Offiziere (1960), Question 7 (1961), Barbara —Wild wie das Meer (1961), X Y Z (1961), The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), The Breakthrough (1963), Disney’s Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), Time of the Innocent (1964), Flaming Frontier (1965), Call Girls of Frankfurg (1966), The Devil’s Girls (1967), When Night Falls on the Reeperbahn (1967), Paradies der Flotten Sunder (1968), Moment’s Caress (1968), Bedroom Stewardesses (1969), Albino (1976) with Christopher Lee, Slavers (1978), Lili Marleen (1981), Love Cult (1981), Veronika Voss (1982), Manuel (1986), The Inquiry (1986), and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman (1993). Schumann also performed frequently on German television, including productions of Melissa (1961), Mexikanische Revolution (1968), Eine Frau ohne Bedeutung (1969), Gestern Gelesen (1972), Alarm (1972), Stadt ohne Sheriff (1972), Olifant (1973), Ay, Ay, Sheriff (1974), Francois Villon (1981), Christopher Columbus (1985), and Die Montagsfamilie (1986), and episodes of Das Kriminalmuseum, Der Kommissar, Tatort, Derrick, SOKO 5113, Ein Fall fur Zwei, and Solo fur Sudmann.

Erik Schumann

SCOTT, FREDDIE Singer Freddie Scott, who had a hit song with “Hey Girl” in 1963, died on June 4, 2007. He was 74. Scott was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on April 24, 1933. He began performing professionally in the early 1950s. He recorded his first single, “Running Home,” in 1956 and released numerous other semi-successful tunes before scoring a hit with “Hey Girl” in 1963. Other popular recordings followed, including “I Got a Woman” and “Where Does Love Go?” His first album, Freddie Scott Sings and Sings and Sings, was released in 1963. He remained a popular R&B performer over the next several years, with the hits “One Heartache Too Many” (1964), “Lonely Man” (1965) and “Are You Lonely for Me?” (1966).

Scott’s career wound down as the decade ended, though he appeared in the 1969 film adaptation of Harold Robbin’s Stilletto. He released his first new album in three decades in 2001 with Brand New Man.

Freddie Scott

SCOTT, GERRY British television production designer Gerry Scott Foulds died of a brain tumor in London on April 25, 2007. She was 62. She was born Geraldine Mary Boldy in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, on November 4, 1944. She began working with the BBC in the late 1960s. She was soon designing for such series as Sykes, Dead of Night, Porridge, Ripping Yarns, and the science fiction series Blakes 7. She was also designer for productions of Where Adam Stood (1978), Touch and Go (1978), Macbeth (1983), Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1985), Ghosts (1986), The Day After the Fair (1987), Skulduggery (1989), Children Crossing (1990), and The Green Man (1990). She established herself as a designer of period pieces with her work on Clarissa in 1991. She continued her career working on such productions as Nice Town (1992), Middlemarch (1994), Loving (1995), Pride and Prejudice (1995), Deep Secrets (1996), Plotlands (1997), The Beggar Bride (1997), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1998), Aristocrats (1999), Wives and Daughters (1999), Love in a Cold Climate (2001), The Way We Live Now (2001), Messiah 2: Vengeance Is Mine (2002), and He Knew He Was Right (2004). She was married to film director Tony Scott from 1967 until separating in 1974. She married her longtime companion Archie Foulds in 2006. SCOTT, GORDON Gordon Scott, the muscled bodybuilder and actor who starred as Tarzan in films in the 1950s, died in a Baltimore, Maryland, hospital after a long illness on April 30, 2007. He was 79. He was born Gordon Weschkul in Portland, Oregon, on August 3, 1927. He served in the military as a drill instructor and worked at various jobs before being discovered by agents while employed as a lifeguard in Las Vegas. He was signed to a contract by producer Sol Lesser, who cast him in the role of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle hero, Tarzan. Following in the footsteps of Johnny Weismuller and Lex Barker, Scott starred in Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955), Tarzan and the Lost Sa-

335 fari (1957), Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958), Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959), and Tarzan the Magnificent (1960). He was also seen as Tarzan in Tarzan and the Trappers, which was an edited version of three pilots that Sol Lesser had been unable to interest the networks in and cobbled together for a brief release. Scott went to Europe in the early 1960s, where he was cast as Remus with his friend, Steve Reeves, as Romulus, in Duel of the Titans (1961). He remained in Europe during much of the 1960s where he starred in numerous muscleman and sword and sandal epics. Scott starred in Goliath and the Vampires (1961), Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World (1961), A Queen for Caesar (1962) as Julius Caesar, Gladiator of Rome (1962), The Shortest Day (1962), Kerim, Son of the Sheik (1962), Zorro and the Three Musketeers (1963), The Lion of St. Mark (1963), Goliath and the Rebel Slave (aka The Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of Hercules) (1963), The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules (1963), Hercules Against Moloch (aka Conquest of Mycene) (1963), Coriolanus: Hero Without a Country (1964), Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West (1965), The Tramplers (1966), Nest of Spies (1967), and Segretissimo (1967). He also starred as Hercules in an unsuccessful pilot for a television series about the exploits of the demi-god. The pilot film aired on television in 1965 as Hercules and the Princess of Troy (aka Hercules vs. the Sea Monster). Scott was married to actress Vera Miles, his leading lady in his first outing as Tarzan, from 1954 until 1959. Retired from the screen from the late 1960s, Scott spent his later years visiting with fans at autograph and nostalgia shows.

2007 • Obituaries

After the war he worked for Rank for their series of short films under the This Modern Age umbrella including It Began on the Clyde (1946) and Cyprus Is an Island (1946). He worked as an editor on several features including Brighton Rock (1947), The Perfect Woman (1949), Landfall (1949), Shadow of the Eagle (1950), The Small Miracle (1951), River Beat (1954), and Under the Caribbean (1954). Scott made his directorial debut with the 1948 thriller Panic at Madame Tussaud’s, and wrote and directed Sing Along with Me in 1952. He also directed the films Escape Route (1952), The Hideout (1956), The Big Chance (1957) which he also scripted, Account Rendered (1957), Breakout (1959), The Headless Ghost (1959), Devil’s Bait (1959), The Big Day (1960), Let’s Get Married (1960), The Pot Carriers (1962), Hammer’s Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg) (1962), Bitter Harvest (1963), Father Came Too! (1963), The Cracksman (1963), Mister Ten Per Cent (1967), and Subterfuge (1969). Scott was also a pioneer in producing and directing television dramas. He worked for the BBC as a trainee in the late 1940s, and joined ITV in 1955. He helmed such television productions as The End of the Mission (1955), The Last Enemy (1956), One (1956), 2000 Minus 60 (1958), and The Four Seasons of Rosie Carr (1964). He also worked on such television series as Tales of Mystery, The Borderers, Kraft Mystery Theater, Danger Man, Sir Francis Drake, Zero One, The Troubleshooters, Court Martial, Redcap, This Man Craig, The Prisoner, and The Magnificent Six and 1 ⁄ 2. Scott was instrumental in casting Diana Rigg as British secret agent Emma Peel in the cult classic television series The Avengers in the mid–1960s, and produced the first three seasons of the series The Onedin Line about the adventures of a 19th-century shipping company in the early 1970s. He also directed the films That’s All We Need (1971), The Ski Wheelers (1971), Time Flies (1971), Five Survive (1971), Up for the Cup (1971), and Up the Creek (1971). He directed Codename (1970), Brett (1971), Dial M for Murder (1974), Follow Me (1977), Children of the Stones (1977), The Doombolt Chase (1978), and A Chance to Dance (1993) for television. He also directed episodes of Quiller, The Expert and Into the Labyrinth, and produced television productions of Kidnapped (1978), The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb (1980), The Master of Ballantrae (1984), Frontiers (1984), Arch of Tri-

Gordon Scott

SCOTT, PETER GRAHAM British film and television producer and director Peter Graham Scott died in England on August 5, 2007. He was 83. Scott was born in East Sheen, Surrey, England, on October 27, 1923. He studied acting while in his teens and was cast in a small role in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1937 film Young and Innocent. He worked with the Ministry of Information’s film division during the early years of World War II making propaganda documentaries with the Colonial Film Unit in London. He was also an assistant director on the films Room for Two (1940), Major Barbara (1941), and The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941).

Peter Graham Scott

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umph (1985), Jenny’s War (1985), Jamaica Inn (1985), and The Canterville Ghost (1986). Scott was presented with the Royal Television Society’s award for outstanding service to television in 1984. He published his memoirs, British Television: An Insider’s History, in 1999.

SCOTT, TONY Jazz clarinetist and composer Tony Scott, who worked with such artists as Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday in a career spanning over five decades, died in Rome on March 28, 2007. He was 85. He was born Anthony Joseph Sciacca in Morristown, New Jersey, on June 17, 1921. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music from 1940 to 1942 until he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After his release in 1945, Scott began his career arranging music for Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan and playing with such performers as Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. In 1954, Scott worked as musical director for Harry Belafonte, arranging his hit “The Banana Boat Song (Day O).” In 1957, he composed his most well known work, Blues for Charlie Parker. He traveled world-wide, touring Europe, Africa, and the Orient during the late 1950s, and recorded Music for Zen Meditation in 1959. His other albums include A Touch of Tony Scott, The Modern Art of Jazz, and Tony Scott South Africa. In 1970, he settled in Rome, Italy, forming a musical partnership with Romano Mussolini, son of the dictator Benito Mussolini. He wrote an autobiography called Bird, Lady and Me in honor of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. His final album, A Jazz Life (Kind of Blue), was released in April 2007.

Wallace Seawell (surrounded by his photographs)

SELWYN, DON Maori actor and filmmaker Don Selwyn died of complications from a kidney infection in an Auckland, New Zealand, hospital on April 13, 2007. He was 70. Selwyn was born in 1930 and raised in Taumarunui. He began his career on stage, playing such roles as Othello, Shylock and Julius Caesar in productions of Shakespeare’s works. He also began appearing in films in the early 1970s, with such credits as Rangi’s Catch (1972), Sleeping Dogs (1977), Sons for the Return Home (1972), Goodbye Pork Pie (1981), The Lost Tribe (1983), Came a Hot Friday (1985), Mesmerized (1986), Trespasses (1987), Mauri (1988), The Last Tattoo (1994), and Peach (1985). He was featured as Bob Storey in the television series Mortimer’s Patch in 1982, and was Mr. Enderby in the 1987 series Steel Riders. Selwyn was a founding member of the New Zealand Maori Theatre Trust and a proponent of Maori drama. He was a co-founder of He Taonga Films in 1992, and produced and directed the award-winning short film Don’t Go Past with Your Nose in the Air in 1992. Selwyn also directed the Maori language film version of The Merchant of Venice in 2001.

Tony Scott

SEAWELL, WALLACE Celebrity photographer Wallace Seawell died in a Los Angeles hospital on May 29, 2007. He was 90. Seawell was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 16, 1916. He studied photography and served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, working on nearly fifty training films. After the war he began taking photos for magazines and film studios. He photographed such stars as Lucille Ball, Lana Turner, Doris Day, George Burns, Bette Davis, and Katharine Hepburn. He also took pictures of recording stars Peggy Lee, Diana Ross, and Johnny Mathis for their album covers.

Don Selwyn

SEMBENE, OUSMANE Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene died at his home in Dakar, Senegal, after a long illness on June 10, 2007. He was 84. Sembene was born in the Casamance region of southern Senegal on January 1, 1923. He worked in various

337 jobs before serving in the French army during World War II. He later studied filmmaking at Moscow’s Gorky Studios and began making short films in the early 1960s. His early shorts include The Sonhrai Empire (1963) and Niaye (1964). Sembene, who viewed filmmaking as a medium that could reach a wider audience in Africa than literature, directed his debut feature, Black Girl, in 1965. Considered the father of African cinema, he helmed ten features and numerous short films during his career. Recognized internationally, he earned awards at such prestigious festivals as Venice and Cannes. His films include Borom Sarret (1966), The Money Order (aka Mandabi) (1968), Tauw (1970), Emitai (aka God of Thunder (1971), Xala (aka The Curse) (1975), Ceddo (aka Outsiders (1977), The Camp at Thiaroye (1987), Guelwaar (1992), Faat Kine (2000), and Moolaade (2004).

Ousmane Sembene

SENTIERI, JOE Italian singer and actor Joe Sentieri died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a hospital in Pescara, Italy, on March 26, 2007. He was 82. He was born Rino Luigi Sentieri in Genoa, Italy, on March 3, 1925. He began his career as a singer in Italy in the late 1950s, scoring hits with the songs “Ritroviamoci” and “Milioni di Scintille,” “Quando Vien la Sera,” and “Uno Dei Tanti.” He also appeared frequently in Italian films during the 1960s, with such credis as Caccia al Marito (1960), San Remo: The Big Challenge (1960),

Joe Sentieri

2007 • Obituaries

A Qualcuna Piace Calvo (1960), Howlers of the Dock (1960), The Two Rivals (1960), Io Bacio ... tu Baci (1961), Beauty on the Beach (1961), The Shortest Day (1962), Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), Three Nights of Love (1964), and The Most Beautiful Wife (1970).

SERRAULT, MICHEL French actor Michel Serrault died in Honfleur, France, after a long illness on July 29, 2007. He was 79. Serrault was born in Brunoy, France, on January 24, 1928. He was best known in the United States for his role as Albin Mougeotte in the 1978 French comedy film La Cage aux Folles. He began his film career in the mid–1950s, and appeared in numerous features over the next fifty years. Serrault’s many film credits include Peek-a-Boo (1954), Diabolique (1955), Naughty Girls (1956), Life Is Beautiful (1956), The Terror with Women (1956), Lovers and Thieves (1957), Adorables Demons (1957), Musee Grevin (1958), Le Nai aux Quarante Enfants (1958), Clara et les Mechants (1958), Nina (1959), Oh! Que Mambo (1959), The Bureaucrats (1959), Vous n’avez rien a Declarer? (1959), Love and the Frenchwoman (1960), Candide (1960), My Wife Is a Panther (1961), The American Beauty (1961), The Dance (1962), Love on a Pillow (1962), How to Succeed in Love (1962), Moonlight in Maubeuge (1962), Three Fables of Love (1962), We Will Go to Deauville (1962), Clementine Cherie (1963), How Do You Like My Sister? (1963), Carom Shots (1963), Bebert and the Train (1963), Salad by the Roots (1964), Hard Boiled Ones (1964), Male Hunt (1964), Jaloux comme un Tigre (1964), Le Petit Monstre (1965), Les Enquiquineurs (1965), When the Peasants Pass (1965), Les Baratineurs (1965), The Real Bargain (1965), Me and the Forty Year Old Man (1965), How Not to Rob a Department Store (1965), The Double Bed (1965), La Tete du Client (1965), Du mou dons la Gachette (1966), Les Combinards (1966), The Boss of Champignol (1966), King of Hearts (1966), The Madman of Lab Four (1967), Le Grand Bidule (1967), Order of the Daisy (1967), Breaking It Up (1968), Mais qu’est-ce qui fait Courir les Crocodiles? (1969), Un Merveilleux Parfum d’Oseille (1969), Call Me Mathilde (1969), Cry of the Cormoran (1970), Ces Messieurs de la Gachette (1970), La Liberte en Croupe (1970), The Annuity (1972), Everybody He Is Nice, Everybody He Is Beautiful (1972), A Murder Is a Murder (1972), Me, I Want to Have Dough (1973), La Belle Affaire (1973), The Big Store (1973), The Down-in-theHole Gang (1974), Chinese in Paris (1974), Bloody Murder (1974), La Gueule de l’Emploi (1974), No Pockets in a Shroud (1974), C’est pas Parce qu’on a rien a dire qu’il faut Fermer sa Gueule... (1975), The Red Ibis (1975), Operation Lady Marlene (1975), La Situation est Grave ... Mais pas Deseperee (1976), Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978), Other People’s Money (1978), Birds of a Feather (1978), L’Esprit de Famille (1979), The Associate (1979), The Other One’s Mug (1979), Cold Cuts (1979), Heads or Tails (1980), Il Lupo e l’Agnello (1980), Malevil (1981), The Inquisitor (1981), Nestor Burma, Shock Detective (1982), The Hatter’s Ghost (1982), The Roaring Forties (1982), Quarter to Two Before Jesus Christ (1982), Deadly Circuit (1983), Le Bon Plaisir (1984), Kill the Referee (1984), Good King Dagobert (1984), Liberte,

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Egalite, Choucroute (1985), Les Rois du Gag (1985), He Died with His Eyes Open (1985), La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985), They’ve Killed Her! (1986), Le Miracule (1987), Ennemis Intimes (1987), No Harm Intended (1988), Bonjour l’Angoisse (1988), Let Sleeping Cops Lie (1988), Love Comedy (1989), Merry Christmas ... Happy New Year (1989), Docteur Petiot (1990), The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea (1991), City for Sale (1992), Room Service (1992), Old Rascal (1992), Bonsoir (1994), Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud (1995), Happiness Is in the Field (1995), Beaumarchais the Scoundrel (1996) as King Louis XV, Assassin(s) (1997), Artemisia (1997), The Swindle (1997), The Comedian (1997), The Children of the Marshland (1999), Marty’s World (2000), The Libertine (2000), Les Acteurs (2000), Belphecor, Phantom of the Louvre (2001), The Girl from Paris (2001), Vajont— La Diga del Disonore (2001), 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (2002), The Butterfly (2002), Le Furet (2003), Albert est Mechant (2004), Local Call (2004), Les Nouveaux Refus (2004), Joyeux Noel (2005), Grabuge! (2005), Les Enfants du Pays (2006), Antonio Vivaldi, un Prince a Venise (2006), Le Benevole (2006), and Have Mercy on Us All (2007). Serrault also appeared on television in productions of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1968), Le Passe-Muraille (1977), Les Folies Offenbach (1977), La Grace (1978), Le Voyageur Imprudent (1982), L’Huissier (1991), Heloise (1991), Le Secret du Petit Milliard (1992), L’Affaire Dominici (2003), Les Nouveaux Refus (2004), Monsieur Leon (2006), and L’Avare (2007).

Michel Serrault

SETON, FRANK British character actor Frank Seton died in Rosecare, Cornwall, England, on February 28, 2007. He was 88. Seton was born Francis Poupart in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, on March 29, 1918. He began his career on stage in the late 1930s, and continued acting for the next sixty years. Seton was featured in the 1962 film Strongroom, and appeared on television in small roles in Quatermas and the Pit, Suspense, Z Cars, Doctor Who, No Hiding Place, Dixon of Dock Green, Detective, The Wednesday Play, Compact, The Two Ronnies, Rumpole of the Bailey, Ghost Squad, Roads to Freedom, Escape, and Maybury.

SEVRE -RICHMOND, LORRAINE Television script supervisor and director Lorraine Sevre-Richmond died of cancer in Sherman Oaks, California, on June 21, 2007. She was 61. Sevre-Richmond was born on September 21, 1945. She began her career working as a typist at CBS in 1964. She later served as a script supervisor for such television series as Maude, Love, Sidney, Gimme a Break, Dear John, and Ellen. SevreRichmond also directed several episodes of Ellen DeGeneres’ comedy series Ellen in the mid–1990s. SEWELL, GEORGE British character actor George Sewell died in England on April 1, 2007. He was 82. Sewell was born in Hoxton, in the East End of London, on August 31, 1924. He worked in odd jobs in the 1940s and 1950s before making his acting debut at the age of 35 with Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop in a 1960 stage production of the musical Fings Ain’t Wot They Used to Be. He appeared in several more productions with Littlewood, and was soon appearing in films and on television. Sewell’s numerous film credits include Sparrows Can’t Sing (1963), This Sporting Life (1963), The Informer (1963), Deadlier Than the Male (1966), Kaleidoscope (1966), Robbery (1967), Poor Cow (1967), The Vengeance of She (1968), The Haunted House of Horror (1969), Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969), Get Carter (1971), Diamonds on Wheels (1974), Operation Daybreak (1975), Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (1975), The Seal of Dracula (1978), Running Blind (1979), If You Go Down in the Woods Today (1981), and Let’s Stick Together (1998). Sewell was also featured in television productions of The Frighteners (1965), Up the Junction (1965), The Coming Out Party (1965), Little Master Mind (1966), The Voices in the Park (1967), The Profile of a Gentleman (1967), The Edwardians (1972), Home and Away (1972), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) as Mendel, Crime Story (1979), Wet Job (1981), Bleak House (1985), The Fix (1997), and Harry and the Wrinklies (1999). Sewell starred as Detective Inspector Brogan in the police series Z Cars from 1965 to 1967, and was Sammy Carson in Paul Temple from 1970 to 1971. Sewell was also featured as Col. Alec Freeman in the science fiction series U.F.O. from 1970 to 1972, and was Detective Chief Inspector Alan Craven in Special Branch from 1973 to 1974. He also starred as Detective Superintendent Frank Cottam in The Detectives from 1993 to 1996. His other television credits include episodes of Gideon’s Way, The Power Game in the recurring role of Frank Hagadan, Redcap, The Man in Room 17, Mr. Rose, Man in a Suitcase, The Informer, The Wednesday Play, Detective, The Caesars, ThirtyMinute Theatre, My Partner, the Ghost, Dixon of Dock Green, Shadows of Fear, Public Eye, The Adventurer, Man at the Top, Softly Softly, Rising Damp, Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, Don’t Forget to Write!, ITV Playhouse, The Sweeney, The Gentle Touch, Minder, The Chinese Detective, Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense production of Mark of the Devil in 1984, C.A.T.S. Eyes, Bullman, Home James!, Doctor Who, Screen One, The Upper Hand, Heartbeat, Doctors, The Bill, and Casualty. He also continued to appear on stage, touring in recent years in

339 productions of Who Killed Agatha Christie? (2002) and Francis Durbridge’s The Gentle Hook (2004).

2007 • Obituaries

(1985), The Lady from Yesterday (1985), Harry’s Hong Kong (1987), The Three Kings (1987), The Diamond Trap (1988), and Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989). His other television credits include such series as Medical Center, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Young Dr. Kildare, Assignment Vienna, Adam’s Rib, Movin’ On, Adams of Eagle Lake, Executive Suite, CHiPs, 240-Robert, Trapper John, M.D., Dynasty, Hagen, Vega$, Aloha Paradise, Strike Force, Matt Houston, Hollywood Beat, Life with Lucy, Houston Knights, Hearts Are Wild, and The Watcher. Shaffer formed the talent agency Upstart Management in 1994 to work with young actors.

SHAFFER, GARY Casting director Gary Shaffer died of cancer in Los Angeles, California, on December 3, 2007. He was 72. Shaffer was born in Hollywood, California, in 1935. He began working as a casting director for film and television in the late 1960s after serving in the U.S. Air Force. His numerous credits include the films Melinda (1972), Harry in Your Pocket (1973), Norman ... Is That You? (1976), The Seniors (1978), and Kiss and Be Killed (1991). Shaffer also worked frequently in television, casting such tele-films as Heat of Anger (1972), Assignment: Munich (1972), Hawkins on Murder (1973), Steambath (1973), Shirts/Skins (1973), Winter Kill (1974), The Chinese Prime Minister (1974), The Lady’s Not for Burning (1974), The Godchild (1974), Bronk (1975), The Dream Makers (1975), Shell Game (1975), The Deadly Tower (1975), Babe (1975), Shark Kill (1976), Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1976), Woman of the Year (1976), How the West Was Won (1977), Lucan (1977), The Hostage Heart (1977), In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan (1977), The Power Within (1979), She’s Dressed to Kill (1979), Reunion (1980), Desperate Voyage (1980), Of Mice and Rabbits (1981), Working (1982), Don’t Go to Sleep (1982), Shooting Stars (1983), Dark Mirror (1984), Velvet (1984), Finder of Lost Loves (1984), MacGruder and Loud

SHAVELSON, MEL Film director and writer Melville Shavelson died at his home in Studio City, California, on August 8, 2007. He was 90. Shavelson was born in New York City on April 1, 1917. He began working in films in the early 1940s. He contributed additional dialog to the 1941 film Ice-Capades. He went on to script such films as The Princess and the Pirate (1944), Wonder Man (1945), Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), Where There’s Life (1947), Sorrowful Jones (1949), It’s a Great Feeling (1949), Always Leave Them Laughing (1949), The Great Lover (1949), The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1950), Riding High (1950), On Moonlight Bay (1951), I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951), Double Dynamite (1951), Room for One More (1952), April in Paris (1952), Trouble Along the Way (1953), and Living It Up (1954). Shavelson wrote and directed the 1955 Bob Hope film The Seven Little Foys, and earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay. He also wrote and directed Hope in 1957’s Beau James and Cary Grant and Sophia Loren in 1958’s Houseboats, sharing an Oscar nomination with Jack Rose for the script. He continued to write, direct and sometimes produce such films as The Five Pennies (1959), It Started in Naples (1960), On the Double (1961), The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962), A New Kind of Love (1963), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, The War Between Men and Women (1972), and Mixed Company (1974). Shavelson also worked in television, scripting episodes of Goodyear Theatre, Accidental Family, and Comedy Playhouse.

Gary Sha›er (with Tina Marie)

Mel Shavelson

George Sewell

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He wrote and directed the 1969 comedy series My World and Welcome to It starring William Windom. He also wrote the tele-films Three Coins in the Fountain (1970) and Allan (1971), and wrote and directed such tele-films and mini-series as Here Comes the Judge (1972), The Legend of Valentino (1975), The Great Houdini (1976), Ike: The War Years (1978), Ike (1979), The Other Woman (1983), and Deceptions (1985). Shavelson was a three time president of the Writers Guild of America West in the 1970s and 1980s. He also authored several books including a collaboration with Bob Hope, Don’t Shoot, It’s Only Me, and the recent autobiography How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying, P.S.— You Can’t!

SHAW , DAVID Film and television writer David Shaw died in his sleep after a long illness at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on July 27, 2007. He was 90. He was born Samuel David Shamforoff in Brooklyn, New York, on August 27, 1916. He served in the Army Air Force as a Morse Code operator during World War II. After the war he began writing for radio before following his brother, novelist Irwin Shaw, to Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He became a prolific writer for television, scripting episodes of such series as Actor’s Studio, American Circle Theatre, Out There, Mister Peepers, Studio One, Goodyear Television Playhouse, Medallion Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, Star Tonight, Producer’s Showcase, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, General Electric Theatre, Playhouse 90, Bus Stop, and Shane. He was also a writer and story editor for the acclaimed television series The Defenders in the early 1960s. Shaw also scripted two Broadway musical comedies, Redhead and Tovarich, and wrote the films If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) and King, Queen, Knave (1972). He also scripted the tele-films Mirror, Mirror, Off the Wall (1969), The Judge and Jake Wyler (1972), Partners in Crime (1973), The First Woman President (1974), Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur (1976), and Stunt Seven (1979). His last work for television was several episodes of The Mississippi in 1983. He was also featured in the 1998 documentary about eight aging Hollywood writers, Funny Old Guys.

David Shaw

SHAWKAT , HALA Leading Syrian actress Hala Shawkat died of brain cancer at the al-Saadeh home for the elderly in Syria on April 28, 2007. She was 75. She began her career in films in the 1950s in productions by Egyptian director Atef Salem. She was best known for her role as the mother in the Syrian television program Om Nassar.

Hala Shawkat

SHEDLO, RONNIE Film producer Ronnie Shedlo died in London on April 2, 2007. He was 66. Shedlo was born in Beachwood, California, on May 1, 1940. He became involved in films as a teenager, working as a secretary and assistant to Errol Flynn during the last three years of the actor’s life. He went to England in the early 1960s where he made his debut as a producer with Bryan Forbes’ The Whisperers in 1966. He also produced the 1969 film The Reckoning. Shedlo returned to the United States in the early 1970s where he was involved in the production of The Day of the Locust (1975). He also produced the tele-films A Great American Tragedy (1972) and Letters from Frank (1979). He also produced the 1981 film Back Roads starring Sally Field. He returned to England later in the decade to produce the films The Dressmaker (1988) and Carrington (1995). SHEETS, J.C. Broadway actor J.C. Sheets, who made his career playing roles in the musicals Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera, died of an aneurysm on February 4, 2007. He was 53. Sheets was born on May 4, 1953. He began his stage career in 1988, playing the role of Brujon in the hit musical Les Miserables. He went on to perform some 12 different ensemble roles during his eight year, on again, off again run with the production. He was the understudy and alternate for the lead role of Jean Valjean and portrayed the character on stage in over 300 Broadway productions. He also acted Off-Broadway and toured with such productions as Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan, Annie Get Your Gun with Debbie Reynolds, and Camelot with Richard Harris. Sheets later became the dresser in charge of the costumes worn by the actor portraying the Phantom in the mega-musical The Phantom of the Opera, working with such actors as Hugh Panaro and Howard McGillin. He worked backstage with the production until his death.

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NWA in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s he wrestled with the Global promotion and with various independent groups in the Texas area. A leg injury curtailed his career in the 1990s and he retired after his final match in 2000. Sheldon also appeared on television in several episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger during the 1990s.

J.C. Sheets

SHELDON, BARBARA Actress Barbara Sheldon, who appeared in several films during the 1930s, died on October 19, 2007. She was 95. Sheldon began her career on film at RKO Pictures , appearing in the comedies Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles (1933) and Fits in a Fiddle (1933). She was featured with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the hit 1933 musical Flying Down to Rio. Her contract with RKO expired and she moved to B pictures. She starred as Betty Benson, John Wayne’s leading lady, in the 1934 western The Lucky Texan. With film offers becoming scarce, Sheldon subsequently retired from the screen.

Barbara Sheldon (with John Wayne)

SHELDON, DAVE Dave Sheldon, who wrestled as the Angel of Death in the 1980s and early 1990s, died at his home in Bedford, Texas, on November 24, 2007. He was 43. Sheldon was born in Arlington, Texas, in 1963. He began his career in California in the early 1980s and competed as part of the Powerteam USA group with such future stars as Sting and the Ultimate Warrior. He began wrestling as the Angel of Death in Canada’s Stampede Wrestling promotion. Huge, with a shaved head and bushy mustache, he made him a formidable villain in Stampede, World Class Championship Wrestling, and Universal Wrestling Federation, where he served as a bodyguard for the Freebirds. Sheldon also wrestled as the Russian Assassin and the first Black Scorpion with Jim Crockett’s

Dave Sheldon

SHELDON, SIDNEY Oscar-winning screenwriter Sidney Sheldon, who topped the charts as a bestselling novelist and created the classic 1960s television series I Dream of Jeannie, died of complications from pneumonia in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 30, 2007. He was 89. He was born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago, Illinois, on February 11, 1917. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1930s, where he worked at Universal Studios as a script reader. He also wrote screenplays, often teaming with fellow writer Ben Roberts. There first script sale resulted in the film South of Panama from PRC in 1941. Usually teamed with Roberts, he continued to script such films as Gambling Daughters (1941), Borrowed Hero (1941), Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941), Fly-by-Night (1942), and She’s in the Army (1942). He served briefly in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II until being discharged on medical grounds. He and Roberts wrote the libretto for the hit Broadway revival of The Merry Widow in 1943. He had less success with the subsequent musicals Jackpot (1944) and Dream with Music (1944). He returned to Hollywood to script the popular screen comedy The Boxer and the Bobbysoxer (1947) starring Cary Grant and Shirley Temple. Sheldon won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for his work. He followed this by working on the script for the popular musical Easter Parade (1948), starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Sheldon also scripted the films The Barkleys of Broadway (1950), Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Three Guys Named Mike (1951), No Questions Asked (1951), Rich, Young and Pretty (1951), Just This Once (1952), and Remains to Be Seen (1953). He wrote and directed the films Dream Wife (1953) and The Buster Keaton Story (1957), and scripted You’re Never Too Young (1955), The Birds and the Bees (1956), Anything Goes (1956), Pardners (1956), All in a Night’s Work (1961), and Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962). He won a Tony Award for his 1959 Broadway musical Red-

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head, and began writing for television in the early 1960s. Sheldon created the classic sit-coms The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie. His first novel, The Naked Face, was published in 1970 with little notice, but his second, The Other Side of Midnight was a bestseller, staying a record 53 weeks on the New York Times list. He wrote 18 novels in all, most of which were adapted for film or television. The Other Side of Midnight was filmed in 1977, and Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline (1979) starred Audrey Hepburn. Sheldon also created the popular husband and wife detective series Hart to Hart in 1979, which starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. The Naked Face was adapted to film in 1984, and many of his works became tele-films or miniseries including Rage of Angels (1983), Master of the Game (1984), If Tomorrow Comes (1986), Windmills of the Gods (1988), Memories of Midnight (1991), The Sands of Time (1992), A Stranger in the Mirror (1993), and Nothing Lasts Forever (1995). Sheldon’s later works include the novel Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2004), and a memoir, The Other Side of Me (2005). He was married to actress Jorja Curtright from 1951 until her death in 1985.

Sheridan was born in San Francisco, California, on April 17, 1915. She began her career in Hollywood as a dancer, appearing in small roles in the films Strike Me Pink (1936), Florida Special (1936), and My American Wife (1936). She soon graduated to somewhat larger roles in such features as F Man (1936), Three Married Men (1936), The Plainsman (1936), and College Holiday (1936). She was William Boyd’s leading lady in Hopalong Cassidy Returns in 1936, and again starred opposite Boyd in 1937’s Hills of Old Wyoming. She subsequently retired from the screen.

SHERRIN, NED British television producer and writer Ned Sherrin died of throat cancer in London on October 1, 2007. He was 76. Sherrin was born in High Ham, Somerset, England, on February 18, 1931. Though trained as a lawyer, he embarked on a career in television as a producer with ATV in the late 1950s. He produced variety programming for the network including the evening magazine program Tonight. He was best known as the creator of the early 1960s satirical BBC news show That Was The Week That Was, which was often referred to as TW3. Sherrin also produced the satirical series Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life and BBC-3 in 1964. He began producing films later in the decade, with such credits as Up the Junction (1968), The Virgin Soldiers (1969), Every Home Should Have One (1970), Girl Stroke Boy (1971) which he also scripted, Up Pompeii (1971), Up the Chastity Belt (1971), Rentadick (1972), Up the Front (1972), The Alf Garnett Saga (1972), and The National Health (1973). Sherrin also worked frequently on stage and continued his career in television, producing and directing The Great Inimicable Mr. Dickens (1970) and The Cobblers of Umbridge (1973). He hosted the quiz show We Interrupt This Week in 1978 and was host of the radio program Loose Ends from 1985 until poor health forced his retirement in early 2007.

Sidney Sheldon

SHERIDAN , GAIL Actress Gail Sheridan, who was William Boyd’s leading lady in two Hopalong Cassidy films in the 1930s, died of complications from a stroke on November 17, 2007. She was 96.

Ned Sherrin

Gail Sheridan

SHERRY, CLARICE Actress Clarice Sherry died of an aneurysm in Los Angeles on November 1, 2007. She was 93. Sherry was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 23, 1914. She was featured in a handful of films in the late 1940s including The Girl Friend (1935), One in a Million (1936), The Emperor’s Candle-

343 sticks (1937), Thin Ice (1937), Man-Proof (1938) as one of Myrna Loy’s bridesmaids, Kentucky Moonshine (1938), Honolulu (1939), and Fast and Furious (1939). Sherry was also seen in a small role in the 1940 science fiction serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe before retiring from the screen.

SHERWOOD, PHYLLIS Phyllis Sowicki Spivak, who, as Phyllis Sherwood, was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month for the July 1963 centerfold, died of lung cancer in Florida on April 26, 2007. She was 69. She was born in Niagara Falls, New York, on September 30, 1937. She moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1959, where she worked as a model and a bunny for the Playboy Club in Miami. The strawberry blonde continued to model after her centerfold appearance until she retired to raise a family in the late 1960s.

2007 • Obituaries

2007. She was 79. Shiozawa was born in Japan on April 1, 1928. She was a popular actress in Japan from the 1950s, often appearing in supporting roles. She was also noted for her work on television and for her flamboyant hairstyles and sunglasses. Shiozawa was seen in the films Sazae-San (1956), Three Dolls in College (1959), Desperate Outpost (1959), The Dangerous Kiss (1960), New Ladies’ University (1960), The Human Vapor (1960), Salary Man Chushingura, Part 2 (1961), Romance Express (1961), Playboy President (1961), Kaei (1961), A Woman’s Place (1962), Home-Brewed Tatsu (1962), 3 Gentlemen from Tokyo (1962), A Woman’s Life (1963), The Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman (1963), Operation Crazy Hong Kong (1963), Five Gents Trick Book (1965), Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965), Rise Against the Sword (1966), Operation Crazy Gold (1967), Mexican Free-for-All (1968), Konto Five-Five’s Adventure in Outer Space (1969), Dodes’ka-den (1970), The Human Revolution (1973), Hurry, Young Ones! Tomorrow Never Waits (1974), Go for It! Young Guy (1975), The Gate of Youth (1975), Sure Death!, Brown, You Bounder! (1985), Lupin III: The Golden Legend of Babylon (1985), Time and Tide 2 (1985), Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion (1985), and Tokyo Pop (1988).

Phyllis Sherwood

SHILOH, YITZHAK MICHAEL Israeli actor Yitzhak Michael Shiloh died of a cerebral hemorrhage as a result of a fall on January 15, 2007. He was 87. Shiloh was a popular star in Israel, appearing in such films as Pillar of Fire (1959), A Night in Tiberias (1966), Motive to Kill (1967), The Prodigal Son (1968), The Rooster (1971), Arianna (1971), and The Distance (1994).

Toki Shiozawa (as the Witch Iguana from Rainbowman)

SHORE, ELAINE Character actress Elaine Shore died of complications from tongue cancer in

Yitzhak Michael Shiloh

SHIOZAWA , TOKI Japanese actress Toko Shiozawa died of stomach cancer in Japan on May 17,

Elaine Shore

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Rockville, New York, on March 19, 2007. She was 78. She was born Elaine Boorvay in Chicago, Illinois, on March 4, 1929. She began her career on stage in the Washington area in the early 1950s, and was co-founder of the Actors Company there. She moved to New York in the late 1960s, where she performed in Off-Broadway productions. Shore appeared regularly as secretary Felicia Farfiss in the CBS television sit-com Arnie with Herschel Bernardi in 1970. She also appeared in several films including Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), The Eiger Sanction (1975) with Clint Eastwood, and The Sentinel (1977). She was also seen in the telefilm It Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy (1974), and episodes of Love, American Style and Kojak.

SHOULDERS, JIM Rodeo cowboy Jim Shoulders, who held the record of 16 World Championship titles from 1949 to 1959, died of heart disease and kidney failure in Henryetta, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2007. He was 79. He was born James Arthur Shoulders in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 13, 1928, and began riding bulls by the age of 14. He was soon touring countrywide in competitions, specializing in bareback bronco and bull riding. Shoulders became known as the Babe Ruth of professional rodeo, earning world championship, crowns and triple crowns. His PRCA World Championships include five World All-Around Rodeo Champion Cowboy awards (1949, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959), seven Bull Rider awards (1951, 1954–1959), and four Bareback Rider awards (1950, 1956, 1957, 1958). He was the first competitor to win three events at the world championships (Bareback, Bull Riding and All Around). He was featured in Life magazine and was dubbed “Mister Broken Bones” due to his numerous injuries, including broken ribs, both collarbones, both arms (several times), and having 27 facial bones crushed by an on-coming bull. Shoulders became an icon of the All-American cowboy, appearing on television commercials for Miller beer with former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin.

Jim Shoulders

SHURTLEFF, MICHAEL Leading Broadway casting director Michael Shurtleff died of complications from lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles on January 28, 2007. He was 86. Shurtleff was born in

Oak Park, Illinois, on July 3, 1920. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama after the war. He worked as an assistant to producers on several Broadway productions in the 1950s before becoming casting director for David Merrick in 1959. He cast many of Merrick’s Broadway hits including A Taste of Honey, Do Re Mi, Carnival!, Irma La Douce, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, and Oliver! Shurtleff founded the independent service Casting Consultants in the early 1960s. He was casting director for the musicals 1776, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, and Chicago. He also cast the film versions of 1776 (1972) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Shurtleff was instrumental in furthering the early careers of such stars as Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Bette Midler, Gene Hackman, and Ben Vereen. He was also the author of several plays produced Off-Broadway including Call Me by My Rightful Name (1961) and Sailing (1979). He was also a respected acting teacher and the author of the 1978 text Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part.

Michael Shurtle›

SICKS, HILDE German actress Hilde Sicks died in Germany on July 31, 2007. She was 86. Sicks was born in Hamburg, Germany, on November 25, 1920. She was featured on television in such productions as I Luv und Lee die Liebe (1961), De Dolle Deern (1962), Kein Auskommen mit dem Einkommen (1966), Otto und die Nackte Welle (1968), Ein Jahr ohne Sonntag (1969), Schneider Norig (1969), Mensch sein muss der Mensch (1970), Trautes Heim (1970), Mein Mann, der Fahrt zur See (1971), Vier Frauen um Kray (1973), Michel und Micaela (1974), Tratsch im Treppenhaus (1974), Wenn der Hahn Kraht (1976), Rum aus Jamaika (1977), Alt Frankfurt (1977), Der Politische Bock (1978), Willems Vermachtnis (1978), Ein Man mit Charakter (1979), Spate Liebe geht ins Geld (1981), Hamburger Bier (1981), Doktur Puust (1982), Da Piratenstuck (1982), Bleibt alles in der Familie (1983), Der Lorbeerkranz (1983), Schone Aussichten (1985), Tante Tilly (1986), Wenn du Geld Hast (1988), Der Burgermeisterstuhl (1989), Manda Voss wird 106 (1993), Nebel im Paradies (1994), Die Lokalbahn (1994), Der Oleanderpapagei (1995), Die Ohnsorgs (1996), Rommee zu Dritt (1997),

345 Morgen wird alles Anders (2000), and Ein Fall fur Himmelbett (2003).

Hilde Sicks

2007 • Obituaries

Day of the Warrior (1996), and L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return to Savage Beach (1998).

SIEGEL, JOEL Film and entertainment critic Joel Siegel died of colon cancer in New York City on June 29, 2007. He was 63. Siegel was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 7, 1943. A graduate of UCLA, he began his career as a radio newscaster. He also worked in advertising and as a book critic, invented ice cream for Baskin Robbins, and wrote jokes for Robert F. Kennedy’s campaign. He moved to New York in the early 1970s, where he became a film and theater critic for station WABC-TV. He was also seen regularly as the entertainment critic for Good Morning America from the early 1980s. He was noted for his coverage of the Oscars, hosting Joel Siegel’s Road to the Academy Awards for the past decade. He appeared in a cameo role in the 1982 film Deathtrap and an episode of television’s Hotel in 1984. Siegel also served as a guest critic for several episodes of Siskel & Ebert & the Movies.

SIDARIS, ANDY Andy Sidaris, the long-time director of ABC television’s Wild World of Sports who became known for his action films starring scantilyclad and heavily-armed beauties, died of throat cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on March 7, 2007. He was 76. Sidaris was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 20, 1931. He was a pioneer director of television sports shows, working on the first Wild World of Sports and continuing with the program for the next 25 years. He also directed NFL Monday Night Football, and earned an Emmy Award for his work directing televising the Summer Olympics in 1969. He began directing dramatic television in the 1970s, helming episodes of Kojak, Gemini Man, and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. He made his feature film debut producing, directing, and writing the 1973 action film Stacey. He and his wife, Arlene, who served as his production partner, soon began making a series of action films, many of which featured a bevy of Playboy Playmates as stars. What Sidaris’ films lacked in plot, they made up for in action and skin, and proved quite popular on the video market. His films include Seven (1979), Malibu Express (1985), Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987), Picasso Trigger (1988), Savage Beach (1989), Guns (1990), Do or Die (1991), Hard Hunted (1992), Fit to Kill (1993),

SIEVEWRIGHT, ALAN Opera producer Alan Sievewright died of organ failure after a long illness in London on January 23, 2007. He was 72. Sievewright was born on in Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 12, 1934, and raised in London. He began his career working at Warner Bros. as an assistant costume designer on such films as The Rebel (1961) and The Young Ones (1961). He

Andy Sidaris

Alan Sievewright

Joel Siegel

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began producing concerts in London featuring such operatic stars as Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Martina Arroyo, Jose Carreras, and many others. He became a close friend of opera star Maria Callas and co-produced a television documentary on her. He later coached actress Jane Seymour when she earned an Emmy Award for her role as Callas in the 1988 tele-film Onassis: The Richest Man in the World. Sievewright produced several other television documentaries including The Tales of Helpmann, about dancer and choreographer Robert Helpmann, and profiles of Puccini, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Montserrat Caballe. One of his final projects was an 80th birthday tribute to Dame Joan Sutherland, which was televised as part of the BBC documentary Joan Sutherland: The Reluctant Diva in 2006.

SILLS, BEVERLY Coloratura soprano Beverly Sills, one of America’s leading opera singers in the 20th century, died of lung cancer at her home in Manhattan, New York, on July 2, 2007. She was 78. She was born Belle Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn, New York, on May 25, 1929. She began singing at an early age and was performing on the radio program Our Gal Sunday at the age of ten. She made her operatic debut with the Philadelphia Civic Opera in the 1947 production of Carmen. She continued to perform with touring opera companies throughout the 1950s. She joined the New York City Opera in 1955, starring in such works as Die Fledermaus, The Ballad of Baby Doe and the U.S. premiere of Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza in 1960. Sills received acclaim for her role as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in 1966. She made her debut with La Scala in Milan, Italy, in 1969 and at London’s Covent Garden in 1970. She made her Metropolitan debut in a production of the Siege of Corinth in 1975 and performed there for five seasons. She performed in more than seventy roles during her career and made recordings of more than 18 operas. She performed frequently on television, including productions of The Daughter of the Regiment (1974), Roberto Devereux (1975), The Barber of Seville (1976), La Traviata (1976) and Manon (1977). She was also seen on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Disneyland, The Merv Griffin Show, The Muppet Show, and the 1980 special Beverly Sills in Concert. She earned four Emmy Awards

for her interview show Lifestyles with Beverly Sills on NBC in the late 1970s. Sills wrote her autobiography, titled from her childhood nickname, Bubbles: A SelfPortrait in 1976. She retired from the stage in 1980 to become the administrator of the New York City Opera, and was instrumental in reversing its poor financial circumstances. She stepped down in 1989 and became chairman of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1994. She retired in 2002 but was persuaded to become chairman of the Metropolitan Opera later that year. Sills was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 1985.

SIMIC, SLAVKO Serbian actor Slavko Simic died of cancer in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 20, 2007. He was 83. Simic was born in Novi Becej, Serbia, Yugoslavia, on July 21, 1924. He began his film career in post–World War II Yugoslavia, appearing in such films as This Nation Will Live (1947), Factory B (1958), Three Girls Named Anna (1959), Under the Same Sky (1964), Andremo in Citta (1966), Pre Rata (1966), The Girl in the Park (1968), Stain on His Conscience (1968), Hororscope (1969), Hitler from Our Street (1975), Daredevil’s Time (1977), Moment (1978), Pavijon VI (1978), Drzanje za Vazduh (1985), Three Summer Days (1997), and Siroti Mali Hrcki 2010 (2003). Simic was also a familiar face on Serbian television, appearing in such productions as Mica i Mikica (1961), Transmigration of Souls (1964), Sova (1965), Protekcija (1970), Nikola Tesla (1977) as Mark Twain, Slom (1979), Tren (1980), Otkos (1984), Portret Ilije Pevca (1988), and Violinski Kljuc (1990).

Slavko Simic

Beverly Sills

SIMON, MAIA French actress Maia Simon died in a Zurich, Switzerland, clinic by doctor-assisted suicide following a long bout with cancer on September 19, 2007. She was 67. Simon was born in Marseilles, France, on November 10, 1939. She was best known for her roles on French television, appearing in productions of Les Celibataires (1962), Mademoiselle de la Ferte (1965), Les Boussardei (1972), L’Amour du Metier (1973), Soiree Courteine (1974), Peut-etre en Automne (1976), Jean-Christophe (1978), Un Ours pas Comme les Autres (1978), Histoires de Voyous: Dormez Pigeons! (1978), La Nuit de l’Ete (1979), La Belle Vie (1979), Les

347 Liaisons Dangereuses (1980), Dans la Citadelle (1983), Les Uns et les Autres (1983), Le Crime de Mathilda (1985), Clemence Aletti (1985), and Jo et Milou (1992). She was also seen in the series Thierry ia Fronde, Les Habits Noirs, Les Dossiers du Professeur Morgan, Messieurs les Jures, Commissaire Moulin, Brigade des Mineurs, Les Amours de la Belle Epogue, Les Guerre des Prives, and Un Flic Nomme Lecoeur. Simon was also featured in several films during her career including La Goulve (1972), We Will All Meet in Paradise (1977), Bolero (1981), and The Witnesses (2007).

Maia Simon

SIMPSON, PETER Film and television producer Peter Simpson died of lung cancer in a Toronto, Canada, hospital on June 5, 2007. He was 64. Simpson was born in Scotland in 1943. He began working in films as an executive producer for the Sea Gypsies in 1978. He had a major hit two years later producing the teen slasher film Prom Night, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Simpson went on to produce such films as Melanie (1982), Curtains (1983), High Stakes (1986), Blindside (1986), Higher Education (1987), Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987), Cold Comfort (1989), Norman’s Awesome Experience (1989), Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990) which he also directed, Blown Away (1992), Oh, What a Night (1992), Cold Sweat (1993), The Club (1994), No Contest (1994), Boulevard (1994), Iron Eagle IV (1995), Salt Water Moose (1996), A Brooklyn State of

2007 • Obituaries

Mind (1997), Pale Saints (1997), The Rage (1997), Regeneration (1997), No Contest II (1997), Men with Guns (1997), Grizzly Falls (1999), The Highwayman (2000), The Fourth Angel (2001), Darkness Falling (2002), Fancy Dancing (2002), The Marsh (2006), Succubus (2006), and Almost Heaven (2006). Simpson also worked in television, producing the tele-films Murder by Night (1989), Spenser: Ceremony (1993), and Spencer: Pale Kings and Princes (1994), and the series The Eleventh Hour in 2002. His final credit was as producer for the 2007 mini-series Would Be Kings.

SINGER, AUBREY British television producer Aubrey Singer died in London on May 26, 2007. He was 80. Singer was born in Yorkshire, England, on January 21, 1927. He left school at the age of 17 to work for a company that made training films for the military. He was hired by the BBC in 1949, and was soon producing films for BBC Scotland. He served for several years on staff of the BBC’s New York offices, and was promoted to head the science and features department of the network in 1961. Over the next thirteen years, Singer oversaw production of numerous series, notably Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, in 1973. He became head of BBC2 in 1974, and became director of BBC Radio in 1978. He was promoted to deputy director general and managing director of the BBC in 1982, where he remained until being forced out by his superior, Alasdair Milne, two years later. Rutherford formed his own production company, White City Films, after his discharge and remained managing director until his retirement in 1996.

Aubrey Singer

Peter Simpson

SIPPY, G.P. Indian film producer and director G.P. Sippy, who was best known for his 1975 hit Sholay, died in Mumbai, India, after a long illness on December 25, 2007. He was 93. Sippy was born in Hyderabad, India, to a wealthy family on September 14, 1914. He began working in films in the mid–1950s, scoring a success as director of 1955’s Marine Drive. He also directed the hit film Adil-E-Jahangir in 1955. He produced and directed the films Bhai-Bahen (aka Blackmailer) (1959) and Mr. India (1961), and remained a leading producer over the next two decades with such credits as My Beloved (1965), Brahmachari (1968),

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Bandhan (1969), The Gesture (1971), and Seeta and Geeta (1972). Sippy was best known as producer of the 1972 blockbuster Sholay (aka Flames) with his son Ramesh. He served as chairman of the Film and TV Producers Guild of India on several occasions in the 1970s and 1980s. He also produced the films Trishna (1978), Ahsaas (1979), Shaan (1980), Saagar (1985), Bhrashtachar (1989), Patthar Ke Phool (1991), Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992), Aatish: Feel the Fire (1994), Zamaana Deewana (1995), and Hamesha (1997).

Backlund when he lost his championship to the Iron Sheik in 1983. Skaaland was inducted into WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994.

SKEELS, JERRY Costume designer Jerry Skeels died in Lake Arrowhead, California, on July 24, 2007. He was 68. Skeels was born on August 31, 1938. He began his career as a dancer, performing on stage in more than 50 musicals. He and his partner, Randy McLaughlin, designed costumes for television from the 1980s. They designed the bridal gown for the wedding of Victor and Nikki Newman for the television soap The Young and The Restless in 1984. The duo also appeared on the show as themselves. They earned two Emmy nominations for One West Waikiki (1994) and P.S. I Luv U (1995). They also worked on the tele-film Chameleons (1989) and the 1997 series Night Man. Skeels and McLaughlin also created the Hollywood Graffiti gown, which features the signatures of celebrities outlined in platinum beads. The gown was often used as part of fund raising campaigns to fight AIDS.

G.P. Sippy

SKAALAND, ARNOLD Arnold Skaaland, a leading professional wrestler from the 1950s who later managed WWWF champions Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund in the 1970s and 1980s, died in White Plains, New York, on March 13, 2007. He was 82. Skaaland was born in White Plains on January 21, 1925. He served in the Marines during World War II and was an amateur boxing champion before he entered wrestling in the late 1940s. Known as the Golden Boy, he held the Pacific Coast Championship during his years in the ring in the 1950s. Skaaland teamed with Spiros Arion to hold the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship in 1966. He left active competition to manage Bruno Sammartino during his second title reign in the WWWF in the mid–1970s. He also served as the manager of WWF champion Bob Backlund in the early 1980s, and threw in the towel for

Arnold Skaaland

Jerry Skeels

SKLAR, AL Actor Al Sklar died of complications from pulmonary disease at his home in Sun City West, Arizona, on June 15, 2007. He was 83. Sklar was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1924. He served in the Army Air Force as an aerial gunner trainer during World War II. He moved to California after the war and began performing in local theaters in San Diego in the early 1960s. He appeared in numerous plays over the next four decades. Sklar also appeared as Ted Swan in the 1978 cult classic film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. He was also seen on television in episodes of Mission: Impossible, Silk Stalkings, and Renegade. SKOGMAN , THORE Swedish singer and actor Thore Skogman died of a stroke in Gavle, Sweden, hospital on December 9, 2007. He was 76. Skogman was born in Hallstahammar, Sweden, on March 9, 1931. He made his recording debut in 1955. He was noted for his comic songs that featured strange lyrics sung rapidly. His popular songs include “Froken Fraken,” “Twist till Menuett,” “Min Soliga Dag,” and “Ensam Jag Ar.” Skogman also appeared in several films during his career including Tre Dar I Buren (1963), Tre

349 Dar Pa Luffen (1964), Pang I Bygget (1966), En San Stralande Dag (1967), and Mannen Som Ikke Kunne Le (1968), and starred in the 1967 television series Onkel Thores Stuga.

2007 • Obituaries

Smirnova was born in Russia on February 13, 1915. She appeared in numerous films during her career that spanned more than seven decades. Her film credits include Nastenka Ustinova (1934), My Love (1940), Lad from Our Town (1942), No Greater Love (1943), The Road Home (1946), Miners of the Don (1950), They Have a Motherland (1950), Silver Dust (1953), Lest We Forget (1954), The House I Live In (1957), A Great Life, Part 2 (1958), Three Came Out of the Woods (1959), Three Friends (1962), It Happened at the Police Station (1963), The Marriage of Balzaminov (1964), No Trespassing (1964), Silence (1964), The Mistaken (1966), Dream of an Uncle (1966), White Sun of the Desert (1970), Country House (1973), Rudin (1976), Foam (1979), Carnival (1981), Puteshestviye Budet Priyatnym (1982), Predchuvstviye Lyubvi (1982), Spokoystvie Otmenyaetsya (1983), Veruyu v Lyubov (1986), Loan for a Marriage (1987), and The Hat (1990). She also appeared on Russian television in the 1978 production of Aniskin Again and in the series Dom in 1995.

Thore Skogman

SLOAN, GORDON Gordon Sloan, a contestant on the Australian version of the television reality series Big Brother in 2001, died suddenly of a suspected drug overdose while traveling in Beijing, China, on September 12, 2007. He was 34. He had been admitted to a hospital in Beijing in a coma on September 1, 2007. Sloan was born in New Zealand on October 31, 1972. Sloan was a colorful and outspoken member of the Big Brother household during the show’s first season. He was the fourth contestant voted out of the house that year. Lidia Smirnova

Gordon Sloan

SMIDT , MICHAEL B. Assistant director Michael B. Smidt died in Venice, Florida, on August 10, 2007. He was 47. Smidt was born on February 7,1960. He served as a second assistant director on the television series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and for the tele-films Glory Years (1987), Addicted to His Love (1988), Around the World in 80 Days (1989), False Witness (1989), and For Their Own Good (1993). SMIRNOVA, LIDIYA Russian actress Lidiya Smirnova died in Russia on July 25, 2007. She was 92.

SMITH, ANNA NICOLE Anna Nicole Smith, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year turned actress and reality show star, died at her hotel room in Hollywood, Florida, on February 8, 2007. She was 39. Smith was found unconscious in her sixth floor suite at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino by her personal nurse. Attempts to resuscitate her failed and she was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Mexia, Texas, on November 28, 1967. She married as a teenager and had a son, Daniel, in 1986. She and her husband divorced the following year. Smith worked as a waitress before becoming a topless dancer in Houston in the early 1990s. She was selected to appear on the cover of Playboy magazine in March of 1992 and was their centerfold model, under the name Vickie Smith, several months later. She was named Playmate of the Year in 1993 and began going by the name Anna Nicole Smith. She parlayed her newfound fame to become a model for Guess Jeans and to gain roles in several films. Smith displayed her attributes in the features The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and Naked Gun 331 ⁄ 3: The Final Insult (1994). She stretched her talents in a dual role in the 1995 action film To the Limit, and also appeared in the 1997 direct

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to video release Skyscraper. Smith also made frequent appearances on television, often in cameo roles in such series as The Naked Truth, Mad TV, The Tonight Show, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Sin City Spectacular, Veronica’s Closet, Ally McBeal, N.Y.U.K., The Sharon Osbourne Show, and All of Us. Smith married Texas oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, II, in 1994. The former Yale Law School professor had met Smith during her career as a stripper. At the time of the marriage Marshall was 89 and she was 26. Marshall’s death, after only 14 months of marriage, led to a lengthy court battle between Smith and her stepson E. Pierce Marshall over the huge estate. In a series of seesaw verdicts Smith’s fortunes rose and fell over the next decade. After losing the most recent judgment she won an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. A final resolution was still pending at the time of her death. Smith’s flamboyant lifestyle, which included substance and alcohol abuse, provided fodder for the tabloids and resulted in a reality television program on E! network, The Anna Nicole Show, from 2002 to 2004. Her battles with weight issues eventually led to a role as a spokeswoman for the diet supplement TrimSpa. With her new, slimmer look she returned to the screen, appearing in Be Cool (2005) and Illegal Aliens (2006). In recent months, Smith’s personal life was again in the headlines with birth of her daughter, Dannielynn, in September of 2006. Several days later, her 20 year old son, Daniel, died suddenly while visiting them in a Bahamas hospital. His death was ruled to have been drug related. Questions of paternity for the infant daughter arose with several claimants coming forth. Smith alleged that her long time friend and attorney, Howard K. Stern, was the father and the two possibly married after her birth. Along with the inheritance issues that remain in the courts, the contested paternity also remained unresolved at the time of Smith’s death.

Anna Nicole Smith

SMITH, LOWELL DENNIS

Lowell Dennis Smith, who was a principal dancer for the Dance Theater of Harlem, died of lung cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on October 22, 2007. He was 56. Smith was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 5, 1951. He began his career as a dancer in Memphis before joining the Eglevsky Ballet in New York. He joined the Dance

Theater of Harlem in 1976 and remained with the group for 17 years. He performed the role of Stanley Kowalsi in a dance adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, and performed in such classic ballets as George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments and Agnes DeMille’s Fall River Legend, about accused axe murderess Lizzie Borden. Smith worked as a choreographer later in his career, creating Pas de Deux for Phrygia and Spartacus in 2001.

Lowell Smith

SMITH, ROBERT PAUL Actor Robert Paul “Bobby” Smith died in an Augusta, Georgia, hospital on January 13, 2007, of injuries he received in an automobile accident. He was 30. Smith was born in Winder, Georgia, on April 11, 1976. He had worked in films for the previous few years, earning small parts in Hell’s End (2005), Warm Springs (2005), Strange Tales of Matrimony (2005), Guest Check (2006), and Daddy’s Little Girls (2007). He was also featured in the pilot episode of the television series October Road in 2006.

Robert Paul Smith

SMITH , ROGER B. Roger B. Smith, the General Motors chairman whose tenure led to the automotive company’s downsizing that resulted in his being the featured character in Michael Moore’s film Roger and Me, died in Detroit, Michigan, on November 29, 2007. He was 82. Smith was born in Columbus, Ohio,

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on July 12, 1925. A business major at the University of Michigan, he served in the U.S. Navy during the later years of World War II. He joined General Motors as an accounting clerk in 1949 and rose through the ranks to join the Board of Directors in 1974. Smith was named chairman and CEO of the company in 1981 and led GM until his retirement in 1990. Under his leadership, increased foreign competition and a changing market forced the company to undergo significant changes. His decision to close the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, resulted in Michael Moore’s comic documentary, Roger and Me, which depicted the filmmaker’s unsuccessful attempt to interview Smith about his reaction to the impact on the close-knit community. Michael Smuin

Roger B. Smith

SMUIN, MICHAEL Ballet dancer and choreographer Michael Smuin collapsed and died of a heart attack while teaching a dance class in San Francisco, California, on April 23, 2007. He was 68. Smuin was born in Missoula, Montana, on October 13, 1938. He began dancing professionally in the 1950s and made his Broadway debut as a dancer in 1962’s Little Me. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his choreography and direction of the musical Sophisticated Ladies in 1981. He won the Tony for his choreographer of Anything Goes in 1988. He also choreographed and directed the unsuccessful Broadway production Shogun: The Musical in 1990 and Mack and Mabel on London’s West End in 1995. Smuin earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for PBS’s Great Performances: Dance in America in 1984. He also worked on such films as Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), The Golden Child (1986), Fletch Lives, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Angie (1994), The Fantasticks (1995), and A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Smuin choreographed additional footage for the 1997 release of George Lucas’s Star Wars sequel Return of the Jedi Special Edition, originally released in 1983. He also received a special thanks for the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones. He was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater and the San Francisco Ballet, serving as an artistic director at San Francisco from 1973 to 1985. He later founded his own company in San Francisco, the Smuin Ballet.

SNYDER , TOM Television talk show host Tom Snyder died of complications from leukemia in San Francisco, California, on July 29, 2007. He was 71. Snyder was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 12, 1936. He began his career in radio as a reporter in Milwaukee in the late 1950s, and moved to television news in the early 1960s. Snyder appeared as a posse member in an episode of the television western series The Rifleman in 1961 when the show brought in local personalities to appear in small roles to boost the ratings. He became co-anchor of the noon newscasts in Philadelphia in 1965. He was also a news anchor in Los Angeles before becoming host of The Tomorrow Show in 1972. The program followed Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, and featured interviews with such celebrities as John Lennon, Marlon Brando, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Hoffa, and Charles Manson. Noted for his casual style and frequent robust laughter as he interviewed guests amidst a smoke-filled studio, Snyder became the subject of a comic impersonation by Dan Ackroyd in early segments of Saturday Night Live. He often told his viewers, “Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air.” The Tomorrow Show was displaced by Late Night with David Letterman in 1982. He returned to being a news anchor at WABC in New York, and hosted a late-night show on the cable channel CNBS in the early 1990s. Snyder returned to late night tele-

Tom Snyder

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vision in 1995 as host of The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder on CBS, following Letterman’s Late Show. He left the series in 1998. During his career Snyder was also seen in cameo roles in such television series as McCloud, The Larry Sanders Show, Dave’s World, and Murphy Brown. He also hosted the 2000 documentary A Century of Lionel Legendary Trains.

SOLOMON, ROBERT C. Philosopher and educator Robert C. Solomon died suddenly of pulmonary hypertension in a Zurich, Switzerland, airport on January 2, 2007. He was 64. Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1942. He began teaching philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin in the 1970s. A popular professor, he wrote or edited over forty books including The Passions (1976), About Love (1988), Ethics and Excellence (1992), The Joy of Philosophy (1999), and Not Passions Slave (2003). Solomon also appeared in the 1998 television series The Examined Life, and had a cameo role as a philosophy professor in the 2001 film Waking Life by his former student, Richard Linklater.

early 1970s. She also appeared in the tele-films The Great American Beauty Contest (1973), If I Had a Million (1973), and Getting There (1980). Somers was also seen in several feature films including Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965), A Rage to Live (1965), and Bone (1972). Somers was best known for her appearances on television game shows, particularly for her regular spot opposite Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson, and host Gene Rayburn on the hit gameshow The Match Game throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. She was also a guest panelist on several episodes of Hollywood Squares in the early 2000s. Somers continued to perform despite her diagnosis with cancer and starred in the one-woman cabaret show An Evening with Brett Somers in 2003. She and Klugman separated in 1974, but they never divorced.

Brett Somers

Robert C. Solomon

SOMERS, BRETT Brett Somers, who was a regular panelist on the television gameshow The Match Game throughout the 1970s, died of stomach and colon cancer in Westport, Connecticut, on September 15, 2007. She was 83. Somers was born Audrey Jonston in New Brunswick, Canada, on July 11, 1924, and was raised in Portland, Maine. She headed to New York’s Greenwich Village in the early 1940s where she embarked on an acting career. She performed frequently on stage and soon moved into live television in the 1950s. She married actor Jack Klugman in 1953, and occasionally performed opposite him. Her television credits include episodes of Producers’ Showcase, Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft Television Theatre, Naked City, Ben Casey, The New Breed, Have Gun —Will Travel, The Defenders, The Fugitive, Love, American Style, The New Perry Mason, The F.B.I., Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Crane Show, Barney Miller, CHiPs, Battlestar Galactica as Siress Belloby in the episode “The Magnificent Warrior,” and The Love Boat. She appeared as Blanche Somers-Madison in several episodes of her husband’s popular comedy series The Odd Couple in the

SORENSEN, PAUL Veteran character actor Paul Sorensen died in Valencia, California, on July 2, 2007. He was 81. Sorensen was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on May 1, 1926. He appeared in hundreds of films and television productions from the mid–1950s. His film credits include Las Vegas Shakedown (1955), Inside Detroit (1956), Glory (1956), Dance with Me Henry (1956), The Women of Pitcairn Island (1956), The Brass Legend (1956), Battle Hymn (1957), The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958), The Steel Claw (1961), Flower Drum Song (1961), Kid Galahad (1962) with Elvis Presley, Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), The Satan Bug (1965), Chamber of Horrors (1966), A Guide for the Married Man (1967), Madigan (1968), Hang ’Em High (1968) with Clint Eastwood, Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), The Big Bounce (1969), Support Your Local Sheriff (1969), Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970), Evel Knievel (1971), The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971), Lapin 360 (1972), One Little Indian (1973), Girls on the Road (1973), Executive Action (1973), Westworld (1973), Disney’s Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) with Burt Reynolds, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and Cage (1989). Sorensen was seen frequently on television, appearing in the tele-films Scalplock (1966), Shadow on the Land (1968), The Heist (1972), The Alpha Caper (1973), Money to Burn (1973), The Elevator (1974), A Cry in the Wilderness (1974), Columbo:

353 A Friend in Deed (1974), The Missing Are Deadly (1975), Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976), Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), Flamingo Road (1980), and The Return of Frank Cannon (1980). His other television credits also include episodes of such series as Stories of the Century, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock, Crossroads, Fury, Cheyenne, Annie Oakley, The Silent Service, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Casey Jones, Wagon Train, 26 Men, The Restless Gun, Jefferson Drum, Frontier Doctor, Highway Patrol, Cimarron City, Have Gun —Will Travel, Johnny Ringo, Tombstone Territory, Law of the Plainsman, Black Saddle, Zane Grey Theater, The Deputy, The Westerner, Ripcord, The Case of the Dangerous Robin, COronado 9, Bat Masterson, Target: The Corruptors, Tales of Wells Fargo, The New Breed, The Lloyd Bridges Show, The Dick Powell Show, The Rifleman, The Virginian, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, The Outer Limits, The Rogues, Rawhide, Slattery’s People, My Favorite Martian, Burke’s Law, Honey West, Perry Mason, F Troop, Twelve O’Clock High, The Monkees, The Iron Horse, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, The Invaders, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West, It Takes a Thief, The Guns of Will Sonnett, Family Affair, That Girl, Land of the Giants, The Big Valley, The Mod Squad, Bewitched, Here Come the Brides, Death Valley Days, The High Chaparral, Lancer, The Name of the Game, The Brady Bunch, Alias Smith and Jones, My Three Sons, Here’s Lucy, Mission: Impossible, The Streets of San Francisco, The F.B.I., Banyon, McMillan & Wife, Cannon, Emergency!, The Rookies, Apple’s Way, The Waltons, Ironside, The New Land, Mannix, Gunsmoke, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Marcus Welby, M.D., Mobile One, S.W.A.T., The Blue Knight, Mary Tyler Moore, Barnaby Jones, The Rockford Files, Charlie’s Angels, CHiPs, Kaz, Quincy, Trapper John, M.D., Salvage 1, Young Maverick, Dynasty, Flamingo Road, Lou Grant, Vega$, Simon & Simon, and Blue Thunder. Sorensen was featured in the recurring role of Andy Bradley in the prime-time soap opera Dallas from 1979 to 1986.

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Despite having earned a doctorate in dental surgery in 1944, Sorkin aspired to a career in show business. He was the author of several historical plays and made unsuccessful attempts to market ideas for Broadway and films. He finally achieved success in 2004 when he persuaded filmmakers to adapt the story of the unlikely collaboration of white surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock and his black laboratory assistant Viven Thomas in the era of segregation. The HBO film, Something the Lord Made, starred Alan Rickman and Mos Def and earned an Emmy Award. Sorkin was credited as a producer and earned a Peabody Award for his participation.

Irving Sorkin

SOSHALSKAYA, VLADIMIR Russian actor Vladimir Soshalskaya died in Moscow on October 10, 2007. He was 78. He was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, on June 14, 1929, the son of actress Barbara Soshalskaya. He often accompanied his mother on tour and began his own career on stage in 1948. He made his film debut the following year in Ivan Pavlov Academician. Soshalskaya continued his acting career over the next five decades with such film credits as Taras Shevchenko (1951), The Anna Cross (1954), Othello (1955), A Sailor from The Comet (1958), The Taming of the Shrew (1961), The Conspiracy of Ambassadors (1965), Unanswered Love (1979), A Rogue’s Saga (1984), Sdelka (1985), Beauty Salon (1985), Man with an Accordion (1985), Svetik (1989), Vivat, Naval Cadets! (1991), Sin:

Paul Sorensen

SORKIN, IRVING Irving Sorkin, a dentist turned film producer, died of lymphoma in a Los Angeles hospital on October 18, 2007. He was 88. Sorkin was born in Utica, New York, on December 14, 1918.

Vladimir Soshalsky

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A Story of Passion (1993), and Prokhindiada 2 (1994). He also appeared on Russian television in such productions as Mark Twain: Against (1975), Duena (1978), 31st of June (1978), The Driver for One Trip (1981), Assol (1982), Kole Sharlotty (1984), Experts Are Investigating: Midday Thief (1985), The Life of Klim Samgin (1986), and Anyutiny Glazki i Barskie Laski (1990).

SOUTHWORTH, KEN Veteran animator Ken Southworth died of complications from a stroke at his home in Anaheim, California, on December 5, 2007. He was 89. Southworth was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, England, on September 22, 1918. He came to the United States to study at the Chicago Art Institute. He began working at Disney Studios in 1944, where his credits include Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleepy Hollow. He subsequently worked at Hanna-Barbera, where he animated such cartoons as Yogi Bear, Jonny Quest, The Super 6, Space Ghost, The Atom Ant Show, Fantastic 4, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, The Batman/Superman Hour, The Archie Show, Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, Where’s Huddles?, Harlem Globe Trotters, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, Challenge of the Super Friends, The New Fred and Barney Show, and The Kwicky Koala Show. His other credits include the animated features Shinbone Alley (1972), Christmas Comes to PacLand (1982), The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985), Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987), Snoopy’s Reunion (1991), and It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown! (1992), and the cartoon series Davey and Goliath, the animated Star Trek, Smurfs, Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit, BraveStarr, Potsworth & Co., and Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron.

small roles in the films Hell Squad (1958) and Tank Commandos (1959). He soon abandoned acting to script episodes of such television series as The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, and Hagen. He also wrote the tele-films Deliver Us from Evil (1973), Cry Panic (1974), Death Cruise (1974), and Desperate Women (1978). Sowards was brought aboard for the second feature based on the popular television series Star Trek by producer Harve Bennett, and adapted many of his story ideas for the script. Sowards was instrumental in bringing a recalcitrant Leonard Nimoy onboard for the film by killing off his character, Mr. Spock, in his draft of the script. Many of Sowards’ story elements survived in director Nicholas Meyer’s film version, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Sowards later credits include scripting episodes of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and B.L. Stryker.

Jack B. Sowards

Ken Southworth

SOWARDS, JACK B. Screenwriter Jack B. Sowards, who was best known for his work scripting the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, died of complications for Lou Gehrig’s disease in Valley Village, California, on July 8, 2007. He was 78. Sowards was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, on March 18, 1929. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Sowards served in all three branches of the armed services, with stints in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. He moved to Hollywood after his military service, where he appeared on stage and in

SPEARS, STEVE J. Australian playwright and actor Steve J. Spears died of lung cancer in Adelaide, Australia, on October 16, 2007. He was 56. Spears was born in Adelaide on January 22, 1951. He began working as an actor in the late 1970s, appearing in such films as Temperament Unsuited (1978), The Road Warrior (1981) with Mel Gibson in the Mad Max sequel, Going Down (1983), The Empty Beach (1985), Those Dear Departed (1987) which he also scripted, Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1988), and Afraid to Dance (1989). He also appeared in several television productions including The Big Wish (1990) and Cody: A Family Affair (1994). He was best known as a playwright for his 1976 play The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, which earned him an Obie Award for its Off-Broadway production in 1978. His other works include Africa: A Savage Musical (1974), People Keep Giving Me Things (1975), Roaring Boy (1975), There Were Giants in Those Days (1975), The Death of George Reeves (1978), King Richard (1978), The Time of the Bodgie (1980), Froggie (1983), Glory (198), Namatjira Park (1992), A Little Theatre (1995), and The Dance Angelic (1995). He also wrote several acclaimed children’s television productions including The Big Wish (1990) and Mr. Edmund (1990), and scripted episodes of such series as A Country Practice, Hey Dad...! , G.P., All Together Now, Sky Trackers, Heart-

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break High, The Genie from Down Under, and Breakers. In recent years he wrote several detective novels featuring private detective Stella Pantangeli including Murder at the Fortnight (2003), Murder by Manuscript (2004), and Innocent Murder (2005).

Angelo Spizzirri

Steve J. Spears

SPENCER, WILLIAM W. Cinematographer William W. Spencer died in Los Angeles on May 14, 2007. He was 85. Spencer was born on July 28, 1921. He was best known for his work in television, earning two Emmy awards during his career. His numerous television credits include work on such series The Thin Man, Cain’s Hundred, Outlaws, Twelve O’Clock High, Custer, Barnaby Jones, Quinn Martin’s The F.B.I., and Fame. Spencer also served as director of photography on many films including Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), Mission of Danger (1959), Frontier Rangers (1959), The Murder Men (1961), The Crimebusters (1961), A Thunder of Drums (1961), Countdown (1968), If He Hollers, Let Him Go! (1968), The Thousand Plane Raid (1968), and The Mephisto Waltz (1971). His other television credits include the tele-films Incident in San Francisco (1971), The Streets of San Francisco (1972), Murder or Mercy (1974), Panic on the 5:22 (1974), Law of the Land (1976), The Paradise Connection (1979), and Hollywood Wives (1985). SPIZZIRRI, ANGELO Actor Angelo Spizzirri died suddenly on October 20, 2007. He was 32. Spizzirri was born in Hollywood on December 17, 1974. He began appearing on television in the late 1990s, with roles in episodes of such series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sliders, L.A. Heat, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He was also featured in such films as Rocket’s Red Glare (2000), Groove (2000), The Rookie (2002), The Pleasure Drivers (2005), Pretty Persuasion (2005), Underclassman (2005), Jesus, Mary and Joey (2006), and Thanks to Gravity (2006). SRIDHAR Indian actor Sridhar died of cardiac arrest in a Hyderabad, India, hospital on July 11, 2007. He was 68. He was born in Chennai, India, in 1939. Sridhar was a leading star in Telugu language films, and was best known for the 1975 film Muthyala Muggu (aka Pearl Pattern at the Threshold). Equally adept in playing heroes, villains, and supporting characters, he

was seen in more than 150 films including Worshipper Kannappa (1976), America Ammayi (1976), Indra Dhanushu (1977), Seetamalakshmi (1978), Gorantha Deepam (aka The Flickering Lamp) (1978), Dongala Dopidi (1979), Naa Illu Naa Vaalu (1979), Samsqara Bandam (1980), Jathara (1980), Agni Poolu (1981), Devudu Mamayya (1981), Justice Chowdhary (1982), Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam (1986), Chinnodu Peddodu (1988), Rama O Rama (1988), Santha Shishunala Sharif (1990), Govindha (1993), Bhairavi (1996), and Satyam (2003).

Sridhar

SRINIVASAN, G. Indian Tamil language film producer G. Srinivasan died when he fell into a gorge while hiking in the Himalayan mountains in Halan, near Manali, in the Kashmir region of India on May 27, 2007. He was 48. Srinivasan was born in Chennai, India, on September 23, 1958. He produced several films directed by his brother, Mani Ratnam, in the early 2000s. His film credits include Dum Dum Dum (2001), A Peck on the Cheek (2002), The Youth (2004), Ayitha Ezhuthu (2004), and Guru (2007). Another brother, producer G. Venkateshwaran, committed suicide in 2003. (See photograph on page 356.) STANISLAWSKI , JAN TADEUSZ Polish actor Jan Tadeusz Stanislawski died in Warsaw, Poland, on April 21, 2007. He was 71. Stanislawski was born in Wlodzimierz Wolynski, Poland (now Vlodymyr,

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G. Srinivasan

Laurence Starkman

Ukraine) on January 26, 1936. He was a leading actor in Poland from the early 1960s, appearing in such films as Bad Luck (1960), Beware of Yeti! (1961), A Million for Laura (1971), Milodc sz Listy Przebojow (1985), Comedienne (1987), and The Little Apocalypse (1993). He was also featured on Polish television in episodes of Czterdziestolatek, Tredowata, and Plebania.

STATON , DAKOTA Jazz and blues singer Dakota Staton died in Manhattan, New York, after a long illness on April 10, 2007. She was 76. Staton was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 3, 1930. She began performing as a child and was a popular singer at nightclubs in Detroit by the mid–1950s. She recorded her first album, The Late, Late Show, in 1957, which included such hit songs as “Broadway,” “My Funny Valentine,” and the title track. She recorded over two dozen subsequent albums during her career including Dynamic! (1958), Dakota at Storyville (1961), and Isn’t This a Lovely Day (1992).

Jan Tadeusz Stanislawski

STARKMAN, LAURENCE Director, screenwriter, and film title designer Laurence Starkman died in Los Angeles on January 22, 2007. He was 55. Starkman worked together with his wife, Carla Malden, the daughter of actor Karl Malden, to create the children’s television series Magic Shop (1997) and Joke Time (1997). Starkman also wrote for the television series The Television Newsman, What’s Up, America?, and Out of Control. He also wrote the films Whit & Charm (1994) and The Men’s Room (1999). Starkman was also a title designer for numerous films and television productions. He designed title credits for the films Aria (1987), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Baby’s Day Out (1994), Jade (1995), John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996), and Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998), and the tele-films Brotherhood of Justice (1986), Afterburn (1992), Glory and Honor (1998), and Witness Protection (1999). He also worked on the television series Crazy Like a Fox, 227, Sister Kate, Crime & Punishment, Medicine Ball, and Can’t Hurry Love.

Dakota Staton

STATTEN, LYN Actress Lyn Statten died in Burlingame, California, on October 25, 2007. She was 82. Statten was born in New York City on April 8, 1925. She appeared on television in the 1950s in episodes of such series as Bat Masterson, Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Alaskans. She also starred in the 1961 crime film The Seventh Commandment. She was also a stage performer, touring with such productions as Pajama Tops and Absence of a Cello during the 1960s. (See photograph on page 357.) STAUDACHER , GEORG Austrian actor Georg Staudacher died in Austria on June 30, 2007. He was 42. Staudacher was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1965. He was featured in several films in the 1990s in-

357

Lyn Statten

cluding Justiz (1993) and Debot of Love (1997). He also appeared on television in episodes of Stockinger, Ein Fall fur Zwei, Kommissar Rex, Medicopter 117 — Jedes Leben Zahlt, and Julia — Eine Ungewohnliche Frau.

Georg Staudacher

STEIN, HERMAN Film composer Herman Stein, who was best known for his work on numerous cult science fiction and horror films as a staff composer at Universal in the 1950s, died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles on March 15, 2007. He was 91. Stein was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 19, 1915. He began playing the piano at an early age and was arranging music professionally while in his teens. He worked as a composer and arranger for radio in the 1930s and 1940s and also worked with jazz orchestras led by such artists as Count Basie, Fred Waring, Bob Crosby, and Red Norvo. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940s, and began working at Universal in 1951. He composed scores for such sci-fi classics as It Came from Outer Space (1953), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), This Island Earth (1955), Tarantula (1955), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Land Unknown (1957), Monolith Monsters (1957), and The Thing That Couldn’t Die (1958). Stein’s numerous film credits also include The Strange Door (1951), Here Come the Nelsons (1952), Lost in Alaska (1952), The Treasure of Lost

2007 • Obituaries

Canyon (1952), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Francis Goes to West Point (1952), Son of Ali Baba (1952), Horizons West (1952), Back at the Front (1952), The Raiders (1952), Meet Me at the Fair (1953), The Redhead from Wyoming (1953), The Lawless Breed (1953), Girls in the Night (1953), City Beneath the Sea (1953), Gunsmoke (1953), Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953), It Happens Every Thursday (1953), Lone Hand (1953), Law and Order (1953), Francis Covers the Big Town (1953), Column South (1953), The Great Sioux Uprising (1953), All I Desire (1953), The Golden Blade (1953), East of Sumatra (1953), The Veils of Bagdad (1953), War Arrow (1953), Tumbleweed (1953), Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953), The Stand at Apache River (1953), Border River (1954), Saskatchewan (1954), Ride Clear of Diablo (1954), Playgirl (1954), Rails into Laramie (1954), Fireman Save My Child (1954), Tanganyika (1954), Johnny Dark (1954), Black Horse Canyon (1954), Drums Across the River (1954), The Far Country (1954), Dawn at Socorro (1954), Naked Alibi (1954), Bengal Brigade (1954), The Yellow Mountain (1954), Destry (1954), Sign of the Pagan (1954), Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), Six Bridges to Cross (1955), Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955), Captain Lightfoot (1955), The Purple Mask (1955), Female on the Beach (1955), Kiss of Fire (1955), There’s Always Tomorrow (1956), Backlash (1956), The Toy Tiger (1956), Francis in the Haunted House (1956), I’ve Lived Before (1956), Showdown at Abilene (1956), The Unguarded Moment (1956), Everything But the Truth (1956), The Great Man (1956), This Is Russia! (1957), Istanbul (1957), Four Girls in Town (1957), The Night Runner (1957), Quantez (1957), Man in the Shadow (1957), Slim Carter (1957), The Kettles on Old MacDonald’s Farm (1957), Love Slaves of the Amazons (1957), The Tarnished Angels (1958), Monster on the Campus (1958), The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958), The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958), Money, Women and Guns (1959), No Name on the Bullet (1959), Posse from Hell (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), The Intruder (1962), Tammy and the Doctor (1963), Taggart (1964), Bullet for a Badman (1964), The World of Abbott and Costello (1965), The Sword of Ali Baba (1965), Mucho Locos (1966), Let’s Kill Uncle (1966), Gunfight in Abi-

Herman Stein (holding the head of the Creature from the Black Lagoon)

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lene (1967), and Ride to Hangman’s Tree (1967). Stein also worked frequently in television in the 1950s and 1960s, composing music for such series as M Squad, Wagon Train, Daniel Boone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Lost in Space.

STEINMAROVA, JIRINA Czech actress Jirina Steinmarova died in Prague, the Czech Republic, on October 7, 2007. She was 91. Steinmarova was born in Prague (then in Bohemia, Austria-Hungary) on January 24, 1916. The daughter of actors, she made her film debut at the age of 16, appearing in the controversial 1933 feature Ecstasy with Hedy Lamarr. She remained a popular performer in films over the next several decades with such credits as Dobry Tramp Bernasek (1933), Na Svtem Kopecku (1934), Poseidni Muz (1934), Pozdni Iaska (1935), Sweet Sixteen (1936), Irca’s Romance (1936), Girls, Stand Fast! (1937), The Masked Lover (1940), Posledni Podskalak (1940), Paklic (1944), Messenger of Dawn (1951), The Silver Wind (1954), Kam s Nim (1955), Dog’s Heads (1955), September Nights (1957), Jurasek (1957), The Star Goes to the South (1958), Poslusne Hlasim (1958), Zalobnici (1960), and Rychilk do Ostravy (1960). She continued to appear in character roles on film and television from the 1970s, appearing in the films The Jester and the Queen (1987) and Time of the Servants (1989), and the television productions 30 Cases of Major Zeman (1980) and Pomale Sipy (1993).

Nicole Stephane

STERN , RAY “THUNDER ” Professional wrestler Ray “Thunder” Stern died of complications from heart surgery in Dallas, Texas, on March 6, 2007. He was 74. He was born Walter Bookbinder in Brooklyn, New York, on January 12, 1933. He served in the Merchant Marine as a teenager and became interested in bodybuilding. He began wrestling professionally in New York in 1950, and was given the nickname Thunder for his spectacular aerial moves. He competed in the ring for 16 years, and held several tag team titles with Don Leo Jonathan and Ronnie Etchison as his partners. After retiring from the ring he opened a chain of gyms and health spas. He was also the founder of the charter air service Stern Air in Dallas, Texas. Stern published his autobiography, Power and Thunder: The Rags to Riches Story of One Man’s Adventure of Fame, Fortune, Romance & Fitness, in 1994.

Jirina Steinmarova

STEPHANE, NICOLE French actress turned producer Nicole Stephane died in Paris on March 14, 2007. She was 83. She was born Nicole de Rothschild in Paris on May 27, 1923. She began her career as an actress in the late 1940s, and was best known for her role as Elisabeth in Jean-Pierre Melville’s film adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terribles (1949). She starred in several more films in the 1950s including I Bastardi (1950), The Unfrocked One (1954), Monsieur et Madame Curie (1956) as Marie Curie, and Carve Her Name with Pride (1958). She began directing short films in the late 1950s and subsequently produced such features as To Die in Madrid (1963), A Matter of Resistance (1966), Phedra (1968), Destroy, She Said (1969), and Promised Lands (1974). She also produced the 1988 television production Sarah.

Ray “Thunder” Stevens

STEVENS, ART Veteran animator Art Stevens died of a heart attack in Studio City, California, on May 22, 2007. He was 92. Stevens was born in Roy, Montana, on May 1, 1915. He began working for Disney Studios in the late 1930s, assisting in the animation on Fantasia (1940) and Bambi (1942). He rose through the ranks to become a full character animator on Peter Pan in 1953. He worked with director Ward Kimball on the Oscar-winning shorts Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and It’s Tough to Be a Bird, and sup-

359 plied animation for a trio of space documentaries that were part of the Disneyland television program in 1957: Man in Space, Man and the Moon, and Mars and Beyond. He was also an animator on the films 101 Dalmatians (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Robin Hood (1973), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). Stevens served as a co-director for the 1977 animated feature The Rescuers and was co-producer and co-director for 1981’s The Fox and the Hound. He also designed title sequences for the films The Strongest Man in the World (1975), No Deposit, No Return (1976), Freaky Friday (1976), and The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), and worked on the story for 1985’s The Black Cauldron.

2007 • Obituaries

(1938), Rolling Caravans (1938), the 1938 serial The Fighting Devil Dogs, Stagecoach Days (1938), The Mexicali Kid (1938), Eternally Yours (1939), Flaming Lead (1939) with Ken Maynard, Waterloo Bridge (1940), Las Vegas Nights (1941), Pirates on Horseback (1941), West Point Widow (1941), Caught in the Draft (1941), Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941), Riders of the Timberlane (1941), Buy Me That Town (1941), Louisiana Purchase (1941), Pacific Blackout (1941), The Great Man’s Lady (1942), Men of San Quentin (1942), Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), Silver Queen (1942), and Mystery Man (1944). She retired from the screen in the mid–1940s.

Eleanor Stewart Art Stevens

STEVENSON, ALLAN Actor Allan Stevenson was killed in a hit-and-run automobile accident while crossing a New York City street on October 24, 2007. He was 89. He appeared on the New York stage from the 1940s, with small roles in such plays as Anne of the Thousand Days (1949), Small War on Murray Hill (1957), and Do Re Mi (1960). He was also featured on television in the 1950s in episodes of The Chevrolet TeleTheatre, Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, and Man Against Crime. Stevenson appeared in several films during his career including Age of Innocence (1977) and Murder by Phone (1982). STEWART, ELEANOR Actress Eleanor Stewart, who was leading lady in numerous Western films and serials in the 1930s and 1940s, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in Rancho Bernardo, California, on July 4, 2007. She was 94. Stewart was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 2, 1913. She began her career as a model before winning a talent contest at MGM and travelling to Hollywood in the mid–1930s. She was featured in such films as Love on the Run (1936), Red Lights Ahead (1936), Headin’ for the Rio Grande (1936) and Arizona Days (1937) with Tex Ritter, The Gun Ranger (1937) with Bob Steele, Santa Fe Rides (1937), Headline Crasher (1937), Range Defenders (1937) with the Three Mesquiteers, The Rangers Step In (1937) with Bob Allen, Trapped by the G-Men (1937), Where Trails Divide (1937), The Painted Trail

STEWART, FRED MUSTARD Fred Mustard Stewart, who authored the 1969 supernatural novel The Mephisto Waltz, died of cancer at his home in Manhattan, New York, on February 7, 2007. He was 74. Stewart was born in Anderson, Indiana, on September 17, 1932. He trained at the Juilliard School as a concert pianist and used that as background for his first novel, The Mephisto Waltz. The book was adapted for a film starring Alan Alda in 1971. Stewart also wrote the story for the 1973 tele-film The Norliss Tapes, starring Roy Thinnes as a supernatural investigator. His 1976 novel Six Weeks was adapted for film in 1982, starring Mary Tyler Moore as the mother of a dying daughter. His epic Ellis Island (1983) became a television mini-series in 1984. His other novels include The Mannings (1973), Century (1981), The Titan (1985), and The Naked Savages (1999). STICH -RANDALL , TERESA Operatic soprano Teresa Stich-Randall died in Vienna, Austria, on July 17, 2007. She was 79. Stich-Randall was born in new Hartford, Connecticut, on December 24, 1927. She made her operatic debut in New York in the role of Gertrude Stein in Virgil Thomson’s Mother of Us All in 1947. After starring in Otto Luening’s Evangeline, she appeared in several performances with Arturo Toscanini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra. She spent most of the 1950s and 1960s performing in Europe following an appearance in Florence in Oberon in 1951. She sang with the Vienna State Opera and the Basel Opera in Switzerland, interpreting the works of Handel, Mozart, and Bach. She made her Metropolitan Opera

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debut in Cosi Fan Tutte in 1961, and remained on their roster for the next five years. Stich-Randall also was heard on such recordings as Orfeo, Der Rosenkavalier, and Falstaff, before retiring in the 1970s.

Teresa Stich-Randall

STOCKBRIDGE, PETER British actor Peter Stockbridge died in Brighton, Sussex, England, on February 5, 2007. He was 87. Stockbridge was born in Brighton on January 11, 1920. He began acting in the 1950s, appearing in small roles on stage and in several films including Dry Rot (1956) and Dr. Crippen (1962). He left acting for two decades to work as a teacher, but returned in the 1980s. He appeared frequently on television in such productions as The Tripods (1984), Lord Peter Wimsey (1987), The Great Kandinsky (1995), and Ghosthunter (2000). His other television credits include episodes of Sorry!, May to December, Press Gang, Lovejoy, Wycliffe, The Famous Five, Plotlands, The Bill, Peak Practice, Judge John Deed, and Doctors. He was also featured in several films during his career including Tom and Viv (1994), Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995), Secrets and Lies (1996), Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997), Elizabeth (1998) as the Palace Chamberlain, and All or Nothing (2002).

his avant garde and sometimes outlandish musical works, died after a brief illness at his home near Cologne, Germany, on December 5, 2007. He was 79. Stockhausen was born in Burg Modrath, a suburb of Cologne, on August 22, 1928. A child prodigy on the piano, he lost both parents during World War II. After working in a hospital during the latter years of the war, Stockhausen studied music at Cologne University, the Paris Conservatory, and the University of Bonn. He experimented with creating sounds and music with unusual materials including breaking glass and clanging metal. He was also an early exponent of electronic music. He created over 200 compositions during his career, some under unusual circumstances. He fasted in seclusion to compose 1968’s Seven Days, and instructed 19 musicians to telepathically link to perform his 1972 musical happening Ylem. His 1992 composition Helikopter-Streichquartet required four musicians to play their instruments within four helicopters. His magnum opus was his bizarre opera Light, which incorporated seven 24-hour operas, one for each day of the week. The project, which he completed in 2003, took him 26 years to compose. His often outrageous, but usually thought-provoking, works served as an inspiration to such artists as Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Bjork, and the Beatles, who included him as one of the images that appear on the album cover for Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Peter Stockbridge

STOCKHAUSEN , KARLHEINZ German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was noted for

STOCKSTILL, PATRICK Film historian and “keeper of the Oscars” Patrick Stockstill, who was instrumental in the development of the first database for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died of complications from a heart transplant in Los Angeles on May 24, 2007. He was 57. Stockstill served in the U.S. Navy and later earned a degree in library sciences, specializing in film research. He became a prolific researcher of the history of the Academy Awards, amassing a huge date resource of Oscar nominees and winners. In 1982 he became the assistant librarian at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, where he was named academy historian the next year. Stockstill later converted information about the history of the Academy and the Awards to electronic format, which became their first database. He also originated the data-

361 base of the records of the whereabouts of more than 2,500 Oscars that have been awarded. In 1989 Stockstill oversaw the administration of several Academy Award categories including documentaries, short film, music, and foreign language films.

2007 • Obituaries

one I Touched (1975). Stolnitz joined Warner Bros. in 1977, where he rose to the position of executive vicepresident for business affairs before his retirement in 1996.

STONE , HAL Radio actor Harlan “Hal” Stone, who starred as Jughead on the Archie Andrews radio series, died after heart surgery in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 21, 2007. He was 75. Stone was born in Long Island, New York, on June 10, 1931. He was one of several actors to play Jughead on radio in the 1940s and early 1950s. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War in the early 1950s. After his discharge, he studied television production at Columbia University and worked in New York as a television producer and director. Stone published his autobiography, Aw ... Relax, Archie! Re-laxx!, named after his radio catchphrase, in 2003.

Patrick Stockstill

STOLNITZ, ART Film executive Art Stolnitz died from complications of a stroke in a Rancho Mirage, California, hospital on March 21, 2007. He was 79. Stolnitz was born in Rochester, New York, on March 13, 1928. He earned a law degree and began his career working for the legal department at the William Morris Agency. He worked at ZIV-UA Television in the 1950s as a director of program development. He served as an production executive on such series as Highway Patrol and Bat Masterson. During the 1960s he worked for Selmur Prods. and ABC Pictures, and was co-creator of the music program Shindig. Stolnitz also worked at Metromedia Producers Corp., Charles Fries Prods., Edgar J. Scherick Prods., and Sunn Classic Pictures. He served as a production executive on such films as The Vault of Horror (1973), Chosen Survivors (1974), and The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West (1976). Stolnitz also worked on the tele-films Thief (1971), Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring (1971), A Tattered Web (1971), Murder Once Removed (1971), Footsteps (1972), Firehouse (1973), The Norliss Tapes (1973), Scream of the Wolf (1974), It’s Good to Be Alive (1974), and Some-

STONE, RANDY Film producer and casting director Randy Stone died of heart failure at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on February 12, 2007. He was 48. Stone was born on September 26, 1958. He began his career as a child actor in the 1970s, appearing in such television series as Charlie’s Angels. He began working as a casting director in the early 1980s with the Landsberg Company. He later became head of casting for 20th Century–Fox Television. Stone

Art Stolnitz

Randy Stone

Hal Stone (as Jughead)

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worked in casting the film Say Anything... (1989), and the tele-films The Ryan White Story (1989), Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989), Unspeakable Acts (1990), The Incident (1990) which earned him an Emmy Award, Shadow of a Doubt (1991), Switched at Birth (1991), Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992), Moment of Truth: Broken Pledges (1994), and Moment of Truth: A Mother’s Deception (1995). He also cast the television series The X Files, Millennium, and Space: Above and Beyond. Stone was executive producer of Jodie Foster’s 1991 film Little Man Tate, and received an Academy Award for producing the 1994 short film Trevor. He also wrote and produced the 2006 tele-film A Little Thing Called Murder. Stone also appeared onscreen in small roles in the films Home for the Holidays (1995) and Final Destination (2000), and in episodes of Space: Above and Beyond, Millennium, and The Others.

STRAUB, LAURENS

Dutch producer, director and writer Laurens Straub died of cancer in Berlin, Germany, on April 19, 2007. He was 62. Straub was born in Doetinchem, the Netherlands, on December 14, 1944. He was co-founder of the Filmverlag der Autoren, an early distribution cooperative, with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Volker Vogeler, and others. Straub wrote the 1971 film David and the Ice Age and the 1972 television production of Der Eisberg der Vorsehung. He served as producer of Ich Denke oft an Hawaii (1978), Taxi to the Toilet (1981), A Man Called Eva (1984) which he also wrote, The Trio (1998), Just Messing About (2000), Fuhrer Ex (2002) which he also appeared in a small role, and Max und Moritz Reloaded (2005) which he co-scripted.

James Street

Sully was born in New York City on November 20, 1918. He was active in films during the 1940s, appearing in small roles in Million Dollar Legs (1939), A Guy Named Joe (1943), Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), The Heavenly Body (1944), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), This Man’s Navy (1945), The Affairs of Susan (1945), You Came Along (1945), Love Letters (1945), and When Worlds Collide (1951). He left acting to concentrate on a career as an engineer and designer.

SUMMERTON , ANTONIO South African actor Antonio Summerton was killed in a motorcycle accident in Roodepoort, South Africa, on December 29, 2007. He was 27. Summerton began his career acting on South African television in the 2004 series Backstage. He also appeared in the drama series Villa Rosa as Duncan, and was Rick in the soap opera 7de Laan. Summerton was also featured in several films including Human Cargo (2004), Red Dust (2004), Lullaby (2008), and Starship Troopers: Marauder (2008).

Laurenz Straub

STREET , J AMES Voice actor James Street, who voiced Huckleberry Pie in the Strawberry Shortcake cartoons, died in a skateboarding accident in Thousand Oaks, California, on July 4, 2007. He was 13. Street was born in London, England, on September 15, 1993. He performed as Huckleberry Pie in several animated videos featuring Strawberry Shortcake from 2004. He was also the voice of Pepito in the Madeline cartoons. SULLY, ROBERT Actor Robert Sully died in Santa Barbara, California, on May 15, 2007. He was 88.

Antonio Summerton

SUN DAOLIN Veteran Chinese actor Sun Daolin died in a Shanghai, China, hospital on December 18, 2007. He was 86. Sun was born in Peking (now Beijing), China, on December 18, 1921. He began his film career in the late 1940s, appearing in Zheng Junli’s Crows and Sparrows in 1949. He was also seen in the films Family (1957), A Revolutionary Family (1961),

363 Threshold of Spring (1963), and The Go Masters (1982). Sun also directed the 2000 film Architect Zhan Tianyou. He continued to perform on stage until his retirement in 2005.

2007 • Obituaries

Flickmania (1979), School in the Crosshairs (1981), Ekisutora (1982), Hometown (1983), Congratulatory Speech (1985), Lady Camellia (1988), A Paucity of Flying Dreams (1990), A New Love in Tokyo (1994), License to Live (1998), Persona (2000), The Crossing (2000), Onmyoji 2 (2003), Kekko Kamen (2004), and Satoru: Fourteen (2005).

Sun Daolin

SUNDIATA, SEKOU African American poet Sekou Sundiata died in Valhalla, New York, on July 18, 2007. He was 58. He was born Robert Feaster in Harlem, New York, on August 22, 1948. He changed his name to Sundiata in the late 1960s. He was a teacher at New York City’s New School and the author of several plays including The Circle Unbroken Is a Hard Bop, The Mystery of Love and Udu. A poet, he performed on HBO’s Deaf Poetry Jam and toured with his former student, singer Ani DiFranco. He also recorded several poetry albums including Longshortstory and The Blue Oneness of Dreams, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Sundiata also wrote the play The 51st (dream) State in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Hiromitsu Suzuji (center, with the Mops)

SVOBODA, KAREL Czech pop music composer Karel Svoboda was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his villa in Jevany, near Prague, Czech Republic, on January 28, 2007. He was 68. Svoboda was born in Prague on December 19, 1938. He was a medical student before leaving college to join the rock band Mefisto as a pianist in 1963. Svoboda soon turned to composing, writing songs for numerous Czech singers. He was associated with pop singer Karel Gott for many years, writing more than 60 of his songs including the hit “Lady Carneval.” He also wrote the scores for many film and television productions. Svoboday’s television credits include the series Vicky the Viking, Maya the Bee, and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.

Sekou Sundiata

SUZUKI, HIROMITSU Japanese singer and actor Hiromitsu Suzuki died of liver cancer in a Tokyo hospital on March 14, 2007. He was 60. Suzuki was born in Tokyo on June 21, 1946. He began his career as a singer with the band Mops in 1967. After leaving the band, he became an actor, appearing in such films as Proof of the Man (1977), Time Slip (1979), Goodbye

Karel Svoboda

SWARTZ, CHARLES Charles Swartz, a film producer and writer who became a pioneer in the digital age of films, died of complications from pneumo-

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nia and brain cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on February 10, 2007. He was 67. Swartz was born in Dallas, Texas, on April 22, 1939. He met and married fellow film student Stephanie Rothman while studying at the University of Southern California. He teamed with his wife, writing and producing several of her films including It’s a Bikini World (1967), The Student Nurses (1970), and The Velvet Vampire (1971). Swartz worked as an associate producer at Warner Bros. Television, then headed production at Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, where he served as production executive on the 1971 film Gas-s-s-s. He became head of production at Dimension Pictures in the early 1970s, working on the films Sweet Sugar (1973), Group Marriage (1973), Terminal Island (1973), Beyond Atlantis (1973), and The Working Girls (1974). He headed the UCLA Extensions Department of Entertainment Studies and Performing Arts in the early 1980s. He was instrumental in developing a curriculum that accentuated the rise of digital filmmaking. Swartz also edited a 2004 text entitled Understanding Digital Cinema, and established a digital cinema lab at the Hollywood Pacific Theater.

Charles Swartz

SWIMMER, SAUL Saul Swimmer, who produced the Beatles’ musical documentary Let It Be, died in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 3, 2007. He was 70. Swimmer was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, on April 25, 1936. He began working in films in the late 1950s, directing the children’s short The Boy Who Owned a Melephant in 1959. He subsequently directed the films Force of Impulse (1961) and Without Each Other (1962). He also helmed the 1968 musical Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter, starring Herman’s Hermits. He directed the television documentary Around the World of Mike Todd in 1968, and co-produced the 1970 documentary about the later days of the Beatles, Let It Be. Swimmer joined with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr to produce the films Blindman (1971) and Cometogether (1971), which he also directed. The following year he filmed George Harrison’s benefit concert at Madison Square Garden, The Concert for Bangladesh. Swimmer also produced and directed the 1977 film The Black Pearl and 1982’s We Will Rock You: Queen Live in Concert. His final film was the musical documentary Bob Marley and Friends, which he completed in 2006.

Saul Swimmer

SYMONDS, ROBERT Actor Robert Symonds died of complications from prostate cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on August 23, 2007. He was 80. Symonds was born in Bristow, Oklahoma, on December 1, 1926. He began performing in local theatrical productions in Seattle, Washington, while serving in the Army during World War II. He became a leading member of San Francisco’s Actor’s Workshop in the 1950s. He went to New York in 1965, performing with the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater, where he also served as associate director. Symonds made his film debut in the 1973 supernatural classic The Exorcist, as Dr. Taney. He was also a prolific television actor from the 1970s, with roles in the tele-films Demon, Demon (1975), The Honorable Sam Houston (1975), The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), The Big Rip-Off (1975), Shell Game (1975), The Adams Chronicles (1976) as Benjamin Franklin, Wanted: The Sundance Woman (1976), Tail Gunner Joe (1977) as President Truman, Seventh Avenue (1977), Loose Change (1978), Murder in Texas (1981) as Cameron Fairchild, Marian Rose White (1982), The Blue and the Gray (1982) as Gen. Robert E. Lee, Carly’s Web (1987), An Enemy of the People (1990), and Getting Away with Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Mystery (2000). His other television credits include guest roles in episodes of such series as Movin’ On, The Rockford Files, Apple’s Way, Mannix, Petrocelli, The Blue Knight, Police Woman, Dog and Cat, Family in the recurring role of Dr. Herman, Police Story, Future Cop, The Love Boat, Visions, The Six Million Dollar Man, Baretta, Charlie’s Angels, Knots Landing, M*A*S*H as Col. Horace Baldwin, Quincy, Dallas, Archie Bunker’s Place, Benson, Knight Rider, Riptide, The Paper Chase, Cheers, The Wizard, St. Elsewhere, Dynasty in the recurring role of Dr. Jonas Edwards, Beauty and the Beast, thirtysomething, Stat, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Vedek Porta in the 1996 episode “Accession,” ER, Any Day Now, Alias, and Cold Case. Symonds also continued to perform frequently on stage and was seen in such films as Gray Lady Down (1978), ...And Justice for All (1979), Superstition (1982), The Ice Pirates (1984), Micki + Maude (1984) co-starring with his wife Priscilla Pointer and step-daughter Amy Irving, Crimewave (1985), Still Frame (1988), C.H.U.D. II — Bud the Chud (1989), Mandroid (1993), Primary

365 Colors (1998), Inferno (1999), and Catch Me if You Can (2002).

Robert Symonds

SZAKACSI, SANDOR Hungarian actor Sandor Szakacsi died in Hungary on March 7, 2007. He was 54. Szakacsi was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 20, 1952. He was a popular performer on Hungarian films and television from the 1970s. He was featured in the films Illatos ut a Semmibe (1974), A Nice Neighbor (1979), Kojak Budapesten (1980), Diary for My Loved Ones (1987), Diary for My Father and Mother (1990), Prosecution (1996), Sobri (2002), A Szent Lorinc Folyo Lazacai (2003), Montecarlo! (2004), and Csendkut (2007). He was also a voice actor in such films as Don’t Leave Out the Window (1978), On the Move (1979), The Train Killer (1983), Lost Illusions (1983), Eskimo Women Feel Cold (1984), The Blood of the Rose (1998), and Sunshine (1999). Szakacsi was also featured in such television productions as A Tenger (1983), Az Angol Kiralyno (1988), Peer Gynt (1988), A Megkozelithetetien (1989), and A Ket Bolyai (2006).

2007 • Obituaries

at the age of eight, appearing under the name Magda Papir in the films Szulamit (1916), Az Obsitos (1917), Hivatalnok Urak (1918), Leng yelver (1920), A Megfag yott Gyermek (1921), Leanybecsulet (1923), Melody of the Heart (1929), and Greetings and Kisses, Veronika (1933). She accompanied her husband, Bela Szepes, to Berlin in the 1930s, where Maria worked as a journalist and screenwriter. She scripted several films, often credited as Orsi Maria, including Tomi (1936), Sutyi, the Lucky Child (1937), 300.000 Pengo az Utcan (1937), Maria Ket Ejszakaja (1940), and Don’t Ask Who I Was (1941). She returned to Hungary near the end of World War II, and wrote her first novel, The Red Lion. Published in Hungary in 1946, the novel was banned by the Communist regime and ordered destroyed. Several copies were preserved and distributed underground. The Red Lion eventually made its way to Germany, and was published in the West in 1984. Her other works include the children’s books Dotted Doris, Marty the Sorcerer, and Aunt Boroka’s Treasure, and the novels Mirror Door in the Sea, Rebellious Roles, and The Cart of Mars. She also wrote several spiritual volumes including The Magic of Everyday Life, The Magic of Fate and Miracle, and The Anatomy of the Soul.

Maria Szepes

Sandor Szakacsi

SZEPES , MARIA Hungarian actress and writer Maria Szepes died in Budapest, Hungary, on September 3, 2007. She was 98. She was born Magdolna Scherbach to a theatrical family in Budapest on December 14, 1908. She began her career as an actress

TABORI, GEORGE Hungarian-born dramatist George Tabori died in Berlin, Germany, on July 23, 2007. He was 93. Tabori was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 24, 1914. He moved to Germany as a young man, but left for England in 1935 to flee the Nazi regime because of his Jewish heritage. He worked for the BBC for several years before moving to the United States after World War II in 1947. Tabori worked as a translator, specializing in the works of the Berthold Brecht and Max Frisch. He also worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter on such films as Crisis (1950), Thunder in the East (1952), Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess (1953), The Young Lovers (1954), The Journey (1959), No Exit (1962), and Secret Ceremony (1968). He also wrote the 1960 television production of The Emperor’s Clothes, and the plays The Cannibals, about the Aushwitz concentration camp that was produced in Germany in 1968, and Leo the Last, which was adapted for film in 1970. Tabori returned to Germany in 1971, where he wrote more than thirty theatrical works that

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often delved into controversial topics. His farce on the Nazi era and its leader, Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, caused a stir when it was produced for the stage in 1987, and for television in 1994. He also wrote the films Parades (1972), Frohes Fest (1981) which he also directed, and The Legend of Mrs. Goldman and the Almighty God (1996). He adapted Arturo Ul for a television production in 1972, and his story My Mother’s Courage was adapted for film in Germany in 1995. Tabori also appeared onscreen in several films including Tarot (1986), Welcome to Germany (1988), Kod (1994), and Bye Bye America (1994).

fesses (1961), The Black Test Car (1962), The Graceful Brute (1962), The Black Report (1963), Yakuza Outpost (1966), Secret Information (1969), Jiro’s Story (1987), Shaso (1989), Four Days of Snow and Blood (1989), Bokyo (1993), A Mature Woman (1994), Boku wa Benkyo ga Dekinai (1996), Daikaiju Tokyo ni Arawaru (1998), and Transparent: Tribute to a Sad Genius (2001). He also starred in the 1996 television series Hideyoshi and the 2005 television production of Hotaru no Haka.

TAKAMATSU, HIDEO Japanese actor Hideo Takamatsu died of a myocardial infarction in Kanagawa, Japan, on February 26, 2007. He was 77. Takamatsu was born in Nagaoka-gun, Japan, on October 24, 1929. He was best known in the United States for his role as Lord Buntaro in the 1980 television miniseries Shogun and as General Ishikari in the 1987 film The Last Emperor. Takamatsu began his film career in Japan in the early 1950s, appearing in such features as Asakusa no Yoru (1954), Bazoku Geisha (1954), Dankongai (1955), Bara no Kodokan (1956), Tsukigata Hanpeita (1956), Three Hundred Miles Through Enemy Lines (1957), Woman of Soaka (1958), Giants and Toys (1958), The White Heron (1958), Across Darkness (1959), Sakurada Mon (1961), Desperate to Love (1961), A Wife Con-

TAKAMOTO, IWAO Animation artist Iwao Takamoto, who created the cartoon canine sleuth Scooby-Doo, died of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital on January 8, 2007. He was 81. Takamoto was born to Japanese immigrant parents in Los Angeles on April 29, 1925. He and his family were sent to the Manzanar Internment Camp in the California desert after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Takamoto learned to sketch there from other internees who had worked at film studios. After the war he began working at Disney Studios as an assistant illustrator in 1947. He worked on such animated films as Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and 101 Dalmatians (1961). He left Disney for Hanna-Barbera in 1961, and worked on numerous cartoon series including The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Jonny Quest, The Hillbilly Bears, The Secret Squirrel Show where he created the character Atom Ant, Inch High Private Eye, Hong Kong Phooey, Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles, Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor, Clue Club, C.B. Bears, The Great Grape Ape Show, The Kwicky Koala Show, Cattanooga Cats, Where’s Huddles?, Harlem Globetrotters, Josie and the Pussycats, Jabberjaws, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch., Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., Help! ... It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, and Challenge of the Super Friends. He also created Astro, the family dog, for The Jetsons, and Penelope Pitstop and Muttley for Wacky Races. Takamoto created Scooby-Doo and his human companions Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy for the 1969 cartoon series. The crime-solving Great Dane starred in numerous animated series and films, and was seen as a computer-generated character in a live-action feature in 2002 and a sequel two years

Hideo Takamatsu

Iwao Takamoto (and Scooby-Doo)

George Tabori

367 later. Takamoto also served as co-director of the 1973 animated film version of Charlotte’s Web, and designed the effects for the 1990 tele-film The Dreamer of Oz. He worked as vice-president of special projects at Warner Brothers Animation in recent years, and was involved in the 1990s television series What’s New Scooby-Doo? and Krypto the Superdog.

TALLMAN , RANDOLPH Actor Randolph Tallman died in Dallas, Texas, on November 20, 2007. He was 67. Tallman was born on December 2, 1939. He sang with the New Christy Minstrels in the 1960s, and performed frequently on stage in the Dallas, Texas, area for more than three decades. He was featured as Dr. Sayer in the 1991 film Necessary Roughness, and appeared in the tele-films Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Jeter Story (1987), Lone Star Kid (1988), and Pancho Barnes (1988). Tallman was also seen on television in episodes of Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Randolph Tallman

TANAKA, KAZUMI Japanese actor Kazumi Tanaka, who provided voices for numerous anime series and films, died of acute pulmonary disease in a Tokyo hospital on December 20, 2007. He was 56. Tanaka was born in Tokyo on August 11, 1951. He was best known for his role as the voice of Jeice in the 1989 Dragon Ball Z television series, and as Suiken, Kirk, and Killbison in the 1989 series Transformers: Victory.

Kazumi Tanaka

2007 • Obituaries

Tanaka was also a voice actor in the anime films Vampire Hunter D (1985), Dagger of Kamui (1985), Akira (1988), Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor (1989), One Pound Gospel (1989), Riding Bean (1989), Madara (1991), Alien Defender Geo-Armor: Kishin Corps (1993), and Memories (1995). He provided various voices in the film Crying Freeman (1987) and its sequels, and for the television series Fist of the North Star 2 (1987), Akko’s Secret (1988), and Kinkyuu Hasshin Saver Kids (1991). His survivors include his older brother, voice actor Ryoichi Tanaka.

TANAKA, TOKUZO Japanese film director Tokuzo Tanaka, who was best known for directing several films in the saga of Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a Nara, Japan, hospital on December 20, 2007. He was 87. Tanaka was born in Osaka City, Japan, on September 15, 1920. He began his career in films as an assistant director in the early 1950s on such features as Rashomon (1950), Tales of Ugetsu (1953), Legend of Bailiff Sansho (1954), and Flame of Torment (1958). He began directing films for Daiei Motion Picture Company later in the decade. He helmed such features as The Ogre of Mount Oe (1960), Koina no Ginpei (1961), Tough Guy (1961), Tough Guy, Part 2 (1961), The Whale God (1962), New Bad Reputation Continues (1962), Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman’s Return (1963), Teuchi (1963), Zatoichi, Crazy Journey (1963), Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade (1963), Ninja 4 (1964), Hoodlum Soldier and the C.O. (1965), Red Shuriken (1965), Hoodlum Soldier Deserts Again (1966), The Blind Swordsman’s Vengeance (1966), The Betrayal (1966), Army Nakano School: Dragon #3 Directive (1967), Hoodlum Soldier on the Attack (1967), A Ronin Called Nemuri (1968), The Snow Woman (1968), Girl with Bamboo Leaves (1969), Secrets of a Woman’s Temple (1969), and The Haunted Castle (1969). After Daiei went bankrupt in 1971 Tanaka worked primarily in television. He directed the 1974 series of Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, and episodes of Lone Wolf & Cub. TANG, DEBORAH Deborah Tang, a leading executive with Black Entertainment Television, died of cancer at her home in Washington, D.C., on December 25, 2007. She was 60. Tang was born in Chicago,

Deborah Tang

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Illinois, in 1947. She worked in sales and marketing in Chicago before moving to Dallas to produce The Charlie Rose Show in 1978. She moved with the show to Washington, D.C., in 1980. She worked in production at several Washington area television stations from 1982 to 1986, and earned an Emmy for her special The KKK in Washington. Tang was hired by Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1986, and served as executive producer of news and public affairs. She produced the first national black cable news show, BET News, and the roundtable new program Lead Story. She also created the talk show For Black Men Only and produced the daily talk show BET Talk, hosted by Tavis Smiley from 1997. Tang retired from BET in 2000.

TANI, KANICHI Japanese comedian and actor Kanichi Tani died of a stroke in a Tokyo, Japan, hospital on June 25, 2007. He was 74. Tani was born in Tokyo on November 21, 1932. He began his career as part of the comedy team Three Pockets with Kiyoshi Atsumi and Keiroko Seki. He also starred as an assistant detective in the fantasy television series Gekko Kamen (Moonlight Mask).

Man (1957). Taniguchi continued to direct in the 1960s, frequently helming action films. His later credits include The Gambling Samurai (1960), Man Against Man (1960), Blood on the Sea (1961), The Crimson Sky (1962), Operation Mountain Lion (1962), Outpost of Hell (1963), The Lost World of Sinbad (1963), International Secret Police: Key of Keys (1965), Kiganjo no Boken (aka Adventure of the Strange Stone Castle (1966), The Killing Bottle (1967), and Kamo to Negi (1968). Taniguchi also directed the original Japanese film that was re-edited and dubbed by Woody Allen to become the 1966 spy spoof What’s Up, Tiger Lily? He was married to actress Setsuko Wakayama from 1949 until their divorce in 1956. He married actress Kaori Yachigusa in 1957, who survives him.

Senkichi Taniguchi

Kanichi Tani

TANIGUCHI, SENKICHI Japanese film director Senkichi Taniguchi died of complications from pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital on October 29, 2007. He was 95. Taniguchi was born in Tokyo on February 19, 1912. He began working in films in the 1930s, serving as an assistant director on such productions as Enoken’s Ten Millions (1936) and A World of Two (1940). A childhood friend of fellow director Akira Kurosawa, Taniguchi made his directorial debut helming The Snow Trail in 1947 from a script by Kurosawa. Two years later Taniguchi scripted Kurasawa’s film The Quiet Duel (1949). Both films starred acclaimed actor Toshiro Mifune. He also directed, and frequently wrote, such films as Toho Show Boat (1946), Jakoman and Tetsu (1949), Escape at Dawn (1950), Beyond Love and Hate (1951), Dare ga Watashi o Sabaku No Ka (1951), Foghorn (1952), Swift Current (1952), My Wonderful Yellow Car (1953), Yoru no Owari (1953), Red-Light Bases (1953), The Surf (1954), No Response from Car 33 (1955), Rainy Night Duel (1956), Fukuaki no Seishun (1956), Man in the Storm (1957), The Last Pursuit (1957), and The Quiet

TARSALA, TARJA-TUULIKKI Finnish actress Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala died in Helsinki, Finland, on May 9, 2007. She was 69. Tarsala was born in Helsinki on September 4, 1937. She was a leading performer in films and television in Finland from the 1960s. Her film credits include Rottasota (1968), The Marvellous Adventures of a TV Man (1969), Homeward in the Night (1977), Autumn Is to Change It All (1978), Uuno Turhapuro — Kaksoisagentti (1987), Back to the USSR —Takaisin Ryssiin (1992), Sergeant Kormy and the South Pacific (1992), Lipton Cockton in the Shadows of Sodoma (1995), Bad Luck Love (2000), The Promise

Tarja-Tuulikki Tarsala

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(2002), Mosku (2003), Popularmusik fran Vittula (2004), Uuno Turhapuro —This Is My Life (2004), A Man’s Work (2007), and Suden Vuosi (2007). Tarsala also appeared in such television productions as Eight Deadly Shots (1972), Rautatie (1973), Sinitaivas (1989), Annabel Lee (1990), Susi Rajalla (2000), The Fence (2001), Sairaskertomuksia (2004) as Kyllikki, Suoraa Huutoa! (2004), and Kaenpesa (2005).

son of actor Ray Smith. He began performing with Tigertailz in the late 1980s, and was heard on their debut album Young and Crazy in 1987. They had a hit single with “Livin Without You.” Later albums include Bezerk (1990), Banzai! (1991), Wazbones! (1995), Original Sin (2003), and Bezerk 2.0 (2006). Tate also worked in television for BBC Wales, directing the weekly political series Dragon’s Eye.

TATARSKY, ALEKSANDER Russian animator Aleksander Tatarsky died of a heart attack in Moscow on July 22, 2007. He was 56. Tatarsky was born in Kiev, Soviet Union, on December 11, 1950. He began his career as a film critic, before studying at the Kiev Animation Studio. He worked as an animator on several shorts before joining with Igor Kovalyov to form Pilot Studio in Moscow in 1988. Tatarsky was president and art director of Pilot and produced and directed over 20 shorts including Last Year’s Snow Fall and Modeling Clay Crow. He also directed the 1999 television series Mike, Lu and Og and the award winning 2003 film Red Gates. Resemon.

TAVENER , MARK British novelist Mark Tavener died of cancer in England on October 18, 2007. He was 53. His 1989 satirical novel In the Red, was adapted as a radio play in 1995, and as a tele-film in 1998. He also wrote the sequels In the Balance, In the Chair, and In the End for radio. He also wrote a spinoff series Absolute Power for radio in 2000, and it was adapted as a television series from 2003 to 2005. Tavener was also the creator of the radio productions High Table, Lower Orders, and His Master’s Voice. TAYLOR, TYRONE Jamaican reggae singer Tyrone Taylor died in Kingston, Jamaica, on December 1, 2007. He was 53. Taylor was born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, in 1954. He began performing as a teenager and recorded his first single, “Delilah,” in 1968. During the 1970s, he recorded with such reggae artists as Sidney Crooks, Jack Ruby and Niney the Observer. He had an international hit with the 1983 release of “Cottage in Negril.” Taylor continued to perform in Jamaica though never again rose to the top of the charts.

Aleksander Tatarsky

TATE, PEPSI Welch bassist Pepsi Tate, who performed with the glam metal band Tigertailz, died of pancreatic cancer in a Penarth, Cardiff, Wales, hospital on September 18, 2007. He was 42. He was born Huw Justin Smith in Dinas Powys, Wales, in 1965, the Tyrone Taylor

Pepsi Tate

TAYLOR, ZOLA Singer Zola Taylor, who became the first female member of the 1960s band the Platters, died of complications from pneumonia in Riverside, California, on April 30, 2007. She was 69. Taylor was born in Los Angeles, on March 17, 1938, and began her career as a singer in the all-girl band Shirley Gunther and the Queens. She was discovered by Platters singer Herb Reed and joined the all male band in 1955. They quickly became one of the most popular American bands of the decade, scoring hits with such songs as “Only You” (1956), “The Great Pretender” (1956), “My Prayer” (1956), and “Twilight Time” (1958). During the late 1950s and 1960s, the Platters toured Britain, appearing on television in episodes of Sunday Night at the London Palladium. They also were

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seen in the feature films Rock Around the Clock (1956), The Girl Can’t Help It (1956), and Rock All Night (1957), Carnival Rock (1957), European Nights (1958), and Girls Town (1959). In the early 1960s, the group disbanded when radio stations banned their music due to allegations of drug use and statutory rape against the four male members of the band. They were later acquitted of all charges. Taylor left the band in 1962, though later joined with several other members to form the band the Original Platters. Claiming to have been married to pop star Frankie Lymon, who sang the hit song “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” in 1965, Taylor became involved in a legal battle with three other potential widows. The courts eventually ruled in favor of Lymon’s first wife, stating that Taylor had not filed the proper paperwork to prove marriage. She continued to play until the 1990s with various band and was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

idence at Princeton University, teaching jazz in 2005 and 2006. He subsequently returned to Louisiana where he continued to perform until his death.

Willie Tee

Zola Taylor

TEE , WILLIE New Orleans musician and singer Willie Tee died of colon cancer in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, on September 11, 2007. He was 63. He was born Wilson Turbinton in New Orleans on February 6, 1944. He began performing while in his teens. He recorded “Teasin’ You” in 1965 for Atlantic Records. He also recorded the hits “Walking Up a One-Way Street” and “Thank You John.” He led the group Willie Tee and the Souls in the late 1960s, performing from Harlem to Bourbon Street. He was considered an innovator in melding funk and soul to create the New Orleans sound. He remained active as a keyboardist, singer and producer for over 40 years. He wrote and arranged the 1973 album The Wild Magnolias, which combined an Indian tribe’s Mardi Gras chants with his own style of funk. He produced the tribe’s second album in 1974, They Call Us Wild, and recorded another solo album, Anticipation, in 1976. He teamed with his older brother, jazz saxophonist Earl Turbinton, for the 1988 album Brothers for Life. He was one of the New Orleans musicians displaced by hurricane Katrina in 2005. The disaster destroyed his home and many of his recordings. He and fellow refugees joined together shortly after Katrina’s devastation under the banner of the New Orleans Social Club to record the album Sing Me Back Home. Tee was named artist in res-

TENSER, TONY British film producer Tony Tenser, who produced numerous horror films as head of Tigon British Films in the 1960s and 1970s, died in England on December 5, 2007. He was 87. Tenser was born in London on August 10, 1920. He began working in films in the late 1950s as publicity manager for the distribution company Miracle Films. He joined with Michael Klinger to form Compton Films in the early 1960s. The first film released by the new company was the exploitation classic Naked as Nature Intended in 1961. They also produced the films The Yellow Teddybears (1963), London in the Raw (1964), The Black Torment (1964), Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965), The Pleasure Girls (1965), A Study in Terror (1965), and Cul-de-sac (1966). Tenser and Klinger parted ways in 1966, with Tenser going on to form Tigon. Over the next decade, he was instrumental in launching the careers of such directors as Michael Reeves, Stephen Weeks and Robert Hartford-Davies. Tigon released such features as Mini Weekend (aka The Tomcat) (1967) which Tenser also scripted, The Projected Man (1967), The Sorcerers (1967), Love in Our Time (1968), Curse of the Crimson Altar (aka Curse of the Crimson Cult) (1968) starring Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee, The Blood Beast Terror (aka The Vampire Beast Craves Blood (1968) with Peter Cushing, Michael Reeves’ torture classic The Conqueror Worm (aka Witchfinder General) (1968) starring Vincent Price, Zeta One (aka The Love Factor) (1969), Monique (1969), The Body Stealers (aka Thin Air) (1969), The Haunted House of Horror (aka Horror House) (1969), What’s Good for the Goose (aka Girl Trouble) (1969), 1917 (1970), The Beast in the Cellar (aka Are You Dying, Young Man?) (1970), Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), Black Beauty (1971), The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971), Hannie Caulder (1971), For the Love of Ada (1972), Doomwatch (1972), Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972), The Creeping Flesh (1973) with Peter Cushing, Not Now Darling (1973), and Peter Walker’s Frightmare (1974). Tenser’s life and works were the subject of John Hamilton’s recent book, Beasts in the Cellar.

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Tony Tenser (with Vincent Price on the set of The Conqueror Worm)

TEPLITZ, JORDAN Character actor Jordan Teplitz died in Chicago, Illinois, on April 10, 2007. He was 75. Teplitz was born on November 17, 1931. He was a frequent performer on the Chicago stage. He also appeared in several films including Serious Business (1999), Just Visiting (2001), Stranger Than Fiction (2006), and Let’s Go to Prison (2006). TEPLY, JAN Czech stage, film and television actor Jan Teply died of cancer in Prague, Czech Republic, on February 25, 2007. He was 75. Teply was born in Prague on July 30, 1931. He was active in films from the 1960s, appearing in The Stolen Airship (1967), The Ear (1970), Catherine and Her Two Daughters (1970), The Bride (1970), Cas Lasky a Nadeje (1976), Julek (1980), Dreams About Zambezia (1982), Fesak Hubert (1984), Posledni Mejdan (1984), Atomova Katedrala (1984), Larks on a String (1990), Edgar (1996), Zdivocela Zeme (1997), and Dead Beetle (1998). Teply was also featured in such television productions as Byl Jednou Jeden Dum (1974), Chalupari (1975), 30 Cases of Major Zeman (1979), Okres na Severu (1981), Klement Gottwald (1986), Dlouha Mile (1989), Adventure of Criminalistics (1990), The Necklace (1992), Piovra 6 — La l’Ultimo Segreto (1992), and Navsteva Stare Damy (1999).

2007 • Obituaries

on January 26, 2007. He was 80. Tetley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on February 3, 1926. He began studying ballet in New York in the late 1940s, where he received training from such masters as Martha Graham, Hanya Holm, and Anthony Tudor. He joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1956, and also performed with Martha Graham’s company in the 1950s. He was featured in television productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors in 1951 and 1955, and was the King in a production of Esther in 1961. He formed the Glen Tetley Dance Company in 1962, which he was forced to close due to financial problems in 1969. He headed to Europe, where he worked with London’s Ballet Rambert and the Netherlands Dance Theater in the early 1970s. He served as director of the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany from 1074 to 1976. His ballets, which often incorporated modern dance moves, were sometimes controversial, yet remained popular throughout Europe. Tetley was a artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1987 to 1989, where he created a ballet based on Alice in Wonderland. His final work was Lux in Tenebris, which he choreographed for the Houston Ballet in 1999.

Glen Tetley

THACKER, TAB Tab Thacker, an amateur wrestler turned actor, died of complications from diabetes in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 28, 2007. He was 45. Thacker was born in North Carolina

Jan Teply

TETLEY, GLEN Dancer and choreographer Glen Tetley died of cancer in West Palm Beach, Florida,

Tab Thacker

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on March 10, 1962. The 6'5", 450 pound Thacker was the NCAA champion in 1984, but was barred from competing in the Olympics when a rule change disqualified him as being too heavy. The imposing grappler appearing in a handful of films in the 1980s including City Heat (1984), Wildcats (1986), and Identity Crisis (1989). He was also featured as Tommy ‘House’ Conklin in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) and Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988).

THIBAUDIN, BEATRIZ Argentine character actress Beatriz Thibaudin died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 7, 2007. Thibaudin was featured in numerous films including Contragolpe (1979), The Island (1979), The Official Story (1985), Miss Mary (1986), Perros de la Noche (1986), The Girlfriend (1988), Eversmile, New Jersey (1989), Hasta donde Ilegan tus Ojos (1995), Dibu 2: La Venganzaa de Nasty (1998), Waiting for the Messiah (2000), Suddenly (2002), Tus Ojos Brillaban (2005), Elefante Blanco (2005), La Vida por Peron (2005), Mientras Tanto (2006), and Arizona Sur (2007). She also appeared on television in the series Los Simuladores, Laura’s Secret, and Hombres de Honor.

1961. She was featured in a small role in the 1995 film The Crossing Guard, and appeared in the tele-films Monkeys (1989), The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998), and Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000). She also appeared on television in episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

THOMAS, MARILYN British actress Marilyn Thomas died in England on September 6, 2007. Thomas was featured in the 1960 television mini-series The Days of Vengeance and the 1975 tele-film Sky Heist. She also appeared in several films including The Happy Hooker (1975), Pink Floyd the Wall (1982) as a teacher, Glass (1989), and This Won’t Hurt a Bit. She starred as Gossidge in the 1996 television series Blackhearts in Battersea. THOMASSON, HUGHIE Singer and guitarist Hughie Thomasson, who was a founding member of the Southern rock band the Outlaws, died of a heart attack at his home in Brooksville, Florida, on September 9, 2007. He was 55. Thomasson was born in Tampa, Florida, on August 13, 1952. He began playing the guitar with such local groups as the Rogues and the Four Letter Words in the early 1960s. He was a founder and leader of the Outlaws while still a teenager in the late 1960s. The group recorded their self-named debut album in 1975. They had several hits including “There Goes Another Love Song” and “Green Grass and High Tides.” The Outlaws disbanded in the 1990s when Thomasson joined a new lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He reformed the Outlaws in 2005, and toured and recorded with the band until his death.

Beatriz Thibaudin

THIMMESCH, MARTHA Actress Martha Thimmesch was founded dead in her apartment in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 26, 2007. She was 45. Thimmesch was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on May 26,

Hughie Thomasson

THOMPSON, HANK Country singer Hank Thompson died of lung cancer at his home in Keller, Texas, on November 6, 2007. He was 82. Thompson was born in Waco, Texas, on September 3, 1925. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and embarked on a career in music after the war. He was the innovator of the musical style known as Honky Tonk Swing, and had a Number One hit with his 1952 album The Wild Side of Life. Usually accompanied by the Brazos Valley Boys, he also recorded the popular songs “Humpty Dumpty Heart” and “A Six Pack to Go.” Thompson was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. He continued to perform and record until shortly before his death. (See photograph on page 373.) Martha Thimmesch

THOMSON, ALEX British cinematographer Alex Thomson died in England on June 14, 2007. He

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Man (1993), Black Beauty (1994), The Scarlet Letter (1995), Executive Decision (1996), Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1996), The Man Couldn’t Open Doors (1998), The Troop (1999), Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000), A Shot at Glory (2000), Listening (2003), and Der Letzte Flug (2004). Thomson received a lifetime achievement award from the British Society of Cinematographers in 2002.

Hank Thompson

was 78. Thomson was born in London on January 12, 1929. He began working in films at Denim Studios as a clapper boy for the film So Well Remembered (1947). He retained that position on such films as The Trial of Madame X (1948), The Perfect Woman (1949) and The Rocking Horse Winner (1950). He moved to Technicolor after Denim closed in 1951 where he worked on the films Moulin Rouge (1952) and Laurence Olivier’s Richard III (1955). Thomson began working as a camera operator in the early 1960s, working on such films as Scent of Mystery (1960), Information Received (1961), Postman’s Knock (1962), Dr. Crippen (1962), Band of Thieves (1962), David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Caretaker (1963), Just for Fun (1963), Nothing But the Best (1964), Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Death (1964) where he began his long association with cinematographer Nicholas Roeg, Victim Five (1964), The System (1964), Every Day’s a Holiday (1965), You Must Be Joking! (1965), Dr. Zhivago (1965), Judith (1966), Francois Truffaut’s 1966 adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, A Funny Thing Happened of the Way to the Forum (1966), the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale, Far from the Madding Crowd (1966), The Man Would Be King (1975), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), Superman (1978), and The Saint (1997). Thomson began working as a director of photography with the 1967 film Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. He served as cinematographer on numerous films in England and Hollywood including The Strange Affair (1968), I Start Counting (1969), The Best House in London (1969), Alfred the Great (1969), The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970), The Night Digger (1971), Raw Meat (1972), Fear Is the Key (1972), LHR (1972), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), Rosie Dixon — Night Nurse (1978), A Game for Vultures (1979), The Cat and the Canary (1979), Excalibur (1981), the 1981 tele-film Skokie, Bullshot (1983), The Keep (1983), Electric Dreams (1984), Eureka (1984), Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon (1985), Legend (1985), Raw Deal (1986), Labyrinth (1986), Duet for One (1986), The Sicilian (1987), Date with an Angel (1987), Track 29 (1988), High Spirits (1988), Leviathan (1989), The Rachel Papers (1989), Wings of Fame (1990), The Krays (1990), Mr. Destiny (1990), Alien 3 (1992), Cliffhanger (1993), Demolition

Alex Thomson

THOMSON, PENNY Film producer Penny Thomson died of cancer in Scotland on July 9, 2007. She was 56. Thomson was born in Manila, the Philippines, to a Scottish father and an American mother, on November 14, 1950. She attended school in Scotland and began working in films in the late 1970s. Thomson was production manager and co-producer for the 1983 documentary Sean Connery’s Edinburgh. She formed her own company, Avonbridge Films, in 1986 and produced Rosie Gibson’s documentary The Work They Say Is Mine. She was also a producer for the Scottish segments of Peter Watkins’ anti-nuclear documentary The Journey in the late 1980s. She was associate producer for the 1989 feature Conquest of the South Pole and served as the first director of the Scottish Film Production Board in the early 1990s. Thomson was director of the Edinburgh Film Festival from 1991 to 1994. She remained actively involved in film and television productions in Scotland throughout her life.

Penny Thomson

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THORNE, RICHARD Radio announcer and writer Richard Thorne died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a long illness on February 12, 2007. He was 81. Thorne began his career in radio in the 1940s, working for many years as an announcer at station WGN. He also scripted many episodes of syndicated radio programs including the popular thriller series Hall of Fantasy. Thorne also produced and directed numerous commercials and training films for such companies as Oscar Meyer, IBM, Kraft Foods, and Sears before retiring for health reasons in the early 2000s. THORPE, BILLY Rock musician and singer Billy Thorpe died of a heart attack in Sydney, Australia, on February 28, 2007. He was 60. Thorpe was born in Manchester, England, on March 29, 1946. He immigrated to Australia with his family in the 1950s and began his musical career at an early age. He had a major hit in 1964 with his rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and also had success with “Poison Ivy” with his band, the Aztecs. Thorpe also hosted his own television program, It’s All Happening, in Australia. The Aztecs broke up in 1968, but Thorpe soon reformed the band with local guitar legend Lobby Loyde. They had a major hit with the single “Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy)” and the album Aztecs Live! in the early 1970s. He and the band also performed in the 1975 film The Love Epidemic. Thorpe moved to Los Angeles in 1976 where he produced the rock opera Children of the Sun. He also worked as a session musician and performed on soundtracks for such television series as Columbo, Eight Is Enough, and the Star Trek franchise. In the early 1990s he joined with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist Kenn Gradney in the group Zoo. Thorpe continued to tour and perform as a solo act until his death.

Billy Thorpe

THURANO, KONRAD German acrobat Konrad Thurano, who became the world’s oldest circus performer in a career that lasted over 80 years, died in Denmark on November 20, 2007. He was 98. Thurano was born in Dusseldorf, German, in April of 1909. A amateur gymnast, he began performing with the circus as a young man. He worked for 25 years with the Lindners’ pole balancing team. He later formed a high-

wire act that included his wife and two children. The act gained fame with the Circus Franz Althoff and toured throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He returned to Dusseldorf each year to perform at the Roncalli Apollo Variety throughout his life.

Konrad Thurano

THURMAN, JIM Children’s television writer Jim Thurman died in Sheffeild, Massachusetts, on April 14, 2007. He was 72. Thurman was born in Dallas, Texas, on March 13, 1935, and was raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He began working in Los Angeles in the 1960s with writing partner Gene Moss. The two created the local children’s series Shrimpenstein and wrote and voiced the syndicated cartoon Roger Ramjet in the 1960s. He was a part of the Emmy Award–winning writing team for The Electric Company in the early 1970s, and also worked on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. He was co-creator of the educational series Mathnet in 1987. TIBBETS, PAUL Paul Tibbets, who was the pilot of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima to end World War II, died after a long illness at his home in Columbus, Ohio, on November 1, 2007. He was 92. Tibbets was born in Quincy, Illinois, on February 23, 1915. He left medical school to join the Army Air Corps in 1937. He was considered one of the Army’s top aviators when he was selected to fly the Enola Gay. The plane dropped the first atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on the morning of August 6, 1945. The nuclear explosion killed more than 80,000 and injured countless others. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, three days later, and Japan subsequently surrendered, ending World War II. Tibbets remained in the Air Force, retiring as a brigadier general in 1966. The decision to drop the atomic bomb and Tibbets’ role in the bombing made him a sometimes controversial figure. He never expressed regret for the decision, stating in interviews that it was his patriotic duty to perform the mission, which spared the United States a likely bloody invasion of Japan. Tibbets was featured in several documentaries about the bombing including the 1982 television mini-series War, the Men Who Brought the Dawn: The Atomic Missions

375 of Enola Gay and Bock’s Car (1995), Moments of Truth with Stephen Ambrose (2001), and Price for Peace (2002). Tibbets was also a character in several films, being portrayed by Barry Nelson in The Beginning or the End in 1947, and by Robert Taylor in Above and Beyond in 1952. Patrick Duffy starred as the aviator in the in the 1980 tele-film Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb, Nick Kilbertus portrayed Tibbets in the tele-film Day One (1989), and David Gow played the role in the 1995 tele-film Hiroshima.

Paul Tibbets

TODEVA, ZLATINA Bulgarian actress Zlatina Todeva died in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on April 13, 2007. She was 81. Todeva was born in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, on February 27, 1926. She was a leading stage performer in Bulgaria, performing in theaters throughout the country. She also appeared in character roles in such films as The Last Word (1973), Hark to the Cock (1978), Sin of Maltitza (1985), Place Under the Sun (1986), Transports of Death (1986), The Neighbour (1988), Burn, Little Flame, Burn (1994), Late Full Moon (1996), A Talk with Birds (1997), Dunav Most (1999), Tuvalu (1999), Devil’s Tail (2001), Rhapsody in White (2002), Blueberry Hill (2002), Listen to the Stars (2003), Mila from Mars (2004), and Without Family Resemblance (2004).

2007 • Obituaries

TOLKIN, MEL Television comedy writer Mel Tolkin, who was head writer for Sid Caesar’s 1950’s series Your Show of Shows, died at his home in Century City, California, on November 26, 2007. He was 94. He was born Shmuel Tolchinsky in the Ukraine on August 3, 1913. He and his family immigrated to Montreal, Canada, in 1926. He was soon writing musical numbers and comedy routines for stage revues. He moved to New York in 1946, after service in the Canadian Army in World War II. He began working with Lucille Callen at a Poconos resort and the two were hired to join the writing staff of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca’s television show The Admiral Broadway Revue in 1949. When that series was canceled after only one year, he and Callen continued to work with Caesar on the subsequent series Your Show of Shows in 1950 and Caesar’s Hour in 1954. The writing line-up for these shows included such comic luminaries as Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen. In the 1960s, Tolkin wrote for such series as The Danny Kaye Show, The Jimmy Durante Show, Run Buddy Run and The Good Guys. He also wrote and served as associate producer for the 1966 spy spoof film The Last of the Secret Agents? He earned an Emmy Award for a television special, starring Sid Caesar and others in 1967. Tolkin scripted numerous episodes of the television series All in the Family and the subsequent Archie Bunker’s Place from the mid–1970s. He also wrote episodes of Sanford and Love, Sidney.

Mel Tolkin

Zlatina Todeva

TOMPKINS, PETER Author Peter Tompkins died at his home in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on January 24, 2007. He was 87. Tompkins was born in Athens, Georgia, on April 19, 1919, the son of sculptor Laurence Tompkins and actress and painter Mary Arthur. He attended schools throughout Europe as a child, and studied writing at Stowe School in England. He served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and CBS during World War II. He was recruited by the OSS, an early version of the CIA, in 1942 and was a successful undercover agent in Italy for several years during the war. He left the OSS after the war and returned to journalism. He moved to Germany where he also worked in films, scripting Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s The Voice of Silence (1953). Tompkins

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also wrote a memoir of his wartime exploits entitled A Spy in Rome (1962). He authored a controversial account of George Bernard Shaw, Shaw and Molly Tompkins, that alleged the author had a lengthy affair with Tompkins’ mother. He also edited a volume of letters by Shaw to his mother, To a Young Actress. His other works include The Eunuch and the Virgin about Turkish harems, Italy Betrayed about the flight of the Italian Royal family from Rome during the war, and The Murder of Admiral Darlan. Tompkins’ interest in archeology and the occult were reflected in his works The Magic of Obelisks, Secrets of the Great Pyramid, and Secrets of the Soil. His book The Secret Life of Plants, which argued that plants were intelligent creatures capable of communication, was adapted for a film documentary in 1975. Tompkins also served as a technical advisor and appeared onscreen in the 1978 documentary The Force Beyond.

Peter Tompkins

TOPPER, BURT Film producer and director Burt Topper died of pulmonary failure in Beverly Hills, California, on April 3, 2007. He was 78. Topper was born on Coney Island, New York, on July 31, 1928. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He began working in films in the late 1950s, appearing in small roles in No Place to Land (1958) and Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959). He soon joined the production staff of AIP, and produced, directed, and scripted the

features Hell Squad (1958), Tank Commandos (1959), Diary of a High School Bride (1959), and War Is Hell (1963), which also featured him in a small role. Topper directed the psychological thriller The Strangler starring Victor Buono in 1964. He also produced the AIP films Space Monster (1965), Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967), Devil’s Angels (1967), and the teen-takeover classic Wild in the Streets (1968). Topper also narrated the exploitation films Teenage Rebellion (1967) and Sadismo (1967). He produced and directed The Devil’s 8 in 1969, and produced, directed, and wrote The Hard Ride in 1971. Topper’s final film as director was The Day the Lord Got Busted (1976), which he also produced and scripted. He served as co-producer and second unit director for the comedy film C.H.O.M.P.S. in 1979.

TORRES, ENRIQUE Mexican-American professional wrestler Enrique Torres died in a Calgary, Canada, nursing home after a long illness on September 10, 2007. He was 85. Torres was born to Mexican parents in Santa Ana, California, on July 25, 1922. He began wrestling professionally in 1946 and was billed as the Panther from Sonora, Mexico. He soon captured a version of the world title belt, which he lost to Gorgeous George in 1947. He held various titles around the country during the 1950s. His brothers Alberto and Ramon joined him in the ring in the early 1950s. He also held the Pacific Coast Tag Team Title several times in 1953 and 1954, teaming with Gino Garibaldi, Leo Nomellini, Ramon Torres, Ron Etchison and Jesse Ortega. He teamed with Leo Nomellini to hold the NWA World Tag Team Title in San Francisco in 1953. He held the title belts several more times in 1955 and 1956, teaming with Johnny Barend and Bobo Brazil. He and his brother Alberto teamed to capture the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in March of 1958. He remained a leading competitor through the 1960s, often teaming with his brothers. He retired from the ring in 1968 and moved to Canada in 1977.

Enrique Torres

Burt Topper

TRACEY, BOB Radio disc jockey and actor Bob Tracey died of complications from pneumonia in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, on January 26, 2007. He was 83. He was born Robert Charles Michel in Rutherford,

377 New Jersey, on August 11, 1923. He began working as a late evening disc jockey at KDKA radio in Pittsburgh under the name Johnny Ryder in the 1950s. He later became Bob Tracey when he took over the mid-afternoon slot. He left KDKA in 1969, but continued to work as a commercial performer and an actor in local theatre. He also had small roles in several features and tele-films including The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988), The 10 Million Dollar Getaway (1991), Darrow (1991), Only You (1994), Houseguest (1995), The Piano Lesson (1995), and The Mothman Prophecies (2002) as Cyrus Bill.

Bob Tracey

TRACY, JOHN John Tracy, the deaf son of actor Spencer Tracy whose condition inspired his parents to establish the John Tracy Clinic for hearing impaired children in Los Angeles, died at his son’s ranch in Acton, California, on June 15, 2007. He was 82. John Tracy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 26, 1924, to Spencer Tracy and his wife, actress Louise Treadwell. His mother first learned that he was deaf when a slamming door failed to startle him. His parents worked diligently to train him how to speak and read lips. He later attended Pasadena City College and the California Institute of the Arts, and worked for several years in the art props department at Walt Disney Studios. Tracy’s parents founded the clinic in his name to assist hearing-impaired children and educate their

2007 • Obituaries

parents in how best to deal with their condition. The younger Tracy’s eyesight also began failing when he was an adult, and he learned that a genetic disorder known as Usher syndrome was responsible for both his deafness and blindness. Tracy’s father died in 1967 and his mother passed away in 1983.

TRAPP, WERNER VON Werner von Trapp, a member of the famed Trapp Family Singers, died at his home in Waitsfield, Vermont, on October 11, 2007. He was 91. He was born in Zell am See, Austria, on December 21, 1915, the second-eldest son of Georg Ritter von Trapp and his first wife Agathe. He joined his six siblings with his father and stepmother, Maria von Trapp, as part of the Trapp Family Singers in the mid–1930s. Werner sang tenor with the group and was proficient on several musical instruments. He and his family escaped from Austria after the Nazi occupation in 1938, in fear that his father’s refusal to allow them to sing at Hitler’s birthday party would endanger them. The family came to the United States, where they became popular performers. Their father died in 1947, though they continued to entertain audiences. The Trapp Family were the inspiration for the popular 1965 film The Sound of Music, with Werner being named Kurt for the film. He retired to the family’s home in Vermont after operating a music school in Pennsylvania. Survivors include his sisters, Agathe and Maria, and several step siblings. The Trapp Family Singers went through several incarnations, with the latest including Werner’s grandchildren, Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and Justin.

Werner von Trapp

John Tracy

TRESSLER, GEORG German director Georg Tressler died in Belgern, Germany, on January 6, 2007. He was 89. Tressler was born in Vienna, Austria, on January 25, 1917, the son of actor and director Otto Tressler. He began his career as an actor in the 1930s, appearing in several films including Men Are That Way (1939). He served in the German army during World War II, and resumed his film career as a director after the war. He helmed numerous films including Urlaub im Schnee (1947), Die Gute Ernte (1951), Hansl und die 2000,0000 Kucken (1952), Der Neue Gemusegarten (1952), Keine Sorge Franzl (1955), Teenage Wolfpack

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(1956) which gave actor Horst Buchholz his first starring role, Under 18 (1957), Two Worlds (1958), Kinder der Berge (1958), Ship of the Dead (1959), Disney’s The Magnificent Rebel (1962) about composer Ludwig van Beethoven, The Merry Wives of Windsor (1965), A Devil of a Woman (1966), 2069: A Sex Odyssey (1974), Die Puppe (1987), and Sukkubus — Den Teufel im Leib (1989). He also worked frequently for German television, directing productions of Lautlose Jagd (1966), Ein Mann, der Nichts Gewinnt (1967), F.M.D.— Psychogramm eines Spielers (1971), Der Lift (1972), Ein Mann fur Mama (1976), Knobbes Knoten (1980), Familienfest (1980), Ada Harris ins Parlament (1984), Mrs. Harris — Freund mit Rolls Royce (1984), Rossinis Pasticcio (1988), Die Hutte am See (1991), and Marienhof (1992), and episodes of Gestatten — Mein Name ist Cox, Das Kriminalmuseumn, Der Kommissar, Die Journalistin, Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre, Der Millionenbauer, and Tatort.

(1994). His other television credits include episodes of Polizeiruf 110, Agentur Herz, and Mona M.

Martin Trettau

TREVINO, CAROL Assistant director Carol Trevino was killed in an automobile accident in Cado Parrish, Louisiana, on February 13, 2007. She was 31. Trevino was born on October 28, 1975. She scripted the 2005 film Times Like These, and was a second assistant director for Don’t Tell (2005). She was working as an assistant to the producers for the forthcoming film sequel Harold and Kumar 2, that was filming in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Georg Tressler

TRETTAU, MARTIN German actor Martin Trettau died in Berlin after a long illness on August 1, 2007. He was 77. Trettau was born in Brieg, Germany (now Brzeg, Poland), on January 12, 1930. He began his acting career on stage in the 1960s. He was also seen in such films as Aus Unserer Zeit (1970), Verspielte Heimat (1971), Trotz Alledem! (1972), Ripe Cherry (1972), The Naked Man in the Stadium (1974), Liebe mit 16 (1974), Der Untergang der Emma (1974), Mein Blauer Vogel Fliegt (1975), Mama, I’m Alive (1977), The Hiding Place (1978), P.S. (1979), Einfach Blumen aufs Dach (1979), Als Unku Edes Preundin War (1981), Die Gerechten von Kummerow (1982), Sabine Kleist, Sieben Jahre (1982), Der Lude (1984), Besuch bei Van Gogh (1985), Die Alleinseglerin (1987), Sehnsucht (1990), Der Letzte Winter (1991), and Ein Bernhardiner Namens Mopschen (1996). Trettau also appeared on television in productions of Aber Vati! (1974), Ernst Schneller (1977), Jugendweihe (1978), Das Grosse Abenteuer des Kaspar Schmeck (1981), Bahnwarter Thiel (1982), Pianke (1983), So Wie du Lebst (1983), Der Enfuhrte Prinz (1983), Weiberwirtschaft (1984), Pelle der Eroberer (1986), Jan Oppen (1987), Zweiu leere Stuhle (1987), Knoig Phantasios (1990), Imken, Anna und Maria oder Besuch aus der Zone (1994), and Anna Maria — Eine Frau geht ihren Wegb

Carol Trevino

TROYAT, HENRI French writer Henri Troyat died in Paris, France, on March 2, 2007. He was 95. He was born Lev Aslanovitch Tarassov in Moscow, Russia, on November 1, 1911. He fled with his family to France during the Russian Revolution. He took the name Henri Troyat after publishing his first novel in 1935. He won the prestigious French literary award, the Prix Goncourt, for his fifth novel L’Araigne, in 1938. Troyat’s novels and biographies, which he produced on nearly a yearly basis, were very popular in France. His works, which numbered more than 100, included biographies of such Russian and French literary and historical figures as Tolstoy, Checkhov, Maupassant, Dumas, Balzac, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great,

379 Catherine the Great, Rasputin, and Nicholas II. He adapted his novel Grandeur Nature for the 1940 film Fire in the Straw, and wrote the play Sebastien in 1946. His short story Maldonne was adapted to film in 1950, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the 1954 film Le Mouton a Cinq Pattes (aka The Sheep Has Five Legs). His novel La Neige en Deuil was adapted for the film The Mountain starring Spencer Tracy in 1956. He also wrote the films Gangster Boss (1959) and Passionate Affair (1960). Several of his novels were adapted for French television productions including Les Eygletiera (1978), La Lumiere des Justes (1979), Le Front dans les Nuages (1989), and Les Semailles et les Moissons (2001). Troyat was elected to a seat in the Academie Francaise in 1959. His numerous works also include the 1991 semi-autobiographical novel Aliocha.

2007 • Obituaries

TRULY , DARIUS Actor Darius Truly was stabbed to death while leaving a party in Los Angeles in the early morning hours of October 27, 2007. He was 26. Truly was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1981. He began his career on the local stage before moving to Los Angeles in 2004. He appeared in several short films, including Dropping the Gloves (2004) and Concrete Brown (2005). Truly also starred as Black Panther Bobby Seale in a stage production of The Chicago Conspiracy Trial.

TSO TAT WAH, WALTER Chinese actor Walter Tso Tat Wah died of a stomach hemorrhage in London, England, on January 13, 2007. He was 91. Tso was born in Taishan, Guangdong Province, China, on September 15, 1915. He moved to Shanghai while in his teens to embark on a career in films. Tso was best known for a series of action films he made in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s, playing such characters as heroic swordsman Lung Kim Fai, Detective Inspector Cho, and Leung Foon, the disciple of Kwan Tak Hing’s kung fu master Wong Fei Hung. His many film credits include Woman Security Escort (1947), The Killing Spear (1953), The Mystery of the Human Head (1955), Huang Fei-hong’s Vengeance at Quanyinshan (1956), Liang Kuan’s Fight at Fiery Tiger Pit (1958), Sword of Blood and Valour (1958), House No. 13 (1960), Mankiller Against the Tricky Man (1961), Sword and 9 Rings (1961), Little Prime Minister (1962), The Blonde Hair Monster (1962), The King of Swords (1963), The Murderous White-Boned Blade (1963), Midnight WereWolf (1963), All Are Happy (1964), Man with 1,000 Fists (1965), Two Champions of Shaolin (1978), Avenging Warriors of Shaolin (1979), The Kings of Kung Fu (1979), Lightning Kung Fu (1981), Corpse Mania (1981), Duel of the Century (1981), Chase Ghost Seven Powers (1981), All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution (1981), Fangs of the Tigress (1981), Mahjong Heroes (1981), Aces Go Places (1982), My Rebellious Son (1982), Military Pine (1982), Passing Flickers (1982), Rolls, Rolls, I Love You (1982), Godfather from Canton (1982), Mad Missions II (aka Aces Go Places II) (1983), Winners and Sinners (1983), Play Catch (1983), Kung Hai Fat Choy (1984), Lust for Love of a Chinese Courtesan (1984), Aces Go Places III: Our Man from Bond Street (1984), My Lucky Stars (1985), My Lucky Stars 2: Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985), My Lucky Stars Go Places (1986), The Family Strikes Back (1986), Happing Ding Dong (1986), Aces Go Places IV (1986), Operation Pink Squad 2: The Haunted Tower (1987), Midnight Angel (1988), Mistaken Identity (1988), Three Against the World (1988), Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit (1989), Angel Enforcers (1989), Widow Warriors (1989), Mr. Fortune (1989), Avenging Trio (1989), Return of the Lucky Star (1989), Demoness from the 1000 Yeras (1990), Here Comes a Vampire (1990), Kung Fu vs. Acrobats (1991), Her Fatal Ways

Darius Truly

Tat Wah Tso

Henri Troyat

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(1991), It’s a Wonderful Life (1994), and How to Meet the Lucky Stars (1996). He divided his time between living in England and Hong Kong from the 1990s.

TUDDENHAM, PETER British character actor Peter Tuddenham, who was best known as the unseen voice of the computers Zen, Orac, and Slave in the cult science fiction television series Blake’s 7, died in England on July 9, 2007. He was 88. Tuddenham was born in England on November 27, 1918. He began his career on the repertory stage in his youth, and entertained troops during World War II with the British Army’s Stars in Battledress program. He continued to perform on stage after the war, and became a popular voice on British radio. He made his television debut as George Banham in the 1966 drama series Weavers Green. He was also featured in television productions of Lord Peter Wimsey: The Nine Tailors (1974), North and South (1975), Back to the Land (1977), and J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys (1978), and episodes of Nearest and Dearest, Quiller, and The Onedin Line. He was part of the original cast of Blake’s 7 in 1978, giving voice to the Liberator spaceship’s computer Zen. He also lent voice and personality to the irascible Orac and obsequious Slave computers aboard the Scorpio before the series ended in 1981. Tuddenham was also a voice actor in several episodes of the Doctor Who series, and appeared in episodes of Nanny, Tales of the Unexpected, Lovejoy, Only Fools and Horses, Bergerac, Double First, Campion, Waiting for God, One Foot in the Grave, and The Bill. He was also seen in television productions of Maelstrom (1985), The Burston Rebellion (1985), Anything More Would Be Greedy (1989), and A Mind to Murder (1995).

program in the basement of a church, and the Boys Choir of Harlem was born. The group was incorporated in 1975, consisting of around 150 boys, and eventually spawned a 600 student school, the Choir Academy of Harlem. He also founded the Girls Choir of Harlem in 1988. Turnbull was seen with the Boys Choir of Harlem in the films Glory (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X (1992), and the television production The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1996). He also appeared on episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Reading Rainbow. Turnbull received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 1997. The school began to decline due to financial difficulties and a 2001 sexual abuse suit was filed in 2001, further weakening the choir. In 2004, a city investigation into the matter led to Turnbull being replaced as chief executive director, though he continued with his duties as artistic director. Two years later the city evicted the Boys Choir from its building, closing the school, and leaving only a fraction of choir members.

Walter Turnbull

Peter Tuddenham

TURNBULL, WALTER, JR. Walter Turnbull, Jr., founder and director of the Boys Choir of Harlem, died from cancer in New York City on March 23, 2007. He was 62. Turnbull was born in Greenville, Mississippi, on July 19, 1944, and studied at Tougaloo College. He moved to New York after graduation to pursue a career as an operatic tenor. He sang as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1968, while studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Turnbull began an after-school music

TURNER, IKE Ike Turner, a leading musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with his ex-wife Tina Turner, died of complications from emphysema at his home in San Marcos, California, on December 12, 2007. He was 76. Turner was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on November 5, 1931. He learned to play the guitar from local Delta bluesmen at an early age and headed a group called the Kings of Rhythm while in high school. Ike and his band had an early rock and roll recording with the 1951 release of “Rocket 88.” Turner also worked as a session musician for such Sun Studios artists as B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Howlin’ Wolf. He moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1954, where he and his band where popular local performers. He met a young singer named Anna Mae Bullock in 1958 an she soon became lead singer of the group under the name Tina Turner. The band was renamed the Ike and Tina Turner revue and recorded such hits as “A Fool in Love” and “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” in the early 1960s. The two were wed in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1962, though Ike later claimed they were never really married. The band grew in popularity throughout the decade and was the opening act for the Rolling Stones on their 1969 tour. They earned

381 a Grammy Award for their 1971 rendition of “Proud Mary.” They performed frequently on television in the early 1970s, appearing on such shows as The Andy Williams Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Beat Club, Rock Concert, Soul Train, and The Midnight Special. They also appeared in a cameo role in the 1970 drama series The Name of the Game. Ike and Tina were also seen in the music documentaries It’s Your Thing (1970), Gimme Shelter (1970), Taking Off (1971), and Soul to Soul (1971). Despite their public success the duo’s private life was less than idyllic. Tina claimed domestic abuse, infidelity and drug use, though Ike proclaimed her allegations were overstated. After Tina Turner left him in 1975, Ike’s career and personal life hit a downward spin. As Tina became a leading star, Ike was repeatedly arrested on drug charges. He was serving a prison sentence for cocaine possession when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Turner briefly returned to the charts when Salt ’N’ Pepa sampled his song “I’m Blue” for their hit “Shoop” in 1993. Tina’s autobiography, I, Tina, described her version of the volatile relationship between her and Ike. A film adaptation was released in 1993 as What’s Love Got to Do with It?, starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne as the dysfunctional couple. Ike wrote his autobiography, Takin’ Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner, in 1999 which claimed Tina’s book and the subsequent film overstated his flaws. In his later career Ike made a guest appearance on the television comedy show Mad TV in 1997, and was featured in the films Boys Klub (2001) and Diamonds from the Bantus (2002).

Ike Turner

TUTTLE, WILLIAM Legendary Hollywood makeup artist William Tuttle, who was given an honorary Academy Award for his work on the 1964 fantasy classic 7 Faces of Lao, died at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, on July 30, 2007. He was 95. Tuttle was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 13, 1912. He moved to Los Angeles in 1930 where he studied art and became an apprentice to Jack Dawn, the head of the makeup department at Twentieth Century Pictures. He followed Dawn to MGM where he eventually succeeded him as head of the studio makeup department in the 1950s. He worked on such films as Mark of the

2007 • Obituaries

Vampire (1935) with Bela Lugosi, The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Youngest Profession (1943), Slightly Dangerous (1943), and Presenting Lily Mars (1943). Tuttle was noted for the beauty makeup techniques he developed for film stars, and later introduced his own makeup line Custom Color Cosmetics in 1975. During his long career Tuttle handled makeup chores on such classic films as Brigadoon (1954), Kismet (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956), Jailhouse Rock (1957) the first of many films he worked on with Elvis Presley, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959), Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), and Tarzan the Ape Man (1959). He also designed the horrific Morlock makeup for the underground mutants in George Pal’s 1960 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, and supplied makeup effects for many classic episodes of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone on television. For his Oscar-winning work on 7 Faces of Dr. Lao he transformed actor Tony Randall into the films title characters including the ancient Oriental Dr. Lao, the satyr Pan, Merlin the Magician, and the Medusa. He also created Peter Boyle’s monster makeup for Mel Brooks’ 1974 horror film spoof Young Frankenstein, and transformed George Hamilton into Dracula in Love at First Bite (1979). He again worked with Hamilton in his final film credit Zorro, the Gay Blade in 1981. He worked on hundreds of other film and television productions during his career with such credits as The Magnificent Yankee (1950), Father of the Bride (1950), The Toast of New Orleans (1950), Summer Stock (1950), A Life of Her Own (1950), To Please a Lady (1950), Dial 1119 (1950), Two Weeks with Love (1950), Kim (1950), Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone (1950), Watch the Birdie (1950), Pagan Love Song (1950), Grounds for Marriage (1951), Vengeance Valley (1951), Three Guys Named Mike (1951), Mr. Imperium (1951), Royal Wedding (1951), Inside Straight (1951), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), Soldiers Three (1951), Cause for Alarm! (1951), Father’s Little Dividend (1951), The Great Caruso (1951), Go for Broke! (1951), Kind Lady (1951), No Questions Asked (1951), Strictly Dishonorable (1951), Rich, Young and Pretty (1951), Show Boat (1951), The Law and the Lady (1951), The Tall Target (1951), The Strip (1951), The People Against O’Hara (1951), The Painted Hills (1951), Across the Wide Missouri (1951), An American in Paris (1951), Texas Carnival (1951), Bannerline (1951), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Calloway Went Thataway (1951), The Unknown Man (1951), It’s a Big Country (1951), Too Young to Kiss (1951), The Man with a Cloak (1951), Desperate Search (1952), The Light Touch (1952), Invitation (1952), Lone Star (1952), The Belle of New York (1952), Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), Just This Once (1952), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Young Man with Ideas (1952), Scaramouche (1952), Skirts Ahoy! (1952), Lovely to Look At (1952), The Girl in White (1952), The Sellout (1952), Carbine Williams (1952), Pat and Mike (1952), Shadow in the Sky (1952), Holiday for Sinners (1952), Fearless Fagan (1952), The Merry Widow (1952), My Man and I (1952), You for Me (1952), Because You’re Mine (1952), Apache War Smoke (1952), The Prisoner Zenda (1952), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Above and Beyond (1952), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), The Bad and the Beau-

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tiful (1952), The Clown (1953), The Naked Spur (1953), Rogue’s March (1953), The Story of Three Loves (1953), Battle Circus (1953), Lili (1953), I Love Melvin (1953), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953), Jeopardy (1953), Gypsy Colt (1953), Small Town Girl (1953), Bright Road (1953), Cry of the Hunted (1953), Remains to Be Seen (1953), Scandal at Scourie (1953), Young Bess (1953), Julius Caesar (1953), Dangerous When Wet (1953), Dream Wife (1953), Arena (1953), Ride, Banguero! (1953), The Band Wagon (1953), Latin Lovers (1953), The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953), Half a Hero (1953), The Actress (1953), Take the High Ground (1953), All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), Kiss Me Kate (1953), Easy to Love (1953), Give a Girl a Break (1953), Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), The Long, Long Trailer (1953), Tennessee Champ (1954), Rhapsody (1954), Rose Marie (1954), Prisoner of War (1954), Executive Suite (1954), Men of the Fighting Lady (1954), Valley of the Kings (1954), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Her Twelve Men (1954), Rogue Cop (1954), Athena (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Green Fire (1954), Many Rivers to Cross (1955), Hit the Deck (1955), Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Glass Slipper (1955), Interrupted Melody (1955), The Prodigal (1955), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Cobweb (1955), Moonfleet (1955), The Scarlet Coat (1955), The King’s Thief (1955), It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), The Marauders (1955), Trail (1955), The Tender Trap (1955), It’s a Dog’s Life (1955), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), Ransom! (1956), Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), Tribute to a Bad Man (1956), The Swan (1956), The Last Hunt (1956), Gaby (1956), The Catered Affair (1956), Somebody Up There Likes You (1956), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), High Society (1956), These Wilder Years (1956), Lust for Life (1956), The Power and the Prize (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Opposite of Sex (1956), The Rack (1956), The Great American Pastime (1956), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956), Slander (1956), The Wings of Eagles (1957), Hot Summer Night (1957), Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), Something of Value (1957), This Could Be the Night (1957), Designing Woman (1957), Silk Stockings (1957), Gun Glory (1957), Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957), Cole Porter’s Les Girls (1957), Raintree County (1957), Until They Sail (1957), Don’t Go Near the Water (1957), The Brothers Karamazov (1958), Saddle the Wind (1958), Merry Andrew (1958), Handle with Care (1958), The Sheepman (1958), Gigi (1958), The High Cost of Loving (1958), High School Confidential! (1958), The Law and Jake Wade (1958), Imitation General (1958), The Badlanders (1958), Torpedo Run (1958), Party Girl (1958), The Tunnel of Love (1958), Some Came Running (1958), Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), Mission of Danger (1959), Green Mansions (1959), Count Your Blessing (1959), Ask Any Girl (1959), Watusi (1959), The Big Circus (1959), It Started With a Kiss (1959), The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959), Never So Few (1959), The Gazebo (1959), Home from the Hill (1960), Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960), Bells Are Ringing (1960), The Subterraneans (1960), All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), Key Witness (1960), Where the Boys Are (1960), Cimarron (1960), Go Naked in the World (1961), Atlantis, the

Lost Continent (1961), Two Loves (1961), The Honeymoon Machine (1961), Ada (1961), Fury River (1961), A Thunder of Drums (1961), Bachelor in Paradise (1961), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), All Fall Down (1962), Ride the High Country (1962), Boys’ Night Out (1962), The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), Period of Adjustment (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962), The Hook (1963), The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963), It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963), A Ticklish Affair (1963), Hootenanny Hoot (1963), Twilight of Honor (1963), Sunday in New York (1963), The Wheeler Dealers (1963), The Prize (1963), A Global Affair (1964), Kissin’ Cousins (1964), Mail Order Bride (1964), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Advance to the Rear (1964), Honeymoon Hotel (1964), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), Looking for Love (1964), Quick Before It Melts (1964), The Outrage (1964), The Americanization of Emily (1964), Get Yourself a College Girl (1964), Signpost to Murder (1964), Your Cheatin’ Heart (1964), The Rounders (1965), 36 Hours (1965), Girl Happy (1965), Joy in the Morning (1965), The Sandpiper (1965), Zebra in the Kitchen (1965), Once a Thief (1965), Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965), The Money Trap (1965), When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Harum Scarum (1965), A Patch of Blue (1965), Lady L (1965), 7 Women (1966), Made in Paris (1966), The Singing Nun (1966), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), Mister Buddwing (1966), Spinout (1966), Penelope (1966), The Venetian Affair (1967), Hot Rods to Hell (1967), Return of the Gunfighter (1967), Riot on Sunset Strip (1967), Double Trouble (1967), Welcome to Hard Times (1967), Don’t Make Waves (1967), The Love-Ins (1967), Point Blank (1967), The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), The Last Challenge (1967), Sol Madrid (1968), The Power (1968), Stay Away, Joe (1968), Speedway (1968), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968), A Time to Sing (1968), The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968), The Young Runaways (1968), Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), Ice Station Zebra (1968), The Split (1968), The Extraordinary Seaman (1969), Heaven With a Gun (1969), The Maltese Bippy (1969), The Gypsy Moths (1969), The Trouble with Girls (1969), Marlowe (1969), 80 Steps to Jonah (1969), ...tick ... tick ... tick... (1970), The Hawaiians (1970), Myra Breckinridge (1970), The Moonshine War (1970), Zigzag (1970), What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971), Necromancy (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), So Evil, My Sister (1972), Silent Movie (1976), Logan’s Run (1976), Silver Streak (1976), The Greatest (1977), The World’s Greatest Lover (1977), The Fury (1978), An Enemy of the People (1978), and Same Time, Next Year (1978). Tuttle’s television credits include the tele-films The Scorpio Letters (1967), Moon of the Wolf (1972), Goodnight, My Love (1972), The Night Strangler (1973), The Phantom of Hollywood (1974), Babe (1975) which earned him an Emmy nomination, Woman of the Year (1976), Bogie (1980), and The People vs. Jean Harris (1981). He also designed makeup on such series as Northwest Passage, One Step Beyond, Way Out, National Velvet, and The Girl from

383 U.N.C.L.E., which also saw him make a rare onscreen appearance in episode “The Mother Muffin Affair” with Boris Karloff in 1966. Tuttle was also a teacher at the University of Southern California from 1970 until his retirement in 1995. His first wife was actress Donna Reed, whom he married in 1945 and divorced in 1947. His second wife, Marie Kopicki Tuttle, died in 1961. His fifth marriage to Anita Aros Tuttle spanned forty years until his death. His brother, fellow makeup artist Thomas Tuttle, died in 2004.

2007 • Obituaries

geles Civic Light Opera. He subsequently joined the faculty of San Jose City College as a voice teacher for over a decade. Tyers is survived by his wife of 60 years, singer and actress Helena Bliss.

TYLER, STEVEN GREGORY Character actor Steven Gregory Tyler died at his home in Dade City, Florida, after a long illness on July 6, 2007. He was 50. He was born on July 27, 1956. Tyler, who was active on the local stage, was also featured in several films including Wyatt Earp (1994) and The Night Before Christmas (1994). He was also seen in the tele-films To Save a Child (1991) and Brotherhood of the Gun (1991), and in episodes of Miami Vice, Pointman, and the soap opera All My Children.

William Tuttle

TYERS, JOHN Opera singer John Tyers died in Los Gatos, California, on June 20, 2007. He was 92. Tyers was born in San Diego, California, on August 13, 1914, and studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He began his singing career in 1941 after winning the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air radio competition. He was signed to a film contract with MGM but was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 before he could begin. He was served with the Army Air Corps entertainment unit and was featured in the Winged Victory production. After the war Tyers appeared in a small role in the 1946 film The Show-Off. He also performed on Broadway in the musicals Gypsy Lady (1946), Inside U.S.A. (1948), and Trouble in Tahiti (1955). He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus as Dr. Falke in 1953. He retired from performing in the early 1970s after a stint with the Los An-

U NEE South Korean actress and singer U Nee was found in her apartment in Seo-gu, Incheon, South Korea, of an apparent suicide by hanging on January 21, 2007. She was 25. She was born Heo Yoon in Seoul, South Korea, on May 3, 1981. She appeared in several films in South Korea in the late 1999s, including Jilju (aka Rush) (1999) under the name Hye-ryeon Lee. She also appeared in the television dramas GrownUps Just Don’t Understand, Theme Game, and Tears of the Dragon. She became a popular singer in the early 2000s with the release of her single “One” in 2006. U Nee recorded four albums including Go (2003), Call

John Tyers

U Nee

Steven Gregory Tyler

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Call Call (2004), Passion & Pure (2005), and Habit (2007). She was also noted for her sexually provocative image and dancing style.

UEKI , H ITOSHI Japanese comedian and actor Hitoshi Ueki died of respiratory failure in Tokyo, Japan, on March 27, 2007. He was 80. Ueki was born in Mie, Japan, on February 25, 1927. He began performing with the comic jazz band the Crazy Cats in the 1950s. He was lead singer and guitarist, with Hajime Hana on drums and Kei Tani on the trombone. They were popular on Japanese television on such variety shows as Weekly Crazy and Soap Bubble Holiday. Ueki made his film debut in The Woman Who Touched the Legs in 1960. He was featured in numerous films over the next 35 years including Irresponsible Era of Japan (1962), Me and I (1962), Young Season (1962), Nippon Musekinin Yaro (1962), Japan’s Sexiest Man (1963), Operation Crazy Hong Kong (1963), The Gay Braggart (1964), Horafuki Taikoki (1964), You Can Succeed, Too (1964), Crazy Adventure (1965), The Boss of Pick-Pocket Bay (1966), Takashi Tsuboshima’s fantasy The Man from Planet Alpha (1966), Operation Crazy (1966), Industrial Spy Free for All (1967), Operation Crazy Gold (1967), The Crazy’s Thieving Zhivago (1967), Mexican Free-forAll (1968), Computer Free-for-All (1969), The Crazy Cats’ Big Explosion (1969), Nippon Ichi no Danzetsu Otoko (1969), A Japanese Yakuza (1970), Samurai Adviser (1978), The Crazy Family (1984), Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985) as General Nobuhiro Fujimaki, Congratulatory Speech (1985), Big Joys, Small Sorrows (1986), Totto Channel (1987), Guys Who Never Learn (1987), Roar of the Crowd (1990), Kaze no Kuni (1991), and Goodbye for Tomorrow (1995).

Hitoshi Ueki

UEMURA, SHU Japanese makeup artist Shu Uemura died of pneumonia at his home in Tokyo on December 29, 2007. He was 79. Uemura was born in Tokyo on June 19, 1928. He was working in Hollywood as a beautician when he gained international attention for transforming actress Shirley MacLaine into an Oriental for her role in the 1962 film My Geisha. He was also makeup artist for the film None but the Brave in 1965. Uemura also began developing a line of cosmetics products in the early 1960s, and opened a cosmet-

ics boutique in 1983. The company introduced lines of makeup brushes, perfumes, fake eyelashes and eyelash curlers, and opened stores in many of the world’s largest cities. Uemura’s company was acquired by L’Oreal in 2004.

Shu Uemura

UHLEN, GISELA German stage, film, and television actress Gisela Uhlen died in Cologne, Germany, after a long illness on January 16, 2007. She was 87. She was born Gisela Friedlinde Schreck in Leipzig, Germany, on May 16, 1919. She began performing on stage and in films in the mid–1930s, and was seen in numerous productions over the next seventy years. Uhlen’s many film credits include Annemarie (1936), Liebelei und Liebe (1938), Der Tanz auf dem Vulkan (1938), Die Rothschilds (1940), Ohm Kruger (1941), Symphonie eines Lebens (1942), Schicksal (1942), Rembrandt (1942), The Silent Guest (1945), The Falling Star (1950), Der Schweigende Mund (1951), Das Traumschiff (1956), Emilia Galotti (1958), 17 Year Olds Don’t Cry (1960), Das Madchen und der Staatsanwalt (1962), The Door with Seven Locks (1962), The Indian Scarf (1963), Hotel der Toten Gaste (1965), The Hunchback of Soho (1966), Lady Hamilton — Zwischen Schmach und Liebe (1968), Dr. Fabian: Laughing Is the Best Medicine (1969), Three Men in the Snow (1974), To the Bitter End (1975), Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) as Hana Schygulla’s mother, Meister Eder und Sein Pumuckl (1982), Toto the Hero (1991), and Zurich — Transit (1992). Uhlen also appeared frequently on television from the early 1960s, appearing in productions of Der Gartner von Toulouse (1962), Konig Richard III (1964), Der Apoll von Bellac (1964), Der Seidene Schuh (1965), Der Panamaskandal (1967), Der Tod lauft Hinterher (1967), Die Zimmerschlacht (1969), Cher Antoine oder Die Verfehlte Liebe (1970), Die Hellseherin (1976), Lobster (1976), Women in New York (1977), Engels & Consorten (1986), Die Katze von Kensington (1996), Der Coup (1997), and Edgar Wallace — Das Haus der Toten Augen (1998). She was also featured in episodes of Polizeifunk Ruft, Die Firma Hesselbach, Das Kriminalmuseum, Der Kommissar, Der Alte, Derrick, Der Landarzt, Ein Fall fur Zwei, Kommissar Rex, Tatort, and SOKO Kitzbuhel. Uhlen starred as Inge Rombach in the series Forsthaus Falkenau from 1989 until her death.

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Gisela Uhlen

ULLNER , HYMAN Hyman Ullner, who hosted the Cincinnati, Ohio, television show Shock Theatre as the Bargain City Kid, died in a Wyoming hospital of injuries he received in a fall on January 3, 2007. He was 85. Ullner was born on July 26, 1921. He was the founder of the local discount department store Rink’s Bargain City, and sponsored various programming on station WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. Known on camera as the Bargain City Kid, he teamed with Willie Thal to host Shock Theatre and Big Time Wrestling. During broadcasts he was known for throwing merchandise around the set and into the audience that was on sale at the store during the week.

2007 • Obituaries

Simple Story (1960), Baltic Skies (1960), Young-Green (1962), It Happened at the Police Station (1963), The Chairman (1964), Silence (1964), The Alive and the Dead (1964), Solange Leben in Mir Ist (1965), Frozen Flashes (1967), The Great Battle (1969), The Brothers Karamazov (1969), Unterwegs zu Lenin (1970), The Flight (1970), Yegor Bulychyov and Others (1971), Anflug Alpha 1 (1971), The Direction of the Main Blow (1971), Trotz Alledern! (1972), Choice of Purpose (1974), Blockade (1974), The Very Last Day (1974), The Legend of Till Ullenspiegel (1976), Wrong Connection (1977), Blockade 2 (1977), The Theme (1979), The Last Escape (1980), Facts of the Past Day (1981), If the Enemy Doesn’t Surrender... (1982), Private Life (1982), Without Witness (1983), Marshal Zhukov, Stranitsy Biografii (1983), Kontrudar (1985), The Fight for Moscow (1985), Victory (1985), Vybor (1987), The Law (1989), Stalingrad (1989), Our Armoured Train (1989), House Under the Starry Skies (1991), Master and Margareth (1994), Everything Will Be All Right (1995), Marcello’s Secret (1997), Composition for Victory Day (1998), The Rifleman of the Voroshilov Regiment (1999), Aurora Borealis (2001), and Antikiller (2002). Ulyanov also appeared on Russian television in productions of The Sukhovo-Kobylin Case (1991), Zal Ozhidaniya (1998), Samozvantsy (1998), DDD — Detective Dubrovski Files (1999), Zvezda Epokhi (2005), and Okhota na Izubrya (2005). He remained a leading stage actor who became artistic director of the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow in 1987. He was also a political figure, serving on the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1990.

Hyman Ullner (right, with Willie Thal)

ULYANOV, MIKHAIL Russian actor Mikhail Ulyanov died after a long illness with cancer in Moscow on March 26, 2007. He was 79. Ulyanov was born in Bergamak, Omsk, Russia, on November 20, 1927. He trained as an actor in Moscow in the late 1940s, and began his career in 1950. His resemblance to Marshal Georgi Zhukov, a leading Soviet general during World War II led to Ulyanov often being cast in the role of the Zhukov. He also performed the role of the Soviet Union’s first leader, Lenin, in numerous productions. He appeared frequently in films from the mid–1950s, with such credits as They Were the First (1956), Ekaterina Voronina (1957), The House I Live In (1957), The Soldiers Marched On (1958), The Volunteers (1958), A

Mikhail Ulyanov

UMEKI, MIYOSHI Japanese-American actress and singer Miyoshi Umeki, who earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1957’s Sayonara, died of cancer in a Licking, Missouri, nursing home on August 28, 2007. She was 78. Umeki was born in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, on May 8, 1929. She began singing at an early age and entertained American soldiers in Japan after the war. She also became a popular performer on Japanese radio and television, singing American tunes. She came to the United States in 1959, where she recorded with Mercury Records. Umeki was also a frequent guest on Arthur Godfrey’s

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television show. She was cast as Katsumi, a Japanese whose marriage during the Korean War to an American serviceman, played by Red Buttons, resulted in the couple’s persecution and eventual suicide, in the 1957 film Sayonara. She and Buttons both earned Academy Awards for their roles. She subsequently starred as Mei Li, a Chinese mail-order bride, in the hit Broadway musical Flower Drum Song (1958). Umeki received a Tony nomination for her performance, which she reprised in the 1961 film version. Umeki was also seen in the films Cry for Happy (1961), The Horizontal Lieutenant (19620, and A Girl Named Tamiko (1962). She starred as Lotus-Blossom in a 1962 production of The Teahouse of the August Moon on Hallmark Hall of Fame. Her other television credits include episodes of The Donna Reed Show, Sam Benedict, Dr. Kildare, Rawhide, Mister Ed, The Virginian, Burke’s Law, and The Queen and I. Umeki starred as Bill Bixby’s housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, in the television sit-com The Courtship of Eddie’s Father from 1969 to 1972. She subsequently retired from show business to raise a family.

as My Sister My Love (1966), Inga (1968), To Ingrid, My Love, Lisa (1968), One Swedish Summer (1968), Eva: Diary of a Half Virgin (1969), The Call-Up (1979), Run for Your Life (1997), Tess — Not Only a Killer (2000), Four Women (2001), and Capricciosa (2003). Ungewitter was also seen often on television from the 1980s, appearing in such productions as Sten Stensson Steen gar Igen (1982), Blomman fran Hawaii (1983), Tva Man om en Anka (1991), Macklean (1993), Faceless Murderer (1994), Frihetens Skugga (1994), Labyrinten (2000), and The Fifth Woman (2002).

URBANO, REY Veteran professional wrestler Rey Urbano, who competed as the villainous Tokyo Tom and the original Great Kabooki, died in a Las Vegas, Nevada, nursing home on October 16, 2007. He was born in Oroville, California, of Filipino descent, and played football and wrestled at San Francisco State College in the late 1940s. He made his professional debut in 1951 under his own name, and competed as a fan favorite during his early years. He transformed into an Oriental heel in the mid–1950s, wrestling as Taro Sakura he held the Southern Junior Heavyweight Title in Tennessee in 1962. He also formed a tag team with Sputnik Monroe in the Texas area in 1963. He wrestled in Amarillo, Texas, as Tokyo Tom in the mid–1960s and was noted for his deadly Karate Thrust maneuver. Urbano underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor in the late 1960s and was out of the ring for several years. Upon his return to wrestling he covered his face in white makeup with black eyeliner and a Japanese-styled robe and became known as the Great Kabooki. He continued to compete for another decade, entering the ring with his ritual salt, which often was thrown in his opponent’s eyes. He wrestled in the Great Lakes region until his retirement in the early 1980s.

Miyoshi Umeki

UNGEWITTER , THOMAS Swedish actor Thomas Ungewitter died in Helsingborg, Sweden, of injuries he received in an accident while bicycling. He was 63. Ungewitter was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 8, 1944. A leading performer on the Shakespearean stage in Sweden, he was also seen in such films

Rey Urbano

Thomas Ungewitter

VALARDY , ANDRE Belgian actor and humorist Andre Valardy died of cancer in Paris, France, on April 30, 2007. He was 68. Valardy was born in Antwerpen, Belgium, on May 17, 1938. He had an active career in films and television from the mid–1960s, and was featured in such films as Don’t Play with the Martians (1967), Bang Bang (1967), Papa the Little Boats (1971), A Pain in the A... (1973), The Mad Adventures

387 of Rabbi Jacob (1973), The Pink Telephone (1975), Speak to Me of Love (1975), Monsieur Papa (1977), Bobby Deerfield (1977), Focal Point (1977), State Reasons (1978), We’ll Grow Thin Together (1979), Les Charlots en Delire (1979), Rat Race (1980), Give Me Back My Skin (1980), The Goat (1981), Legitime Violence (1982), My Other Husband (1983), Thieves After Dark (1984), American Dreamer (1984), Levy and Goliath (1987), Let There Be Light (1998), Fidelity (2000), 30 Years (2000), and Nothing Sacred (2007). He was also featured in television productions of Voltaire (1978), Petit Dejeuner Compris (1980), A Nous de Jouer (1981), Arcole ou la Terre Promise (1981), Le Sud (1982), Le Wagon de Martin (1982), La Veuve Rouge (1983), Le Tiroir Secret (1986), Les Enquetes du Commissaire Maigret (1988), A Question of Class (1995), La Veuve de l’Architecte (1995), Le Secret de Saint-Junien (1999), Le Juge est une Femme (2000), and Ne Meurs Pas (2003).

2007 • Obituaries

came to the United States in the early 1950s, where he became a leading performer of Latin jazz. He was briefly on screen in the 1956 film And God Created Woman, teaching Brigitte Bardot how to dance the mambo. He performed with such artists as Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, and played with Herbie Mann’s group from 1959 to 1972. He made many popular recordings, including the 1968 rumba album Patato & Totico, with his childhood friend Eugenio “Totico” Arango. He also played the congas in a 1986 episode of The Cosby Show and appeared as himself in the 2000 film Calle 54. He remained active until his death, performing with the Conga Kings in his later years.

VALDIS, SIGRID Sigrid Valdis, who starred as Col. Klink’s sexy blonde secretary on the 1960s sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, died of lung cancer at her daughter’s home in Anaheim, California, on October 14, 2007. She was 72. Valdis was born Patricia Olson in Bakersfield, California, on September 21, 1935. She began her career as a teenager as a model before turning to acting in the early 1960s. She appeared in a small role in the 1962 film Two Tickets to Paris and was featured on television in episodes of Kraft Suspense Theatre and Wild Wild West. Her other film credits include Marriage on the Rocks (1965), Our Man Flint (1966) and The Venetian Affair (1967). She was featured as Hilda, the buxom secretary, on Hogan’s Heroes from 1965 to 1971. She and the show’s star, Bob Crane, were married in 1970. They separated shortly before Crane’s bludgeoning murder in 1978. Valdis retired from acting after her son’s birth in 1971. She joined the cast of her son’s radio comedy show Shaken, Not Stirred in Seattle in 1988.

Andre Valardy

VALDES, CARLOS “PATATO” Cuban jazz musician Carlos “Patato” Valdes died of respiratory failure in Manhattan, New York, on December 4, 2007. He was 81. Valdes was born in Havana, Cuba, on November 4, 1926. He began his career in Cuba in the 1940s, playing the congas with such groups as Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino. He also appeared on Cuban television in the early 1950s, performing his popular rendition of “The Penguin Dance.” Valdes

Sigrid Valdis (with Bob Crane from Hogan’s Heroes)

Carlos Valdes

VALENTI, JACK Jack Valenti, a leading aide to President Lyndon Johnson who became the film industry’s chief spokesman as president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in 1966, died of complications from a stroke at his home in Washington, D.C., on April 26, 2007. He was 85. Valenti was born in Houston, Texas, on September 5, 1921. He piloted bombing missions in Italy during World War II, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he attended the University of Houston and earned

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a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard. Valenti became involved in politics after forming an advertising and consulting agency in 1952. Several years later he began a long association with Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who was then Senate Majority Leader. Valenti served on Johnson’s staff when he was elected Vice-President in 1960 and remained one of his leading advisors when he succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November of 1963. A staunch defender of Johnson, he was lured from Washington in 1966 when film moguls including Arthur Krim and Lew Wasserman persuaded him to become president of the MPA A. Valenti was instrumental in ushering in a new era in the film industry that abandoned censorship in favor of a ratings system that advised viewers of the nature of the film being show and their suitability to younger viewers. Originally consisting of four ratings — G (general admission suitable for children), GP, which soon became PG (advising parental guidance), R (restricting admission for viewers under 17), and X (adults only). The sometimes controversial system later added the PG-13 rating (parental guidance strongly recommended for younger viewers) in the 1980s, and changed the adult X rating to NC-17 in the 1990s. Throughout his tenure with the MPAA Valenti was the industry’s leading spokesman and a familiar face with his frequent appearances at the Academy Award presentations. In the later years of his tenure he was heavily involved in the industry’s drive to thwart video and digital piracy of films throughout the world. He remained president of the MPAA until his retirement in 2004. Valenti also wrote three non-fiction books, The Bitter Taste of Glory, A Very Human President about Johnson, and Speak Up with Confidence, and the political novel Protect and Defend in 1992.

ers in his home district. He later joined with the Liberation Cinema Group, continuing to make documentaries with political and social messages. He went into exile in the mid–1970s during Argentina’s military dictatorship. Vallejo returned to Argentina after the downfall of the military junta in 1982. He directed the films The Sternness of Fate (1985), Con el Alma (1995), and El Inocente (1996). He was best known for his 2006 film Martin Fierro Ave Solitaria, about a gaucho forced to join the Argentine army fighting against native Indians in the 1850s.

Gerardo Vallejo

VALLEY, RICHARD J. Richard J. Valley, the editor and publisher of Scarlet Street magazine, died of complications from diabetes in Glen Rock, New Jersey, on October 12, 2007. He was 58. Valley was born in New York City on April 13, 1949. He was involved in the publication of Scarlet Street from 1991 and remained active with the magazine until his death. Valley was also noted for writing the liner notes for various DVD releases, including a set of Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes films in 2003.

Jack Valenti

VALLEJO, GERARDO Argentine film director Gerardo Vallejo died of lung cancer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 6, 2007. He was 65. Vallejo was born in Tucuman, Argentina, on January 4, 1942. He began his film career in the 1960s making such documentaries as El Camino Hacia la Muerte del Viejo Reales (1971), about the hardship of sugar cane work-

Richard Valley

VALOR, HENRIETTA Broadway actress and singer Henrietta Valor died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Studio City, California, on November 23, 2007. She was 72. Valor was

389 born Henrietta Embick in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, on April 28, 1935. She began her career in the early 1960s performing with the USO throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. She appeared on Broadway in productions of Half a Sixpence (1965), Applause (1970), Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1972), and Annie (1977). She also starred in the Off-Broadway production of Fashion, and appeared with numerous regional theaters. She moved to Los Angeles in 1990 where she performed frequently with the Pasadena Playhouse.

2007 • Obituaries

Hard (2007), The Contractor (2007), The Walker (2007), Then She Found Me (2007), and Prayer Life (2008).

VANDEN ECKER, BEAU Actor and stuntman Beau Vanden Ecker died on May 9, 2007. He was 76. Vanden Ecker was born on November 25, 1930. He appeared in small roles and performed stunt work in films and television from the 1960s. He was featured in the “Charlie X” episode of the original Star Trek series, and appeared in episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Combat! He had a long running association with the Hawaii Five-O series from 1969 to 1980, appearing in numerous episodes and serving as an associate producer and director during the series final years. He also appeared in a small role in an episode of Magnum, P.I. in 1980. Vanden Ecker was an assistant stunt coordinator for the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate, and designed costumes for the 1965 Elvis Presley film Harum Scarum. He also performed stunts for the films The Swinging Barmaids (1975), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Murphy’s Law (1986), and Rock-a-Doodle (1991).

Henrietta Valor

VANCE, SCHUSTER Actor Schuster Vance died of cancer in a Baltimore, Maryland, hospital on December 12, 2007. He was 47. Vance was a systems engineer with a bank in Baltimore when he began appearing in small roles in films and television series in the early 2000s. He was featured in episodes of such series as The Wire, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Commander in Chief, The West Wing, and The Sopranos. Vance was also seen in the tele-films Something the Lord Made (2004) and Twenty Questions (2006). He was also a member of Becker’s Precision Driving Professionals and did stunt work for several films. His film credits include A Dirty Shame (2004), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Wedding Crashers (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), Annapolis (2006), 16 Blocks (2006), Nail Polish (2006), Live Free or Die

VAN HORNE, RANDY Singer and musician Randy Van Horne died of cancer in the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on September 26, 2007. He was 83. Van Horne was born in El Paso, Texas, on

Schuster Vance

Randy Van Horne

Beau Vanden Ecker

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February 10, 1924. He began working as a studio musician in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He formed the vocal group, The Encores, in the early 1950s. Later in the decade, he formed the Randy Van Horne Singers and appeared with his group on such television shows as The Nat King Cole Show. The group performed with Juan Garcia Esquivel on his 1958 Space Age pop album Other Worlds Other Sounds. He and his group were best known for his work with Hanna-Barbera cartoons, performing the theme songs for The Flintstones, The Jetsons and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The group also recorded numerous jingles and commercials before disbanding in the early 1970s.

VAN PROOSDY, DIANA British actress Diana van Proosdy died in England on August 17, 2007. She was 77. Van Proosdy was born on November 24, 1929. She performed frequently on the British stage from the 1950s. She was also seen in the films Father Brown (1954), Bullshot Crummond (1983), Ali G Indahouse (2002), and The Football Factory. She also appeared on television in episodes of Play for Today, Somebody’s Daughter, Worzel Gummidge, and Dramarama. She was married to actor Michael Rathborne until his death in 1971. VAN SLYKE, JOE Actor Joe Van Slyke died of cancer in Chicago, Illinois, on August 13, 2007. He was 55. Van Slyke was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 13, 1951. He was a frequent performer on the Chicago stage from the late 1970s. He was also seen in a handful of films during his career including Meet the Applegates (1991), Hoodlum (1997), and Children on Their Birthdays (2002). Van Slyke was also featured on television in episodes of The Untouchables, Early Edition, and Prison Break.

in 1966 and was featured in the 1969 film Spain Again. She joined Spain’s National Ballet in 1980, performing in such productions as Medea, La Petenera, and Fedra. She also starred as Hippolyta in the 1985 television production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was Bianca in Pedro Almodovar’s film The Flower of My Secret in 1995.

Manuela Vargas

VERGEL, ACE Filipino actor Ace Vergel died of a heart attack in a Manila, the Philippines, hospital on December 15, 2007. He was 55. Vergel was born Ace York Aguilar in the Philippines on January 22, 1952, to actress Alicia Vergel and actor Cesar Ramirez. He made his film debut in 1959 as a child who befriends a giant bird in Anak ng Bulkan. He went on to become a popular star in action films in the 1980s. Vergel’s screen credits include Inay (1977), The Valderrama Case (1980), Lukso ng Dugo (1981), Suicide Force (1982), Annie Sabungera (1982), Zimatar (1982), Pieta (1983), Bomba Arrienda (1985), Killer vs. Ninjas (1989), Seth Corteza (1996), The Killer 2: The Last Bullet (1996), Sarraza (1997), Jacob (1997), Abel Villarama: Armado (1999), Carta Alas: Huwag ka Nang Humirit (2001), and Masamang Ugat” (2003). The actor, who became known as “the Original Bad Boy of Philippine Movies,” had several run-ins with the law during the course of his career.

Joe Van Slyke

VARGAS, MANUELA Spanish flamenco dancer Manuela Vargas died of cancer in Madrid, Spain, on October 12, 2007. She was 69. Vargas was born in Seville, Spain, in 1938. She made her debut in the 1962 stage production El Duende and formed her own theatrical company the following year. Her production of An Antholog y of Flamenco was an acclaimed act at the Spanish pavilion of the New York World’s Fair in 1965. She also performed on The Ed Sullivan Show

Ace Vergel

391 VIANA, HENRIQUE Portuguese actor Henrique Viana died of cancer in Lisbon, Portugal, on July 4, 2007. He was 71. Viana was born in Lisbon on June 29, 1936. He appeared frequently on stage, film, and television from the 1960s. His many film credits include Aqui Ha Fantasmas (1964), A Maluquinha de Arroiso (1970), A Fuga (1976), Doomed Love (1979), The Holy Alliance (1980), Antes a Sorte Que Tal Morte (1981), Life Is Beautiful (1982), Duma Vez por Todas (1986), Saudades para Dona Genciana (1986), A Portuguese Farewell (1986), O Querido Lilas (1987), Balada da Praia dos Caes (1987), Hard Times (1988), The Blood (1989), Recollections of the Yellow House (1989), A Luxury Crime (1991), Segno di Fuoco (1981), Viuvez Secreta (1992), Vertigem (1992), The End of the World (1992), Requiem para um Narciso (1992), Clouds (1992), Rosa Negra (1992), On My Birthday (1992), Love and Tiny Toes (1993), Here on Earth (1993), Amok (1993), Goodbye Princess (1994), Eternity (1995), Sinais de Fogo (1995), Les Bidochon (1996), Elles (1997), Longe da Vista (1998), 451 Forte (2000), April Captains (2000), A Bomba (2001), O Rapaz do Trapezio Voador (2002), Portugal S.A. (2004), and O Julgamento (2007). Viana also starred in numerous television series including Sozinhos em Casa as Oscar Ventura from 1993 to 1994, Os Imparaveis as Filipe Miranda from 1996 to 1997, Alves dos Reis as Crispim in 2000, O Processo do Tavoras as Marques de Tavora in 2001, Inspector Max as Dr. Antunes in 2005, and Paixoes Probidas as Barao de Saraiva in 2007.

2007 • Obituaries

(1964), Buenas Noches, Buenos Aires (1964), Vivir es Formidable (1966), Arm in Arm Down the Street (1966), La Muchacha del Cuerpo de Oro (1967), To Hell with This Priest! (1967), When Men Discuss Women (1967), Villa Carino (1967), Forbidden Things Are in Fashion (1968), La Casa de Madame Lulu (1968), Sex Analysis (1968), El Derecho a la Felicidad (1968), El Salame (1969), Newcomers to Love (1969), Un Elefante Color Ilusion (1970), Blum (1980), Vamos a Sonar por el Amor (1971), Gracia y el Forastero (1974), Natasha (1974), La Obertura (1977), El Divorcio esta de Moda — de Comun Acuerdo (1978), No Apto Para Menores (1979), and Diablo Metio la Pata (1980). He starred as Nino Dei Medici in the 1971 television series Nino, and was Padre Emilio in 1972’s Sacrificio de Mujer. He also appeared in the series Ensename a Querete (1974), Cachilo (1974), Donde Empezo la Tristeza (1977), Senoirat Andrea (1980), Friends Will Be Friends (1989), Gino (1986), Rossabella (1997), Maridos a Domicilio (2002), and Contrafuego (2002).

Enzo Viena

Henrique Viana

VIENA, ENZO Argentine television star Enzo Viena died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 25, 2007, of injuries he received in an automobile accident on August 31, 2007. He was 74. Viena was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina in 1933. He began his career as a teenager performing in the circus before joining the touring theatrical group Teatro de Arte. He made his film debut in Hugo del Carril’s 1958 feature A Date with Life. He went on to appear in such films as Salitre (1959), I Was Born in Buenos Aires (1959), Vacation in Argentina (1960), Mi Buenos Aires Qurido (1962), Barcos de Papel (1963), The Sun in the Mirror (1963), 40 Anos de Novios (1963), Bettina (1964), La Sentencia (1964), Canuto Canete y los 40 Ladrones

VIERTEL, PETER Author and screenwriter Peter Viertel died of lymphoma in Marbella, Spain, on November 4, 2007. He was 86. Viertel was born in Dresden, Germany, on November 16, 1920. His father was film director Berthold Viertel and his mother was screenwriter Salka Steuermann Viertel, who scripted many of Greta Garbo’s films. The family moved to Hollywood while Peter was child. He was educated at Dartmouth and the University of California at Los Angeles. He authored his first novel The Canyon in 1940 at the age of 19. He scripted several films in the early 1940s including Saboteur (1942) and The Hard Way (1943) before serving in the Marines and the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. After the war he continued to work in Hollywood with such film credits as We Were Strangers (1949), Roughshod (1949), and Decision Before Dawn (1951). He worked as an uncredited script doctor for John Huston’s 1951 classic The African Queen. His experience shooting the film on location in Africa led to his 1953 novel White Hunter, Black Heart, which was adapted for film by Clint Eastwood in 1990. He also collaborated on the 1953 screenplay of Houston’s Beat the Devil. Viertel also adapted two of Ernest Hemingway’s novels to the screen, The

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Sun Also Rises (1957) and The Old Man and the Sea (1958). He scripted the 1962 French film Five Miles to Midnight and penned a handful of novels during his career. His autobiography, Dangerous Friends: At Large with Houston and Hemingway in the Fifties, was published in 1992. Viertel was married to British actress, Deborah Kerr, from July of 1960 until her death several weeks earlier in October of 2007.

mini-series in 1995, and Fiesta was adapted for film in 1995. He was also the author of the official biography for Spain’s King Juan Carlos in 1993.

Jose Luis de Vilallonga

Peter Viertel

VILLALONGA , JOSE LUIS DE Spanish actor, author and aristocrat Jose Luis de Villalonga, who starred as the millionaire fiance to Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly in the 1961 film classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s, died at his home on the island of Mallorca, Spain, on August 30, 2007. He was 87. Villalonga was born in Madrid, Spain, on January 9, 1920. He began writing as a young man and made his film debut in the late 1950s. He was seen in such films as The Lovers (1958), Enemy in the Shadows (19600, Midnight Meeting (1961), Long Live Henry IV ... Long Live Love (1961), Naked Autumn (1961), The Nina B. Affair (1961), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961), Law of Men (1962), Tales of Paris (1962), Any Number Can Win (1963), Don’t Tempt the Devil (1963), Behold a Pale Horse (1964), The Magnificent Cuckold (1965), Three Faces of a Woman (1965), The Sucker (1965), Darling (1965) with Julie Christie, Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits (1965), A Maiden for a Prince (1966), Hired Killer (1966), The Man Who Betrayed the Mafia (1967), The Naughty Cheerleader (1970), Sappho (1971), The Burglars (1971), The Angels (1973), Too Much Is Too Much (1975), The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1976), Chi dice Donna, dice Donna (1976), Speed Cross (1979), Eugenio (1980), Patricia (1980), Une Femme au Boot de la Nuit (1980), National Heritage (1981), Dos y Dos, Cinco (1981), National III (1982), Women (1983), Scarab (1984), Poppers (1984), Tex and the Lord of the Deep (1985), La Diputada (1988), Blood and Sand (1989), and The Long Winter of ’39 (1992). He also appeared on European television in productions of The Flashing Blade (1967), The Adventures of Michel Tanguy (aka The Aeronauts) (1967), Le Corso des Tireurs (1968), and Fantomes en Heritage (1992). Vilallonga starred as Don Adolfo in the television series Hostal Royal Manzanares in 1997. His novel, Sandra Princesse Rebelle, was adapted as a television

VINKLAR, JOSEF Czech actor Josef Vinklar died of cancer in Prague, Czech Republic, on September 18, 2007. He was 76. Vinklar was born in Podulsi, Czechoslovakia, on November 14, 1930. He began his film career after World War II, appearing in numerous features over a sixty year span. His many film credits include The Adventurous Bachelor (1946), Presentiment (1947), Till You Return (1948), The Silver Wind (1954), Everything Ends Tonight (1954), Vetma Hora (1955), The Unconquered (1956), Hratky s Certem (1956), Rocnik 21 (1958), 105% Alibi (1959), The Way Back (1959), Skid (1960), Transport from Paradise (1962), Atentat (1964), ...and the Fifth Horseman Is Fear (1965), Penicka a Paraplicko (1970), Oasis (1972), Hop — a je tu Lidoop (1977), Murderous Doubts (1978), The Secret of Steel City (1979), Concert at the End of Summer (1979) as composer Antonin Dvorak, The Hitchhiker (1979), Hra o Kralovnu (1980), Ta Chvlle, ten Okamzik (1981), Sileny Kankan (1982), Atomova Katedrala (1984), Tisnove Volani (1985), Pesti ve Tme (1986), Jak Chutna Smrt (1995), Passage (1997), Isabela, Vevodkyne Bourbonska (1999), Andelska Tvar (2002), Forest Walkers (2003), and P.F. 77 (2003). He also appeared on television in such series as Der Kommissar, Chalupari, Nemocnice na Kraji

Josef Vinklar

393 Mesta, Adventure of Criminalistics, Der Alt, Sanitka, Namesticko, and Naves.

VIOLA, AL Guitarist Al Viola died of cancer at his home in Studio City, California, on February 21, 2007. He was 87. Viola was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 16, 1919. He learned to play the guitar at an early age and began playing duets with a friend at local venues while in his teens. He joined with Page Cavanaugh and Lloy Pratt to form the Page Cavanaugh Trio during World War II. They played at many of the top night spots in Los Angeles, and appeared in several films including A Star Is Born (1948). Viola left the trio in 1949 but continued to perform solo in Los Angeles. He also performed with such jazz artists as Bobby Troup, Shelly Manne, Red Callender, and Buddy Collette and played in bands led by Harry James, Les Brown, and Nelson Riddle. Viola was also a popular studio musician who was heard on hundreds of albums recorded by such stars as Steve Lawrence, Neil Diamond, Linda Rondstadt, Marvin Gaye, and Julie London. He was also heard on such film soundtracks as West Side Story, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, and Blazing Saddles, and performed the mandolin solo heard on the theme for The Godfather. Viola also had a long association with singer Frank Sinatra, accompanying him in concerts, recordings, and television specials. He was heard on such Sinatra hits as “New York, New York,” “My Way,” “Witchcraft,” and “All the Way.” Viola continued to perform at local nightclubs until his death.

2007 • Obituaries

Jazz All Around (19690, I’ll Take Happiness (1969), Relations (1969), The Olsen Gang in a Fix (1969), Take a Little Sunshine (1969), Bedroom Magic (1970), The Only Way (1970), Gold for the Tough Guys of the Prairie (1971), Bedside Highway (1972), The Olsen Gang’s Big Score (1972), The Man from Swan Farm (1972), Up and at ’Em, Amalie (1973), Between the Sheets (1973), The Torndal Cousins (1973), The Olsen Gang Runs Amok (1973), The Hour of Parting (1973), The Last Exploits of the Olsen Gang (1974), That Brief Summer (1976), Danish Escort Girls (1976), Blind Is Beautiful (1976), Going for Broke (1977), The Olsen Gang Outta Sight (1977), The Factory Outing (1978), The Olsen Gang Goes to War (1978), Johnny Larsen (1979), The Olsen Gang Never Surrenders (1979), Cirkus Casablanca (1981), Har du set Alice? (1981), Kidnapping (1982), In the Middle of the Night (1984), Suzanne og Leonard (1984), Den Kronske Uskyld (1985), Orion’s Belt (1985), 300 Miles to Heaven (1989), Love Me, Love Me Not (1995), A Place Nearby (2000), and Bertram & Co (2002). Vistisen also starred as Bogholder Christiansen in the television series Matador from 1979 to 1981, and was featured in episodes of Nissebanden, Nikolaj og Julie, and Kroniken.

Holger Vistisen

VITALY, GEORGES French theatrical director Georges Vitaly died in Paris on January 2, 2007. He was 89. Vitaly was born in Simferopol, Crimea, Russia (now Ukraine), on January 15, 1917. He fled Russia Al Viola

VISTISEN, HOLGER Danish actor Holger Vistisen died in Denmark on February 13, 2007. He was 74. Vistisen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 13, 1932. He played supporting roles in numerous Danish films from the 1950s including Englen i Sort (1957), Soldaterkammerater (1958), To Skore Ho’der (1961), How About Us? (1963), The Girl and the Press Photographer (1963), Stov for alle Pengene (1963), Fem Mand og Rosa (1964), Kampen on Naesbygard (1964), Case of the 44’s (1965), It’s Nifty in the Navy (1965), Unfaithful (1966), Relax Freddie (1966), Pretty Boy and Rosa (1967), Martha (1967), Onkel Joakims Hemmelighed (1967), Farvel Thomas (1968), Storm Warning (1968),

Georges Vitaly

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with his family as a child during the Russian Revolution, eventually settling in France. He began his stage career as an actor in 1934. Vitaly founded the Theater of Huchette in 1947, and was director with the Theatre La Bruyere in Paris from 1954 to 1982. He appeared in several films during his career including Double Agents (1959), Riff-Raff (1960), and L’Enfer (1964). He directed and scripted the 1970 television production of Les Caprices de Marianne, and directed numerous segments of the French television series Au Theatre ce Soir from 1971 to 1985.

VON DASSANOWSKY, ELFRIEDE Austrian film producer Elfriede Von Dassanowsky died in Los Angeles on October 2, 2007. She was 83. Von Dassanowsky was born in Vienna, Austria, on February 2, 1924. She studied at Vienna’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts in the late 1930s. Her refusal to join the Nazi party limited her career, though she served as music coach for the films Whom the Gods Love (1942) and Frauen sind Keine Engel (1943). She made her debut as an opera singer in a production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro after World War II in 1946. She was cofounder of the post-war Austrian film studio Belvedere Film in 1946. She was instrumental in furthering the careers of such stars as Nadja Tiller and Gunther Philipp. She produced such films as Symphony in Salzburg (1946), The Mill of Happiness (1947) which she also appeared in, Wer Kusst Wen? (1947), The Freckle (1948), Dr. Rosin (1949), and Kiss Me Casanova (1949). Von Dassanowsky moved to New York in the late 1950s, and began working for director Otto Preminger as a vocal coach on such films as The Cardinal (1963) and In Harm’s Way (1965). In the late 1990s she reformed Belvedere Film in Los Angeles as a production company, serving as executive producer for the films Semmelweis (2001) and Wilson Chance (2005).

He served in the U.S. Army in Europe during the conflict and was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. Vonnegut was imprisoned in a POW camp in Dresden, Germany, where he witnessed the fire bombing of the city by the Allies, an event that influenced his later work. After the war he worked as a police reporter in Chicago while attending the University of Chicago. He moved to New York several years later where he sold his first short story in 1950. Vonnegut’s tales were published in such magazines as Collier’s, Argosy, and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel, Player Piano, a satire on corporate life, was published in 1952. He continued writing in the vein of comic science fiction with 1959’s The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night (1961), Cat’s Cradle (1963), which introduced the concept of Bokononism, an oddly inefficient religion that found its way into his later works, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965). His story Auf Wiedersehen was adapted for television’s General Electric Theater in 1958, and he also authored an episode of Bus Stop in 1961. Vonnegut, who was already a popular figure on college campuses, achieved mainstream recognition with his 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five. Combining his wartime experiences in Dresden with the erratic timetraveling of his central character Billy Pilgrim and a race of curious aliens called the Tralfamadorians. The novel also introduced Vonnegut’s Zen-like mantra in the face of tragedy and the futility of war, “So it goes,” and the character of science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, who became the author’s alter ego in later works. The novel became a cult classic and inspired a popular 1972 film. Vonnegut also tried his hand at writing plays with Happy Birthday, Wanda June, which debuted Off Broadway in 1970 and was adapted to film the following year. He wrote the 1972 tele-film Between Time and Timbuktu, and his short story Epicac, was adapted as part of the 1974 tele-film Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love. His novel Slapstick (of Another Kind) was adapted for a bizarre 1982 film starring Jerry Lewis. Most of his later works were also adapted for film or television including Who Am I This Time? (1982), Displaced Person (1985), and Long Walk to Forever (1987). Several of his short stories from the collection Welcome to the Monkey House were adapted for the 1991 cable tele-film Monkey House, and his tale of enforced con-

Elfriede von Dassanowsky

VONNEGUT, KURT, JR. Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., whose darkly comic tales inspired a generation, died in Manhattan on April 11, 2007, of complications from a brain injury he received in a fall several weeks earlier. So it goes. He was 84. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 11, 1922. His college education was interrupted by World War II.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

395 formity in the near future, Harrison Bergeron, aired in 1995. Vonnegut appeared in a cameo role in the 1986 comedy film Back to School and was seen in a small role in the 1996 film adaptation of his novel Mother Night. His 1973 novel Breakfast of Champions, which reintroduced his fictional alter-ego Kilgore Trout, was also adapted to film in 1999. His later novels included Jailbird (1979), Deadeye Dick (1982), Galapagos (1985), and Timequake (1997), and his last book, a collection of biographical essays entitled A Man Without a Country, was released in 2005.

VOSBURGH, DICK British comedy writer, lyricist, and performer Dick Vosburgh died in London on April 18, 2007. He was 77. Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on August 27, 1929. He moved to London in 1948, where he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was soon writing sketches for West End revues and penned his first radio show, Breakfast with Braden, in 1953. He wrote for numerous other radio programs including The Show Band Show. Vosburgh also began working in television in the 1950s, writing segments of Alfred Marks Time, The Stanley Baxter Show, Scott on..., The Frost Report, Max, and We Have Ways of Making You Laugh. He also performed as a voice actor in the 1954 comedy series Billy Bean and His Funny Machine. He was the voice of Captain Larry Dart in the cult sci-fi puppet series Space Patrol in 1963, and performed in John Cleese’s How to Irritate People in 1968. He was also featured in an episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and penned limericks for the 1966 series Adam Adamant Lives! He provided comedy routines for a host of stars in England and the United States including Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Ronnie Corbett, and Carol Channing. He contributed to several film scripts including Up the Chastity Belt, Call Me Bwana, and Carry on Nurse. Vosburgh also wrote for such television series as The Two Ronnies, The Reg Varney Revue, Carry on Laughing, I’m Bob, He’s Dickie, The Kenny Everett Video Show, Assaulted Nuts, Now, Something Else, and The Rory Bremner Show. He also wrote the book and lyrics for the 1979 musical comedy A Day in Hollywood, a Night in the Ukraine, which became a Tony Award–winning Broadway hit two years later. He was featured as the voice of the professor in

2007 • Obituaries

the 1979 animated adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Vosburgh was also a panelist on the radio film quiz program Screenplay, for which he wrote tributes to numerous film character actors and composers. He also wrote many obituaries of film personalities for the British newspaper The Independent. In recent years, he wrote and appeared with singer and pianist Dennis King in stage revues.

VYROUBOVA, NINA Russian-French ballerina Nina Vyroubova died in Paris on June 25, 2007. She was 86. Vyroubova was born in Gurzuv, Crimea, the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), on June 4, 1921. She moved to Paris as a child with her family, where she studied ballet from fellow Russian expatriate ballerinas. She performed in productions with Roland Petit’s Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees from the mid–1940s and joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 1949. She was noted for her roles in such romantic ballets as Giselle and Serge Lifar’s Les Noces Fantastiques. Vyroubova danced with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas from 1957 to 1962, and was Rudolf Nureyev’s dance partner in a production of The Sleeping Beauty after his defection from Russia in 1961. After retiring from the stage she taught dance at the Troyes Conservatory in France in the 1980s. She appeared in several films about dance in the early 1960s including Le Spectre de la Danse (1961) and L’Adage (1964), and starred in Dominique Delouche’s 1996 documentary Les Cahiers Retrouves de Nina Vyroubova.

Nina Vyroubova

Dick Vosburgh

WADLEIGH, PAUL Paul C. Wadleigh, who directed over 200 musicals and plays during his tenure at Washington State University, died of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Palouse Prairie, Washington, on April 8, 2007. He was 81. Wadleigh was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on December 6, 1925. He joined the U.S. Navy and served on the Pacific Front during World War II and later served during the Korean War. He retired from the Navy in 1954 and taught speech and theater at Washington State University from 1965 to 2000. Wadleigh directed more than 200 theatrical productions and appeared in the featured films Sammyville (1999) and Dog Story (2000). He also authored The Modern Stage Manager’s Prompt Book.

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Paul Wadleigh

WAGNER, ALAN Television executive Alan Wagner, who became the first president of cable’s Disney Channel, died in Manhattan, New York, on December 18, 2007. He was 76. Wagner was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1931. He graduated from Columbia University and served in the United States Navy in the mid–1950s. His interest in opera led to his becoming the host of the long-running New York radio program Living Opera in 1957. He also wrote a book about his backstage experiences, Prima Donnas and Other Wild Beasts, in 1961. He continued to host the program until 1968, when he was working as an executive at CBS. Wagner was East Coast vice president of programming at the network from 1976 to 1982, where he oversaw development of such series as All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and The Waltons. He was hired by Walt Disney Company in 1982 to develop a cable channel dedicated to children’s programming. He served as president of the Disney Channel for a year after its debut in 1983.

Alan Wagner

WAGONER, PORTER Grand Ole Opry star Porter Wagoner died of lung cancer in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospice on October 28, 2007. He was 80. Wagoner was born in West Plains, Missouri, on August 12, 1927. He began his career performing on radio in the Missouri area, and performed regularly with Red Foley’s Ozark Jubilee from 1953 to 1957. Noted for

sporting a tall pompadour and flashy costumes designed by Nudie Cohen, he joined Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry in 1957. He was best known for performing and recording with country music star Dolly Parton early in her career in the 1960s. She appeared regularly on his television series The Porter Wagoner Show from 1967 to 1973. The duo also had such hits as “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me” and “Last Thing on My Mind” before breaking up in 1974. Wagoner also recorded such solo hits as “Green Green Grass of Home,” “Carroll County Accident” and “Company’s Comin’.” He also appeared as himself in several films including Nashville Rebel (1966), The Road to Nashville (1967) and The Nashville Sound (1970). The Grammy Award winner was also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was seen as Dusty in Clint Eastwood’s 1982 film Honkytonk Man, and was the governor in 1991’s Paradise Park. Wagoner continued to perform throughout his life and his final album, Wagonmaster, was released earlier in 2007.

Porter Wagoner

WALLACE, IAN British rock drummer Ian Wallace died of complications from esophageal cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on February 22, 2007. He was 60. Wallace was born in Bury, Lancashire, England, on September 29, 1946. He played in several bands while still in school and joined Big Sound in the 1960s. They were popular performers in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, before disbanding in 1967. Wallace subsequently played with Vivian Stanshall’s Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, before joining King Crimson in 1971. He was heard on their albums Island (1971) and Earthbound (1972). After leaving King Crimson in 1972, he played with Alexis Korner’s Snape. Noted for his wide range of performing styles, Wallace was a popular accompanist throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He performed such artists as Peter Frampton, Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Walsh, Keith Emerson, Roy Orbison, Jackson Browne, the Travelling Wilburys, Eric Clapton, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Brian Eno, Stevie Nicks, Badger, Procul Harum, and Warren Zevon. He briefly led the Los Angeles based band The Tea Bags and joined the 21st Century Schizoid Band in 2003. He released his only solo album, Happiness with Minimal Side Effects, later in 2003. He joined with Tim Landers and Jody Nardone to form the Crim-

397 son Jazz Trio in 2005 and performed and recorded with them until illness forced his retirement.

2007 • Obituaries

of complications of Alzheimer’s disease in Wallingford, Connecticut, on December 22, 2007. She was 87. Wallis was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1920. She began her career singing in lounges and bars and became known for her sexually-themed novelty songs in the 1940s. She made more than ten comedy albums over the next two decades and recorded more than 150 songs. Despite some of her tunes being banned from the radio she had several popular hits including “The Dinghy Song” and “Dear Mr. Godfrey.” Though she retired in the 1970s, her songs inspired the 2003 musical revue BOOBS! The Musical: The World According to Ruth Wallis.

Ian Wallace

WALLER, LESLIE Novelist Leslie Waller died in Rochester, New York, on March 29, 2007. He was 83. Waller was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 1, 1923. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and his first novel was published in 1944. He and Arnold Drake are credited with writing the first graphic novel, It Rhymes with Lust, in 1950. Waller wrote more than fifty novels during his career, most in the crime or espionage genre. Sometimes writing under the pseudonyms C.S. Cody or Patrick Mann, his novels include Three Day Pass (1944), The Witching Night (1953), The Banker 1963), Will the Real Toulouse Lautrec Please Stand Up? (1965), The American (1971), The Swiss Account (1976), K. Assignment (1976), Trocadero (1978), Gameplan (1983), Embassy (1987), Tango Havana (1993), and Comeback (1997). He also wrote the novelizations of the films Dog Day Afternoon (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Hide in Plain Sight (1978), and the television series Falcon Crest (1984). His final novel was Target Diana, about a plot to kill Princess Diana, published in 2001.

Ruth Wallis

WALLOWITCH, JOHN Cabaret performer John Wallowitch died of bone cancer in a hospital in the Bronx, New York, on August 15, 2007. He was 81. Wallowitch was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 11, 1926. He studied piano at the Juilliard School and worked in small nightclubs as a performer. He also began writing songs, including the 1960 satire “Cheap Decadent Drivel.” His best known song was “Bruce,” about a clueless drag queen, popularized by Blossom Dearie. His works, which numbered more than 2000, were performed by such artists as Tony Bennett, Dixie Carter, and Morgana King. He was featured in the 1974 film Blood, and guest starred as a piano player in an episode of The Cosby Mysteries. He

Leslie Waller

WALLIS, RUTH Singer Ruth Wallis, who was noted for her rendition of risque musical numbers, died

John Wallowitch

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starred in a New York cable-access program, John’s Cabaret, in 1980. Wallowitch and his partner, Bertram Ross, created a popular cabaret act in 1984, which they continued to perform until Ross’ death in 2003. A documentary about the two was made by Richard Morris in 1999, Wallowitch and Ross: This Moment.

WALSH , JOHN Figure skater John Walsh, who toured as the skating partner of Sonja Henie in the early 1950s, died of complications from a stroke in New Hope, Pennsylvania, on November 1, 2007. He was 85. Walsh was born in Saranac Lake, New York, in 1922. He began competing as a figure skater at the age of 13. He began skating professionally in 1946 after serving as an Army glider pilot during World War II. He began touring was Olympic champion Sonja Henie as her Hollywood Ice Revue skating partner in 1950. He retired from professional skating three years later and began working for CBS-TV as publicity director for the television series Playhouse 90. He began a public relations firm in the early 1960s, representing such clients as Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Noel Coward, Rita Hayward, and Carol Burnett. Walsh retired in 1989.

retirement. He played a senator in the 1990 film The God Man’s Sin and was Father McCasslin in the 2001 drama In the Bedroom.

WALSH, THOMMIE Broadway dancer and choreographer Thommie Walsh died of lymphoma at his mother’s home in Auborn, New York, on June 16, 2007. He was 57. Walsh was born in New York on March 15, 1950. He studied dance from an early age and made his Broadway debut as a dancer in Seesaw in 1973. Walsh also appeared as the apostle Thaddeus in the film version of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973. He created the role of Bobby in Michael Bennett’s hit Broadway musical A Chorus Line in 1975. He continued with the long-running musical for two years. Later in the 1970s he returned to Broadway as a choreographer. He earned Tony awards for his collaborations with dancer Tommy Tune, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine in 1980 and My One and Only in 1983. He also worked with Tune of the musicals The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978) and Nine (1981), which earned him another Tony nomination for choreography. His other Broadway credits for musical staging include Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? (1982) and My Favorite Year (1993). He was co-author of the 1990 book On the Line: The Creation of “A Chorus Line.”

John Walsh (skating with Sonja Henie)

WALSH, JONATHAN Character actor Jonathan Walsh died of cancer in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on December 24, 2007. After working as a salesman for forty years, Walsh turned to acting in his

Jonathan Walsh

Thommie Walsh

WANG , CHICO Adult film director and sometimes actor Chico “Wanker” Wang was found dead in a Morgan Hill, California, motel room on September 29, 2007. He was 38. Wang had been implicated in the possible murder of his wife, adult film actress Haley Paige, the previous month. He was born Inkyo Volt Hwang on January 14, 1969. He began appearing in pornographic videos in the early 2000s and was soon working as a director in the genre. Wang helmed numerous features that became part of such adult series as Un-Natural Sex, Spring Chickens, Lewd Conduct, Sweet Cheeks, Down the Hatch, Penetration, Mouth 2 Mouth, Initiations, and Gangbang Auditions. (See photograph on page 399.) WARE, LEO Character actor Leo Ware died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease and a stroke on January 3, 2007. He was 81. Ware was born on Jan-

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uary 2, 1923. He was featured in the tele-films The Executioner’s Song (1982) and Rupert Patterson Wants to Be a Super Hero (1997), and appeared in the films The ButterCream Gang (1902) and The Singles Ward (2002). Ware purchased the Empress Theatre, founded in 1916 in Magna, Utah, in 1983 and spent the next twenty years renovating it.

’Em, Doctor at Sea, The Changes, Dixon of Dock Green, EastEnders, The Onedin Line, Mind Your Language, Cribb, Play for Today, Dempsey and Makepeace, The Two Ronnies, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and Haggard. His other television credits include productions of The Age of Kings (1960), Rupert of Hentzau (1961), Culloden (1964), The First Churchills (1969), The Picnic (1975), King Cinder (1977), The Circle Complex (1980), Jane (1982), Johnny Jarvis (1983), After Pilkington (1987), Casanova (1987), Death of a Son (1988), and The Paradise Club (1989). He also worked in such films as The Primitives (1962), The War Game (1965), The Idol (1966), Privilege (1967), Far from the Maddening Crowd (1967), Up the Junction (1968), The Conqueror Worm (1968), The Italian Job (1969), The Battle of Billy’s Pond (1976), Give Us Tomorrow (1978), By the Sea (1982), Krull (1983), God’s Outlaw (1986), Sky Bandits (1986), Willow (1988), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Revenge of Billy the Kid (1991). Waring’s stunt career was ended by an injury in 1990 but he continued to work as a fencing coach. He was married to British actress Dame Dorothy Tutin until her death in 2001. His survivors include their two children, actors Nick and Amanda Waring.

Leo Ware

Derek Waring

WARING, DEREK British actor and stuntman Derek Waring died of cancer in a West Sussex, England, hospital on February 20, 2007. He was 79. Waring was born Derek Barton-Chapple in London on April 26, 1927. His father was aviator and television pioneer H. J. Barton-Chapple. Waring served in the Army before embarking on a career as an actor. He performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and worked as a stuntman and performer in numerous films and television productions. He worked frequently on the Doctor Who television series in the 1960s. Waring starred as Detective Inspector Goss in Z Cars for three seasons from 1969 to 1971, and was Roland Moody in the 1970s sit-com Moody and Pegg y. He also contributed to such series as The Wednesday Play, Quick Before They Catch Us, The Informer, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Troubleshooters, 6 Dates with Barker, Paul Temple, Trial, Softly Softly, Spyder’s Web, The Lotus Eaters, Colditz, Rutland Weekend Television, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Some Mothers Do ’Ave

WATKINS, ROGER Filmmaker Roger Watkins, who was best known for his cult horror film Last House on a Dead End Street, died at his home in Apalachin, in upstate New York, on March 6, 2007. He was 58. Watkins was born in Binghampton, New York, on September 17, 1948. He began working in films as an apprentice to such directors as Freddie Francis and Nicholas Ray in the late 1960s. He produced, directed, scripted and starred in the notorious Last House on a Dead End Street, which was originally filmed as The Cuckoo Clocks from Hell in 1972. Also known as The Fun House, the film was recut and retitled for release in 1977 to capitalize on the popularity of Wes Craven’s film The Last House on the Left. Watkins was credited as Victor Janos as director, Norman F. Kaiser as producer, Brian Laurence as screenwriter, Brian Newett as editor, and Steven Morrison for his starring role as the Manson-like snuff film maker Terry Hawkins. Watkins began working as a director in the adult film industry in the late 1970s, using such pseudonyms as Richard

Chico Wang

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Mahler, Bernard Travis, and Ray Hicks. He helmed the well-regarded hardcore film Her Name was Lisa in 1979. His other films include Shadows of the Mind (1980), The Pink Ladies (1981), Spittoon (1981), Cosmopolitan Girls (1981), Corruption (1983), Midnight Heart (1983), American Babylon (1987), and Decadence (1988).

best known for her role as Violey Weaver in a series of country bumpkin comedy that included Jeepers Creepers (1939), The Old Missouri (1940), Grand Ole Opry (1940), Friendly Neighbors (1940), Arkansas Judge (1941), and Mountain Moonlight (1941). She also starred as Ruth Miller in the 1940 Three Mesquiters feature Heroes of the Saddle. She retired from the screen in the early 1940s.

Roger Watkins Loretta Weaver

WEARING, CATHERINE British television producer Catherine Wearing died in her sleep of complications from diabetes while vacationing in Grenada on December 31, 2007. She was 41. She was born in England on January 9, 1966, the daughter of producer Michael Wearing. She began her career on stage as a writer and director before joining the BBC in 1990. She was soon working as a script editor on such series as Natural Lies and Tears Before Bedtime. By middecade, she was producing such television dramas as A Mug’s Game (1996), Our Mutual Friend (1998), Nature Boy (2000), Sweet Revenge (2001), Bodily Harm (2002), Second Generation (2003), and Rose and Maloney (2004). Wearing was working as a producer for Leopard Films at the time of her death.

WEBB , TRUDY Adult film actress Trudy Webb was found murdered by strangulation at her flat in Wandsworth, London, England, on January 9, 2007. She was 30. Webb was born in England on September 3, 1976. She made her film debut in World Sex Tour 20: England in 1999 and released her next film, Sex Kittens from Britain later that year. Sometimes billed as Vanessa Freeman, her other film credits include Double Confusion (2000) and Anal Away Days 20: Road Trip to St. Tropez (2004). A self-proclaimed high-class prostitute and call girl, Webb established her own escort agency in 2001, and claimed numerous prominent clients.

Trudy Webb Catherine Wearing

WEAVER, LORETTA Actress Loretta Weaver, who appeared in a handful of films in the early 1940s, died on December 10, 2007. She was 96. Weaver was

WEDEL, RENEE Actress Renee Wedel died on June 19, 2007. She was 66. Wedel was born on February 18, 1941. She was active in films and television from the early 1970s. She was seen in the films The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974), Alex and the Gypsy

401 (1976), and My Girl 2 (1994). She also appeared in the tele-film I Take These Men (1983), and episodes of Remington Steele and Perfect Strangers. Wedel was also an acting teacher and former secretary of the Screen Actor’s Guild.

WEIL, MARK Uzbekistan theatrical director Mark Weil died in a Tashkent, Uzbekistan, hospital after being attacked and stabbed by two assailants in front of his apartment on September 7, 2007. He was 55. Weil was born in Tashkent (then part of the Soviet Union), on January 25, 1952. He began his career as a dissident artist in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He founded the theatrical company Ilkhorn in 1976, producing plays that often dealt with controversial subject matters. Weil began a twin-city theatrical project between Tashkent and Seattle, Washington, in 1988, staging plays in the United States. He created the documentary film The End of an Era: Tashkent, that explored the history of that city from Russian rule to the post–Soviet era, which was seen at several European film festivals from 1996. Weils was staging an adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia at the time of his death.

2007 • Obituaries

Hold On! (1966), Spinout (1966), Easy Come, Easy Go (1967), Double Trouble (1967), Clambake (1967), Stay Away, Joe (1968), and Change of Habit (1969). He also wrote such popular songs as “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” for Bobby Vee, “Love in the Afternoon” for Barbra Streisand, and “Lonely Blue Boy” for Conway Twitty.

Ben Weisman (right, with Elvis Presley)

WELLINGTON, BIFF Canadian professional wrestler Shane Bower, who performed in the ring under the name Biff Wellington, was found dead at his home on June 24, 2007. He was 42. He had suffered major health problems including several strokes in recent years. Bower was trained in Canada by the Hart family and began his ring career in the late 1980s. He frequently teamed with Chris Benoit at Stampede Wrestling, briefly holding the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship. He and Benoit were featured on WCW’s Clash of the Champions XIX in June of 1992. He briefly competed in ECW in the mid–1990s until an injury forced his retirement.

Mark Weil

WEISMAN, BEN Songwriter Ben Weisman, who wrote nearly 60 songs recorded by Elvis Presley, died of complications from a stroke and pneumonia in a Los Angeles hospital on May 22, 2007. He was 85. Weisman was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 16, 1921, and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. He studied piano as a teenager and was a music director for the Army Air Force during World War II. After the war, he began writing songs for such country artists as Red Foley, Hank Snow, and Ernest Tubb. He began working with Elvis in 1956, and penned such hits as “Follow That Dream,” “Fame and Fortune,” “Rock-a-Hula Baby,” and “Got a Lot o’ Livin’ to Do.” His ability to churn out tunes led to Elvis dubbing him “the Mad Professor.” Weisman’s songs were featured in many of Elvis’ films including Loving You (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), King Creole (1958), G.I. Blues (1960), Wild in the Country (1961), Blue Hawaii (1961), Kid Galahad (1962), Fun in Acapulco (1963), Roustabout (1964), Girl Happy (1965), Tickle Me (1965), Frankie and Johnny (1966), Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966),

Bi› Wellington

WERDEN, SYBIL German actress and ballet dancer Sybil Werden died in Germany on July 27, 2007. She was 83. Werden appeared in a handful of films in Germany in the 1950s including Desires (1952), The Bird Seller (1953), Strassenserenade (1953), Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um Halb Eins (1954), Oberarzt Dr. Solm (1955), Reaching for the Stars (1955), and Wenn der Vater mit dern Sohne (1955). She was married to German actor Harald Juhnke during the 1950s. Werden

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made her last screen appearance in the 1965 television production Das Kabinett des Professor Enslen.

Sybil Werden

WEST, DONDA Donda West, the mother of singer Kanye West, died of complications from cosmetic surgery in Marina del Rey, California, on November 10, 2007. She was 58. West was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 12, 1949. She began working at Chicago State University in 1980 and rose to become chairman of the school’s English department. Donda West was the inspiration for her son’s hit song “Hey Mama” on his 2005 album Late Registration. She wrote a book about her son, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar, earlier in the year. She also appeared on several episodes of Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2006 and 2007.

his music served as the theme for the emerging Red Power Movement. His second album, This Land Is Your Mother, was released in 1982. Westerman also performed with such musicians as Willie Nelson, Harry Belafonte and Sting. He also became a prominent character actor in the late 1980s, with numerous film and television credits. He was featured in the recurring role of Uncle Ray Firewalker on Walker, Texas Ranger from 1993 to 1994 and was Albert Hosteen in five episodes of The X-Files from 1995 to 1999. He also appeared as George Littlefox in several episodes of Dharma & Greg from 1997 to 2001. Westerman’s other television credits include MacGyver, Hardball, L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, Northern Exposure, Roseanne, The Pretender, Baywatch Nights, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Millennium, and Judging Amy. He also appeared in the tele-films as Son of the Morning Star (1991), The Dakota Conflict (1993), Rio Shannon (1993), The Broken Chain (1993), Siringo (1994), Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee (1994), Buffalo Girls (1995) as No Ears, and DreamKeeper (2003). Westerman was also seen in a handful of feature films during his career including Powwow Highway (1989), Renegades (1989), Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990) as Ten Bears, The Doors (1991), Clearcut (1991), Jonathan of the Bears (1993), Dusting Cliff 7 (1996), Naturally Native (1998), Grey Owl (1999), Truth and Dare (2003), Hidalgo (2004), and The Tillamook Treasure (2007).

Floyd Red Crow Westerman

Donda West (with son Kanye West)

WESTERMAN, FLOYD RED CROW Native American actor and singer Floyd Red Crow Westerman died after a long illness in a Los Angeles hospital on December 14, 2007. He was 71. The SissetonWapheton Dakota performer was born in South Dakota in 1935. He left the Lake Traverce reservation as a young man and toured the nation playing country music in small venues. Westerman recorded his first album, Custer Died for Your Sins, in 1969. He became an activist with the American Indian Movement and

WESTMORE, MONTY Makeup artist Monty Westmore died in Woodland Hills, California, on November 13, 2007. He was 84. The third generation of his family to work in films as a makeup artist, he was the son of Monte Westmore, Sr., and grandson of George Westmore. He began working in films as an apprentice to his uncle, Warner Bros. makeup department director Perc Westmore. He worked on such films as The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1950), Colt .45 (1950), and Frenchie (1950), and the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Westmore also worked on the films Vice Raid (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), and Love and Kisses (1965), and was makeup artist for actress Joan Crawford for the films What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Strait-

403 Jacket (1964). He also worked frequently with actor Paul Newman and on productions for director Robert Altman. Westmore’s numerous film credits include Rio Lobo (1970), Sometimes a Great Notion (1971), Dirty Little Billy (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Slither (1973), Where the Lillies Bloom (1974), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), I Wonder Who’s Killing Her Now? (1975), The Drowning Pool (1975), George Pal’s Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975), Let’s Do It Again (1975), Lipstick (1976), Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976), Welcome to L.A. (1976), The Late Show (1977), 3 Women (1977), Remember My Name (1978), A Wedding (1978), Quintet (1979), Promises in the Dark (1979), HealtH (1980), Blood Beach (1981), Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), Some Kind of Hero (1982), Endangered Species (1982), The Verdict (1982), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Uncommon Valor (1983), The Woman in Red (1984), National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Big Trouble (1986), Stand by Me (1986), The Color of Money (1986), Gardens of Stone (1987), Real Men (1987), The Dead Pool (1988), Alien Nation (1988), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), Black Rain (1989), Fat Man and Little Boy (1989), Blaze (1989), Funny About Love (1990), Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990), The Marrying Man (1991), Another You (1991), Hook (1991) which earned him an Academy Award nomination, Hero (1992), Chaplin (1992), Jurassic Park (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Nobody’s Fool (1994), Outbreak (1995), Se7en (1995), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Twilight (1998), U.S. Marshals (1998), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Message in a Bottle (1999), Where the Money Is (2000), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Westmore also earned Emmy nominations for his work on the tele-films Who Will Love My Children? (1983) and The Late Shift (1996). His other television credits include such productions as All God’s Children (1980), Stark (1984), and Swing Vote (1999).

2007 • Obituaries

in medical history, died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Santa Monica, California, on March 16, 2007. He was 98. Wexler was born in San Francisco, California, on August 24, 1908, and was raised in New York. He earned degrees from such colleges as Syracuse University, New York University and Columbia. He served in the Navy and after his discharge joined the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas. He moved to Los Angeles in 1950s where he became a psychoanalyst to Hollywood celebrities and other prominent members of society. Wexler became an activist for those suffering with hereditary diseases after Huntington’s ravaged his wife’s family in the late 1960s. He joined with Marjorie Guthrie, wife of late songwriter Woody Guthrie, who had died of the disease, and later formed the Hereditary Disease Foundation to bring together numerous scientists for no-holds-barred talks on Huntington’s disease. Directly due to these intense sessions, the marker for the gene was discovered in 1983 and the gene was identified a decade later. Wexler also wrote two screenplays with Blake Edwards, The Man Who Loved Women (1983) and That’s Life! (1986).

Milton Wexler

WHEELWRIGHT, LILY Actress Lily Wheelwright died of an apparent drug overdose in New York City on March 22, 2007. She was 24. Wheelwright was

Monty Westmore

WEXLER, MILTON Milton Wexler, a psychoanalyst whose unique group therapy–based brainstorming sessions for scientists working on the hereditary disease Huntington’s led to revolutionary breakthroughs

Lily Wheelwright

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born in Jeffersonville, New York, on April 14, 1982. She starred as Rosie in Ry Russo-Young’s 2007 independent film Orphans.

WHITING , ARCH Arch Whiting, who starred as radio operator Sparks in the 1960s television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, died in Black Mountain, North Carolina, on May 7, 2007. He was 70. He was born Harold Joseph Archambault in Larchmont, New York, on September 29, 1936. Whiting began his career in television as a production assistant on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s. He also studied acting under Sandford Meisner and appeared in episodes of Studio One and Armstrong Circle Theatre. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s where he was featured in episodes of Not for Hire, The Ann Sothern Show, Stoney Burke, and The Barbara Stanwyck Show. He appeared as Sparks in Irwin Allen’s undersea science fiction series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea from 1964 to 1966. Whiting also guest starred in episodes of Star Trek, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, Garrison’s Gorillas, Land of the Giants, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, The F.B.I., Mannix, Cannon, Run, Joe, Run in the recurring role of Sgt. William Corey, Joe Forrester, and Barnaby Jones. He was also seen in the tele-films The Sound of Anger (1968), The Stranger (1973), Ordeal (1973), Strange Homecoming (1974), The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One (1974), Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975), and Sky Heist (1975). Whiting also worked behind the camera on several films including Angels Die Hard and Count Yorga, Vampire before retiring from show business.

lowed. He continued to work as a teacher through the early 1970s, when he began writing full time. Whiting’s literary output reached over 350 works of fiction and non-fiction, some published under such pseudonyms as Duncan Harding, Leo Kessler, Klaus Konrad, and John Kerrigan. His numerous non-fiction books include such titles as Hunters from the Sky: History of the German Parachute Regiment (1974), SS Werewolf: Story of the Nazi Resistance Movement, 1944–1945 (1982), York Blitz (1986), and Disaster at Kasserine: Ike and the 1st (US) Army in North Africa, 1943 (2003). Whiting’s later novels include Death on the Rhine (1994) and The Balkan Chase (1996).

Charles Whiting

WHITNEY, BOB Actor Bob Whitney died of cancer at his home in Murrieta, California, on April 10, 2007. He was 94. Whitney was born in New York City on July 13, 1912. He moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, where he began working in films. Whitney was seen in small roles in such films as Joan of Arc (1948), Desperate Search (1952), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) as the cop who dances with Gene Kelly, She’s Back on Broadway (1953), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), and the horror film Hand of Death (1962). He also appeared on television in episodes of Suspicion and Here’s Lucy.

Arch Whiting

WHITING , CHARLES British novelist Charles Whiting, who was best known for his novels set during World War II, died in England on July 24, 2007. He was 80. Whiting was born in York, England, on December 18, 1926. He served in the British Army during World War II. He completed his education and taught history after the war. Whiting’s first novel, The Frat Wagon, set in Germany after the end of the war, was published in 1954. Lest I Fall (1956), Journey to No End (1957), and The Mighty Fallen (1958), soon fol-

Bob Whitney (as the cop watching Gene Kelly dance in Singin’ in the Rain)

405 WHITSETT, CARSON Musician and composer Carson Whitsett died of brain cancer at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 9, 2007. He was 62. Whitsett was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on May 1, 1945. He began his career performing with his older brother in Tim Whitsett’s Imperial Show Band in the 1960s. After a stint performing with Canadian singer Eric Mercy, he became head of East Memphis and Birdees Music, the publishing division of Stax Records, in the early 1970s. Whitsett replaced Booker T. Jones in a new version of the MGs in 1973, with guitarist Bobby Manuel, and MG veterans Al Jackson and Duck Dunn. They recorded an album that year that included the popular single, “Sugar Cane.” Whitsett subsequently went to Malaco Records, where he was keyboardist for the house band in the 1970s and 1980s. He moved to Nashville in the late 1980s, where he was a popular session musician with such artists as Tony Joe White and Kathy Mattea. He also wrote songs for Etta James, Joe Louis Walker, Lorrie Morgan, and Solomon Burke.

2007 • Obituaries

crashed into a tree. Wickliffe was involved in creating the special effects for such films as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Enigma (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Die Another Day (2002), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003), King Arthur (2004), Batman Begins (2005), V for Vendetta (2005), Children of Men (2006), Casino Royale (2006), and Fred Claus (2007).

WIERINGO, MIKE Comic book artist Mike Wieringo died of a sudden heart attack at his home in North Carolina on August 12, 2007. He was 44. Wieringo was born in Italy on June 24, 1963, and was educated at Virginia Commonwealth University. He began working as an artist in the early 1990s, illustrating the series Pat Savage and Doc Savage: Doom Dynasty for Millinnium Publications. He soon made his debut with DC Comics, working on stories for Justice League Quarterly in 1993. He was best known for his run with writer Mark Wait on The Flash, with the two co-creating the character of Bart “Impulse” Allen. He also worked with Chuck Dixon on the Robin comic in 1995, and penciled Rogue for Marvel during the year. Wieringo also did some work for Malibu and Explorer Press before becoming the regular artist for Marvel’s The Sensational Spider-Man title from 1996 to 1998. He and Todd DeZago teamed to create the fantasy series Tellos at Image Comics in 1999. He returned to DC to draw Adventures of Superman from 2001 to 2002, and reunited with Mark Waid at Marvel on Fantastic Four from 2002 to 2004. His most recent work for Marvel included Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with writer Peter David, and the mini-series Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four with Jeff Parker.

Carson Whitsett

WICKLIFFE, COMWAY New Zealand special technician expert Comway Wickliffe was killed while testing a car stunt on the set of the Batman sequel, Batman: The Dark Knight, on September 24, 2007. He was 41. Wickliffe was on a camera truck following the Batmobile stunt on a racetrack in Longcross, near Chertsey, Surrey, England, when his vehicle

Mike Wieringo

Comway Wickli›e

WILDT , H ELMUT German actor Helmut Wildt died in Germany on October 4, 2007. He was 85. Wildt was born in Bad Pymont, Germany, on April 9 1922. He made his film debut in 1961’s Black Gravel, and was seen in the films Das Leben Beginnt um Acht (1962), The Lightship (1963), Piccadilly Zero Hour 12 (1963), and The Dirty Game (1965). Wildt appeared frequently on German television from the late 1960s, with roles in such productions as Das Millionending (1966), Der Fall Tuchatschewskij (1968), Wie Eine Trane

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im Ozean (1970), Das Klavier (1972), Vorhang Auf, wir Spielen Mord (1978), Revolution in Frankfurt (1979), Feuer fur den Grossen Drachen (1984), and Wanderungen Durch die Mark Breandenburg (1986).

He performed in amateur theatrical productions while in his teens and began performing professionally in the late 1970s. He was seen in such television series as The Mallens, Juliet Bravo, Play for Today, Bergerac, Big Deal, Only Fools and Horses, Coronation Street, Alleyn Mysteries, Where the Heart Is, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Dalziel and Pascoe, My Wonderful Life, Playing the Field, Heartbeat, The Royal, Last of the Summer Wine, and Shameless. Wilkinson also appeared in several films including Paris by Night (1988) and Calendar Girls (2003), and the 2002 television production The Falkland Play.

Helmut Wildt

WILEY, DAVID Character actor David Wiley died of cancer on February 5, 2007. He was 77. Wiley performed frequently on television from the 1950s, with roles in such series as Highway Patrol, Hogan’s Heroes, CHiPs, How the West Was Won, Harper Valley P.T.A., Father Murphy, Little House on the Prairie, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, ABC Weekend Specials, Simon and Simon, Cheers, Wildside, Hunter, Highway to Heaven, L.A. Law, Falcon Crest, Dallas, Anything But Love, The Dave Thomas Comedy Hour, Get a Life, Night Court, Bakersfield P.D., Maybe This Time, and The Guardian. Wiley also appeared in the films Half a House (1979), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Hambone and Hillie (1984), Jagged Edge (1985), and Society (1989), and the tele-films Warp Speed (1981), A Touch of Scandal (1984), The Other Lover (1985), Under the Influence (1986), The Operation (1990), and When Time Expires (1987).

David Wiley

WILKINSON, GEOFFREY British actor Geoffrey Wilkinson died of a heart attack in England on August 13, 2007. He was 64. Wilkinson was born in Sneinton, Nottingham, England, on October 5, 1942.

Geo›rey Wilkinson

WILLIAMS, JACK Stuntman Jack Williams, who worked with such western film legends as John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Clint Eastwood, died in a Sylmar, California, convalescent home on April 10, 2007. He was 85. He was born in Montana, on April 15, 1921, the son of stuntman George Williams. He performed his first screen stunt at the age of four, being passed from a horse to a stagecoach in the silent film The Flaming Forest in 1926. He went on to work on over 100 film and television productions over the next seven decades. Williams performed stunts or appeared in small roles in such films as The Dreamers (1933), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Dodge City (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), Virginia City (1940), Santa Fe Trail (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), Fort Apache (1948), Red River (1948), Three Godfathers (1948), Tripoli (1950), The Last Outpost (1951), The Golden Horde (1951), Distant Drums (1951), The Lion and the Horse (1952), Bend of the River (1952), Bugles in the Afternoon (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), The Desert Song (1953), Column South (1953), The Man from the Alamo (1953), Tumbleweed (1953), Border River (1954), Taza, Son of Cochise (1954), Drums Across the River (1954), The Far Country (1954), Disney’s 1954 adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as Kirk Douglas’ stunt double, Strange Lady in Town (1955), The Conqueror (1956), The Burning Hills (1956), Pillars of the Sky (1956), The Wings of Eagles (1957), Night Passage (1957), Joe Dakota (1957), Fort Dobbs (1958), The Left Handed Gun (1958), Man of the West (1958), The Law and Jake Wade (1958), Ride a

407 Crooked Trail (1958), Ride a Crooked Trail (1958), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Westbound (1959), Rio Bravo (1959), Yellowstone Kelly (1959), Spartacus (1960), The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Alamo (1960), Gold of the Seven Saints (1961), El Cid (1961), The Comancheros (1961), Merrill’s Marauders (1962), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Hatari! (1962), Hero’s Island (1962), The Spiral Road (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Major Dundee (1965), Cat Ballou (1965), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), The War Lord (1965), Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966), Smoky (1966), Seven Women (1966), Alvarez Kelly (1966), The Professionals (1966), Welcome to Hard Times (1967), The War Wagon (1967), Camelot (1967), Will Penny (1968), Day of the Evil Gun (1968), The Scalphunters (1968), Head (1968) with the Monkees, Mackenna’s Gold (1969), The Wild Bunch (1969), Paint Your Wagon (1969), The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969), A Man Called Horse (1970), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Rio Lobo (1970), The Omega Man (1971), Soylent Green (1973), The Master Gunfighter (1975), F.I.S.T. (1978), The Mountain Men (1980), Under the Rainbow (1981), Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985), Innerspace (1987), W.B., Blue and the Bean (1989), Diplomatic Immunity (1991), and Wild Wild West (1999). Williams also worked frequently in television, performing stunts for such series as Dragnet, Maverick, Bat Masterson, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Daniel Boone, Laredo, The Monroes, Dundee and the Culhane, The Guns of Will Sonnett, Lancer, Bonanza, and The High Chaparral.

2007 • Obituaries

Robert Todd Williams

WILLIAMS, SAM South African actor and singer Sam Williams died after a long illness in Pretoria, South Africa, on March 1, 2007. He began his career performing with the musical group The Boston Brothers in the 1960s. Williams began performing in films and television in the 1970s. He was seen in such films as Albino (1976), King Solomon’s Treasure (1977), Funeral for an Assassin (1977), A Game for Vultures (1979), Safari 3000 (1982), Morenga (1985), King Solomon’s Mines (1985), Shaka Zulu (1987), Any Man’s Death (1988), Back to Freedom (1988), Headhunter (1989), Moonstalker (1989), Tusks (1990), and Desperate Remedies (1993). Williams also appeared on television in such series as Striker, Oh! George, Holding On, Sam et Sally, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Dark Knight, Young Hercules, and Peak Practice, and the tele-films Where Angels Tread (1994) and Rhodes (1996).

Jack Williams

WILLIAMS, ROBERT TODD Robert Todd Williams, a leading Sonoma County vintner known as Dr. Toad who was the older brother of actor Robin Williams, died of complications from heart surgery in a Santa Rosa, California, hospital on August 14, 2007. He was 69. Williams was born in Chicago on June 14, 1938, and raised in rural Kentucky. He entered the wine business in the 1980s and formed Toad Hollow Vineyards in 1993. The popular winery was noted for its labels featuring drawings of dapper frogs. Williams also appeared in the small role of a bartender in his brother’s 1996 comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire.

Sam Williams

WILLIAMSON, TRISH Trish Williamson, who was a British television weathergirl turned documentary producer, was killed in a car crash in England on November 9, 2007. She was 52. Williamson was born in England on January 3, 1955. She began her career on Good Morning Britain in the early 1980s and was working as a reporter for ITN by the end of the decade. She was a weather forecaster at ITV from 1994 and also hosted the travel program Breakaways. Williamson was soon writ-

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ing and producing her own travel programs, including Trailblazers (1998) for the Discovery Channel and Dream Ticket (1999) for LWT. She also worked on the BBC investigative series Inside Out and had recently completed the documentary Born Survivors for BBC Three.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard. She also toured with such productions as A Chorus Line, Cats, 42nd Street, and This Was Burlesque. Wilson became assistant choreographer to Robert Longbottom on 1997’s Side Show and to Adam Pelt on Scarlet Pimpernel. She was the associate choreographer to Longbottom on the 2002 revival of Flower Drum Song and on the Casey Nicholaw’s musical Spamalot. She was featured as a dancer in the 2002 comedy film The Guru, and was choreographer for the 2005 film Exit.

WILSON, DARLENE Broadway dancer and choreographer Darlene Wilson died on March 2, 2007. She was 45. Wilson moved to New York City shortly after graduating high school to pursue a career as a performer. She made her Broadway debut as Cassandra in Cats and later was understudy in numerous roles on

WILSON, DICK Character actor Dick Wilson, who was best known for telling a generation of television viewers to “Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” as finicky store manager Mr. Whipple, died in Woodland Hills, California, on November 19, 2007. He was 91. Wilson was born Riccardo DiGuglielmo to an Italian father and British mother in England on July 30, 1916. He accompanied his family to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as an infant. During World War II, Wilson returned to England to serve in the Royal Air Force and fought in the Battle of Britain. After the war, he embarked upon a career as an actor, adopting his mother’s maiden name so as not to be stereotyped in Italian ethnic roles. He became a popular character actor in films and television. Wilson was seen in the 1957 film The Tattered Dress and guest starred in episodes of such series as The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Wagon Train, The Texan, The Untouchables, M Squad, Maverick, The Millionaire, Bat Masterson, The Deputy, The Lawless Years, The Bob Cummings Show, Checkmate, Our Man Higgins, The Virginian, Perry Mason, Ben Casey, Glynis, The Twilight Zone, The Great Adventure, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, My Living Doll, My Favorite Martian, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Fugitive, The Loner, Gidget, The Munsters, McHale’s Navy, My Mother the Car, The Jean Arthur Show, The Hero, Occasional Wife, That Girl, Petticoat Junction, The Flying Nun, Get Smart, Mayberry R.F.D., The Queen and I, I Dream of Jeannie, Bracken’s World, The Good Guys, The Partridge Family, Hogan’s Heroes, Marcus Welby, M.D., Nanny and the Professor, Love, American Style, McMillan and Wife, Bewitched in a succession of roles in numerous episodes

Darlene Wilson

Dick Wilson (as Mr. Whipple, squeezing the Charmin)

Trish Williamson

WILSON, AL Animation layout artist and designer Al Wilson died in Santa Barbara, California, on August 5, 2007. He was 86. Wilson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 4, 1920. He began working in television as an artist on the 1961 cartoon series The Bullwinkle Show. He worked as a story artist for the 1967 Disney animated feature The Jungle Book and was layout artist for Ralph Bakshi’s animated feature Heavy Traffic in 1973. He also was a character designer and writer for Disney’s 1985 film, The Black Cauldron. Wilson also worked on such cartoon series as The Super 6, The Oddball Couple, The Herculoids, Here Comes the Grump, Doctor Dolittle, Roland and Rattfink, Jabberjaw, Challenge of the Super Friends, and The New Fred and Barney Show.

409 between 1965 and 1972, Love Thy Neighbor, Adam-12, The Bob Newhart Show, Maude, Tabitha, Fantasy Island, Alice, Presenting Susan Anton, Quincy, Mathnet, and Square One TV. He also appeared in the tele-films Getting Away from It All (1972), The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton (1974), The Pirate (1978), and Better Late Than Never (1979). Wilson also appeared in over a dozen films during his career including Diary of a Madman (1963) with Vincent Price, What a Way to Go! (1964), John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965), Our Man Flint (1966), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) with Don Knotts, Caprice (1967), Stay Away, Joe (1968) with Elvis Presley, The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), and Cheech and Chong’s 1985 comedy Get Out of My Room. Wilson began his long running role as George Whipple in Charmin toilet paper commercials in 1965. He was seen in more than 500 different commercials over the next 24 years and was honored with a free lifetime supply of Charmin by Procter & Gamble after his retirement in 1989. Survivors include his daughter, actress Melanie Wilson.

WILSON, ROBERT ANTON Robert Anton Wilson, the author of the cult science fiction series The Illumanti Trilog y, died at his home in Capitola, California, after a long illness on January 11, 2007. He was 74. Wilson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1932. He worked as a copywriter before becoming an associate editor for Playboy from 1965 to 1971. While working at Playboy he joined with fellow editor Robert J. Shea to write the three novels The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, and Leviathan, which comprised the Illuminati Trilog y. The tale of a super secret society behind all the world’s conspiracies became a popular counter-culture classic. Wilson went on to write over 30 further books dealing with such paranormal activities as mental telepathy, metaphysics, and quantum psychology. He also wrote an off-beat autobiography, Cosmic Trigger in 1977, that included the revelation that he had been visited by extra-terrestrials while under the influence of heavy drugs. His personal philosophy included the general rule that one should never discount any possibility, regardless of how un-

Robert Anton Wilson

2007 • Obituaries

likely, including the ability of lasagna to fly. Wilson was featured in the 2001 documentary The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick, and was the subject of the 2003 documentary Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson.

WILSON , TONY British music impresario Tony Wilson died of kidney cancer in a Manchester, England, hospital on August 10, 2007. He was 57. Wilson was born in Salford, England, on February 20, 1950. He began working in television in the early 1970s, hosting the Granada current events program So It Goes. He was also a host for the evening news program Granada Reports through the 1980s. He founded the Hacienda nightclub and Factory Records to promote the Manchester music scene. Wilson assisted the careers of such local bands as Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays. Both the club and the record company folded by the 1990s. He continued to work in television, hosting such programs as World in Action, After Dark, and MTV Europe’s Remote Control. He became host of the BBC’s Politics Show in 2006. Wilson was played by comedian Steve Coogan in the 2002 fictionalized version of his days as a musical guru, 24 Hour Party People. He co-produced the 2007 Ian Curtis bio-film Control, with Craig Parkinson in the role of Wilson.

Tony Wilson

WINGFIELD , R.D. British crime writer R.D. Wingfield, who created the character of Inspector Jack Frost, died of cancer in England on July 31, 2007. He was 79. He was born Rodney David Wingfield in Hackney, East London, on June 6, 1932. He worked as an office clerk before he began writing for BBC radio in 1968. He wrote numerous dramas for the next 20 years, and also wrote the comedy series The Secret Life of Kenneth Williams. He created Insp. Jack Frost for a 1972 crime novel Frost at Christmas, though the book did not see print until 1984. He featured Frost in his radio play Three Days of Frost in 1977 with Leslie Sands in the lead role. The Inspector returned in A Touch of Frost in 1982 starring Derek Martin. Wingfield continued to write for radio until 1988, with Hate Mail as his last script. He subsequently concentrated on novels, producing Night Frost, Hard Frost, and Winter Frost

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over the next decade. David Jason portrayed Inspector Frost in a long-running television series A Touch of Frost from 1992 to 2006. Wingfield’s final novel in the series, A Killing Frost, was completed and scheduled for publication in 2008.

cations from a stroke at a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital on October 15, 2007. He was 85. Withers was born in Memphis on August 7, 1922. His interest in photography developed at an early age, and he served in the U.S. Army during World War II, taking pictures of engineering projects. He worked freelance for leading black newspapers in the 1950s and 1960s, chronicling the major figures and events of the burgeoning civil rights movement. He also snapped photos of such musical figures as Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Rufus Thomas. Withers was considered one of the leading American photographers of the 20th century, whose works appeared in most major newspapers and magazines.

R.D. Wingfield

WISSLER, RUDY Rudy Wissler, who provided the singing voice for Scotty Beckett as the young Al Jolson in the 1946 film The Jolson Story, died on January 11, 2007. He was 78. Wissler was born on June 21, 1928. He was a winner of the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts program, and sang on radio and television. He also appeared in small roles in such films as Men of Boys Town (1941), Born to Sing (1942), Good Luck, Mr. Yates (1943), The Iron Major (1943), Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), Cover Girl (1944), San Diego I Love You (1944), My Gal Loves Music (1944), Tomorrow, the World! (1944), Janie Gets Married (1946), Gallant Journey (1946), Undercover Maisie (1947), Gas House Kids Go West (1947), Gas House Kids in Hollywood (1947), The Spirit of West Point (1947), Killer McCoy (1947), My Girl Tisa (1948), Pal’s Adventure (1948), and Fighting Father Dunne (1948).

WITTHANS, ROBERT Actor Robert Witthans died of bone cancer in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 21, 2007. He was 80. Witthans was born in Evanston, Illinois, on August 15, 1926. He was featured in various roles in ten episodes of Hawaii Five-O in the early 1970s. He also appeared in the tele-film Death Moon (1978), and in episodes of Magnum, P.I. and Mama’s Family.

Rudy Wissler

Robert Witthans

WITHERS, ERNEST Photographer Ernest Withers, whose pictures documented the blues of Beale Street and the civil rights movement, died of compli-

WOLF, GUSTI Austrian actress Gusti Wolf died in Vienna, Austria, on May 5, 2007. She was 95. Wolf was born in Vienna on April 11, 1912. She began

Ernest Withers

411 her career on stage at the Burgtheater in 1934 and made her film debut three years later. Wolf remained a popular performer on stage, film, and television over the next seventy years. Her many film credits include The Unexcused Hour (1937), Die Austermlilli (1937), Little Country Court (1938), Another Experience (1939), Fasching (1939), Falstaff in Vienna (1940), Orient-Express (1944), Singing Angels (1947), Alles Luge (1948), Pramien auf den Tod (1950), Wenn eine Frau Liebt (1950), Vienna as It Was (1951), Der Schweigende Mund (1951), Schanm’ dich, Brigitte! (1952), Season in Saltzburg (1952), The Divorcee (1953), Daughter of the Regiment (1953), Rose-Girl Resli (1954), Das Liebesleben des Schonen Franz (1956), Tolle Nacht (1957), And Love Laughs at It (1957), My Pretty Mama (1958), Willy, der Privatdetektiv (1960), Das Riesenrad (1961), Der Musterknabe (1963), Christmas in Vienna (1997), and Die 3 Postrauber (1998). She was a familiar face on television from the 1960s, appearing in productions of Das Weite Land (1960), Urfaust (1961), Die Leute vorn Schloss (1989), The Strauss Dynasty (1991), and Mozart Werke Ges.m.b.H. (2006). She was featured as Frau Serafina Vogl in the television series Der Alte Richter from 1969 to 1970, and was Kottan’s mother in Kottan Ermittelt from 1981 to 1983. She was also seen in episodes of Derrick, Tatort, Kommissar Rex, and Schlosshotel Orth.

2007 • Obituaries

novel, Kort Amerikaans (aka Crew Cut) in 1962. A film version was produced in 1979. His 1965 novel Return to Oestgeest was adapted to film by director Theo van Gogh in 1987. Wolkers was best known for his 1969 novel Turkish Delight, a sexually charged work about the trials and tribulations of a sculptor and his girlfriend. It was adapted for a 1973 film by director Paul Verhoeven starring Rutger Hauer. His novel Burning Love was also made into a film in 1983, and several of his works were adapted for television including Het Vuur (1994) and De Wet op Het Kleinbedrijf (1998).

Jan Wolkers

WOOD, JACK Television director and writer Jack Wood died of heart failure at his home in Long Beach, California, on February 18, 2007. He was 82. Wood was born in Longview, Texas, in 1924. He began working in television in the 1950s, directing sports and news programs. He directed for daytime television from the 1960s, helming episodes of such soaps as All My Children, Guiding Light, Search for Tomorrow, One Life to Live, and The Best of Everything.

Gusti Wolf

WORTH, NICHOLAS Character actor Nicholas Worth died of heart failure in a Van Nuys, California, hospital on May 7, 2007. He was 69. Worth was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 4, 1937. He attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology where he earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. He served

WOLFE, GLENN P. Television writer Glenn P. Wolfe died of lung cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, on June 23, 2007. He was 80. Wolfe was born in Wisconsin on June 24, 1926. He worked in television in the 1950s and 1960s, scripting episodes of Matinee Theatre, Michael Shayne, Perry Mason, and Surfside 6. Wolfe also scripted the 1966 Greek-American film Ta Skalopatia (aka The Steps). WOLKERS, JAN Dutch novelist and sculptor died in Texel, the Netherlands, on October 19, 2007. He was 81. Wolkers was born in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands, on October 26, 1925. He studied painting and sculpture after World War II, and began writing in the late 1950s. He became one of the leading writers in post-war Netherlands. He authored the 1961 collection of stories Serpentina’s Petticoat, and released his first

Nicholas Worth (from Darkman)

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three years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper stationed in Kentucky in the early 1960s. After his discharge he moved to Los Angeles in 1965 where he embarked on an acting career. He studied at the Pasadena Playhouse and was featured in local stage productions. He was soon appearing in films, his imposing size often casting him as a villainous thug. Worth was seen in such films as For Pete’s Sake (1966), Scream, Blacula, Scream! (1973), Black Starlet (1974), Mulefeathers (1977), Don’t Answer the Phone! (1980) as the psycho serial killer, Swamp Thing (1982) as Bruno, City Heat (1984), Doin’ Time (1985), The Ladies Club (1986), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Armed and Dangerous (1986), Savage Harbor (1987), No Way Out (1987), Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987), Dirty Laundry (1987), The Naked Gun (1988), Action Jackson (1988), Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1990), Darkman (1990), Blood and Concrete (1991), Best of the Best II (1993), Fist of Honor (1993), Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (1994), A Gift from Heaven (1994), Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994), Hologram Man (1995), Barb Wire (1996), High School High (1996), Timelock (1996), Every Dog Has Is Day (1997), Leather Jacket Love Story (1998), Denial (1998), Slaves of Hollywood (1999), Blood Dolls (1999) and Starforce (2000). Worth was also seen in the tele-films Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980), Rage! (1980), Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood (1981), Invitation to Hell (1984), The Rape of Richard Beck (1985), Casebusters (1986), Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988), Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective (1990), New Eden (1994), Dead Weekend (1995), and Dangerous Cargo (1996). His other television credits include episodes of The Rockford Files, Emergency!, Starsky and Hutch, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Invisible Man, Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels, The Greatest American Hero, Knight Rider, Fame, Night Court, Mama’s Family, MacGyver, Hooperman, Out of This World, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, L.A. Heat, Acapulco H.E.A.T., Star Trek: Voyager in the recurring role of Chaotica’s Adjutant Lonzak, and The X Files. In recent years he also worked as a voice actor for such video games as Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Emperor: Battle for Dune, and Freedom Fighters.

WOULFE , MICHAEL Costume designer Michael Woulfe died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund hospital in Woodland Hills, California, on August 30, 2007. He was 89. Woulfe was born in New York City on June 2, 1918. He began working in films in 1945, designing Sylvia Sidney’s wardrobe for the film Blood on the Sun. As a designer with RKO Studios, he created gowns for such stars as Judy Garland, Jane Russell, Ava Gardner, Janet Leigh, and Marilyn Monroe. His numerous film credits include The Stranger (1946), The Searching Wind (1946), Mr. Ace (1946), The Locket (1946), Singapore (1947), Love from a Stranger (1947), Tycoon (1947), I Married a Communist (1949), A Dangerous Profession (1949), The Secret Fury (1950), Born to Be Bad (1950), Where Danger Lives (1950), The Thing (1951), The Company She Keeps (1951), Gambling House (1951), My Forbidden Past (1951), Sealed Cargo (1951), Best of the Badmen (1951),

Roadblock (1951), Two Ticket to Broadway (1951), The Racket (1951), Clash by Night (1952), The Lusty Men (1952), A Girl in Every Port (1952), Macao (1952), The Half-Breed (1952), Beware, My Lovely (1952), Angel Face (1952), Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), Split Second (1953), Affair with a Stranger (1953), Second Chance (1953), Devil’s Canyon (1953), She Couldn’t Say No (1954), The French Line (1954), Dangerous Mission (1954), Susan Slept Here (1954), This Is My Love (1954), The Americano (1955), Underwater! (1955), Son of Sinbad (1955), Bengazi (1955), The Conqueror (1956), Glory (1956), and Jet Pilot (1957). He also designed costumes for Las Vegas nightclub acts, and returned to film in 1971 for Happy Birthday Wanda June.

Michael Woulfe

WRIGHT , BELINDA British ballerina Belinda Wright died of a heart ailment in Zurich, Switzerland, on April 1, 2007. She was 78. She was born Brenda Wright in Southport, England, on January 18, 1929. She studied dance as a child and joined Ballet Rambert in 1946. During the 1950s she performed frequently with the London Festival Ballet. She was noted for her performances in Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake. Wright married fellow dancer Jelko Yuresha in 1961, and the two performed together throughout the world until her retirement in 1977. She subsequently worked as a dancing instructor and coach until 2000.

Belinda Wright

413 WRIGHT , CARL Actor and dancer Carl Wright died of cancer in Chicago, Illinois, on May 18, 2007. He was 75. Wright was born on February 2, 1932. He began his career as a tap dancer at the age of 16. He appeared frequently in films and television from the 1990s, with such films credits as Soul Food (1997), Big Momma’s House (2000), Just Visiting (2001), Barbershop (2002) and Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004) as Checkers Fred, When Thugs Cry (2003), Platinum Playaz (2003), and The Cookout (2004). He also appeared on television in episodes of Early Edition and M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team.

2007 • Obituaries

WROE, TRUDY Actress Trudy Wroe died of cancer in Orange County, California, on November 10, 2007. She was 76. Wroe was born on May 25, 1931. She appeared in films and television in the 1950s. She starred as Lorelei Kilbourne in the series Big Town in 1955, and guest starred in an episode of The Bob Cummings Show. She also appeared in the films Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) and Ask Any Girl (1959). Wroe abandoned her acting career following her marriage to actor Don Durant in 1959. The couple had two children and remained wed until Durant’s death in 2005.

Trudy Wroe (with husband Don Durant) Carl Wright

WRIGHT, ROBERT VINCENT

Television writer Robert Vincent Wright died of complications from acute bronchitis and pneumonia at a Thousand Oaks, California, hospital on June 17, 2007. He was 88. Wright was born on May 11, 1919. He was working at Boeing Airplane Co. in Seattle, Washington, when he wrote his first television script in 1958. This script was sold to Warner Bros. for a Maverick episode and Wright subsequently embarked on a career as a television writer. He scripted more than a hundred episodes of such series as 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6, Laramie, Temple Houston, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wild Wild West, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Fantasy Island, and Little House on the Prairie. He also co-scripted the 1969 film The Thousand Plane Raid.

Robert Vincent Wright

WUENNENBERG, SUSI Television producer Susi Wuennenberg died of liver disease in New York City on February 8, 2007. She was 45. Wuennenberg was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1961. She began her career in public relations, producing material for such corporations as Sony, Microsoft, and NBC. She served as producer for the broadcasts of the Christmas tree lighting event at the Rockefeller Center from 1996 to 2000, earning four Emmy nominations and receiving the Emmy for her work in 2000. She also served as coordinating producer for the 9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero from 2003 through 2006, earning Daytime Emmys for those productions. Wuennenberg also served as production manager for the Learning Channel’s Birth Day Live! specials in 2005 and 2006.

Susi Wuennenberg

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414

WYLER, GRETCHEN Broadway star Gretchen Wyler died of complications of breast cancer at her home in Camarillo, California, on May 27, 2007. She was 75. She was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on February 16, 1932. Wyler began her career on stage in the 1950s, starring in such productions as Guys and Dolls, Silk Stockings, Damn Yankees, and Bye Bye Birdie. She also appeared frequently on television from the 1950s, appearing as a panelist on the game shows I’ve Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth, Pantomime Quiz, and Password, and performing on The Bob Crosby Show, The NBC Comedy Hour, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Garry Moore Show, The Bell Telephone Hour and The Merv Griffin Show. Wyler was featured as Doris Hiller in the daytime soap opera Somerset in 1973 and was Toni McBain in the comedy series On Our Own in 1977. She also appeared regularly as Dr. Dagmara Conrad in the primetime soap Dallas in 1981. Her other television credits include guest roles in The Phil Silvers Show, Diagnosis: Unknown, The Naked City, Charlie’s Angels, Mr. Merlin, It’s a Living, Hart to Hart, Search for Tomorrow, Gimme a Break!, St. Elsewhere in the recurring role of Joanne Jesmer, Benson, Remington Steele, Punky Brewster, Mary, Probe, Falcon Crest, Santa Barbara, MacGyver, Valerie, Babes, Who’s the Boss?, Designing Women, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Friends, Stark Raving Mad, Judging Amy, Providence, and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She was also seen in the tele-films Portrait of an Escort (1980), When the Circus Came to Town (1981), Ghost of a Chance (1981), The Adventures of Pollyanna (1982), For Members Only (1983), The Last Fling (1987), and Once You Meet Stranger (1996). Wyler also appeared in several feature films during her career including The Devil’s Brigade (1968), Private Benjamin (1980) as Aunt Kissy, and The Marrying Man (1991). Wyler was also heavily involved with animal rights groups from the 1960s and was the founder of the Ark Trust in 1991, which merged with the Humane Society. She served as Hollywood’s Humane Society vice president until her retirement in 2006.

Gretchen Wyler

WYMAN, JANE Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, who was the first wife of Ronald Reagan, died at her home in Palm Springs, California, on Septem-

ber 10, 2007. She was 93. She was born Sarah Jane Mayfield in St. Joseph, Missouri, on January 4, 1914. She began her career in show business on radio as a singer under the name Jane Durrell in 1932. She soon went to Hollywood, where she appeared in small roles, often as a chorus girl. Sometimes billed as Sarah Jane Fulks, she was seen in the films The Kid from Spain (1932), Elmer the Great (1933), All the King’s Horses (1934), College Rhythm (1934), Rumba (1935), George White’s 1935 Scandals (1935), Stolen Harmony (1935), King of Burlesque (1936), Anything Goes (1936), Bengal Tiger (1936), My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Struck (1936), Cain and Mabel (1936), The Sunday Round-Up (1936), Polo Joe (1936), Here Comes Carter (1936), and Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936). She signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936, where she appeared in a host of largely forgetable films over the next decade. She was seen in Smart Blonde (1937), Ready, Willing and Able (1937), The King and the Chorus Girl (1937), Slim (1937), Little Pioneer (1937), The Singing Marine (1937), Public Wedding (1937), Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937), Over the Goal (1937), The Spy Ring (1938), He Couldn’t Say No (1938), Fools for Scandal (1938), Wide Open Faces (1938), The Crowd Roars (1938), Tail Spin (1939), The Kid from Kokomo (1939), Torchy Blane ... Playing with Dynamite (1939), Kid Nightingale (1939), and Private Detective (1939). She co-starred with actor Ronald Reagan in the 1938 film Brother Rat. She and Reagan were reunited for the 1940 sequel Brother Rat and a Baby, and the two were married in January of 1940. Wyman continued her film career at Warner in such films as An Angel from Texas (1940), Flight Angels (1940), Gambling on the High Seas (1940), My Love Came Back (1940), Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940), Alice in Movieland (1940), Honeymoon for Three (1941), Bad Men of Missouri (1941), You’re in the Army Now (1941), The Body Disappears (1941), Larceny, Inc. (1942), My Favorite Spy (1942), Footlight Serenade (1942), Princess O’Rourke (1943), Make Your Own Bed (1944), The Doughgirls (1944), and Crime by Night (1944). She was loaned to Paramount for the 1945 drama The Lost Weekend with Ray Milland, and earned an Oscar nomination for her role as Orry Baxter in MGM’s The Yearling (1946). She and Reagan had a daughter, Maureen, and adopted a son, Michael, several years later. Another daughter died shortly after a premature birth in 1947. While Wyman’s career was in ascendancy, Reagan’s had never recovered from his years in military service during World War II. The two eventually divorced in 1949. Wyman continued her film career in One More Tomorrow (1946), Night and Day (1946), Cheyenne (1947), and Magic Town (1947). She earned the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as the deaf-mute rape victim in 1948’s Johnny Belinda. She finished the decade with roles in A Kiss in the Dark (1949) and The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949). She starred as Eve Gill in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 suspense classic Stage Fright, and was Laura Wingfield in the 1950 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. She was also seen in Three Guys Named Mike (1951) and Frank Capra’s Here Comes the Groom (1951) before earning another Oscar nomination for her role in 1951’s

415 The Blue Veil. She starred as Betty Rogers in the 1952 bio-film The Story of Will Rogers. She also had leading roles in Just for You (1952), Let’s Do It Again (1953), So Big (1953), Magnificent Obsession (1954) which garnered her another Oscar nomination, Lucy Gallant (1955), All That Heaven Allows (1955), and Miracle in the Rain (1956). Wyman made the transition to television in the 1950s, appearing in episodes of General Electric Theater, Lux Playhouse, and Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. She hosted and frequently starred in the drama anthology series Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre from 1955 to 1958. She appeared in several more films over the next decade including Holiday for Lovers (1959), Disney’s Pollyanna (1960) as Aunt Polly, Bon Voyage! (1962), and How to Commit Marriage (1969) with Bob Hope. She also continued to appear on television in episodes of Checkmate, The Investigators, Wagon Train, The Bell Telephone Hour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Insight, The Sixth Sense, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the recurring role of Dr. Amanda Fallon, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Love Boat, and Charlie’s Angels. She also appeared in the tele-films The Failing of Raymond (1971) and The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979) as Granny Arrowroot. Wyman entranced a new generation with her long-running role as matriarch Angela Channing on the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest from 1981 to 1990. She made her final screen appearance as Jane Seymour’s mother in a 1993 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

2007 • Obituaries

Shinji Yamada

YAMAGUCHI, SAYOKO Japanese fashion model Sayoko Yamaguchi died of acute pneumonia in Japan on August 14, 2007. She was 56. Yamaguchi was born in Kanagawa, Japan, on September 19, 1950. She began her career as an international model in the early 1970s, and was soon modeling for such designers as Kenzo Takada, Issei Miyake, and Kansai Yamamoto. She became Asia’s first supermodel and was acknowledged as one of the top six models in the world by Newsweek magazine in 1977. She also appeared in several films including Genshiryoku Senso (1978), Fruits of Passion (1981) with Klaus Kinski, Pistol Opera (2001), and Soundtrack (2002). Yamaguchi was costume designer and makeup artist for the 2002 television production of Three Sisters.

Jane Wyman

YAMADA, SHINJI Japanese singer and actor Shinji Yamada died of interstitial pneumonia in Tokyo on October 15, 2007. He was 70. Yamada was born in Japan on March 25, 1937. He had a hit record with Aishu no Machi ni Kiri ga Furu in 1956. He was also seen in numerous films during the 1950s including So Young, So Bright (1955), Young Tree (1956), People of Tokyo, Goodbye (1956), In the Town of Pathos, the Fog Falls (1956), On Wings of Love (1957), A Path Through Mountains and Rivers (1957), The Princess of Badger Palace (1958), A Holiday in Tokyo (1958), All About Marriage (1958), Young Daughters (1958), The Path Under the Plane Trees (1959), Three Dolls in Ginza (1959), One Day I... (1959), and Three Dolls from Hong Kong (1959).

Sayoko Yamaguchi

YANG, C.K. C.K. Yang, an Olympic athlete who appeared in several films in the 1960s, died of complications from a stroke in Los Angeles on January 27, 2007. He was 74. Yang was born in Taiwan on July 10, 1932. He won the silver medal in the decathlon for Taiwan at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. He was also a track and field star at UCLA, and competed in the Olympics in 1964. Yang appeared in several films after ending his competitive career including Walk, Don’t Run (1966), There Was a Crooked Man (1970), and One More Train to Rob (1971). He also remained an active member of Taiwan’s Olympic committee.

Obituaries • 2007

416 name Knock Yokoyama when he began directing and performing with the Manga Trio comedy troupe in the late 1950s. He remained part of the troupe throughout the 1960s and appeared in the 1967 film Ghost Story of Two Travelers at Tenamonya. After leaving show business he was involved in the construction industry before being elected governor of Osaka prefecture in 1995. His term of office was interrupted in 2000 when he was accused of sexually molesting a female campaign worker. Yokoyama denied the charges but was found guilty at trial and subsequently resigned his position.

C.K. Yang

YANG, EDWARD Chinese director Edward Yang, who was best known as the leader of the New Taiwan film movement in the 1980s, died of colon cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on June 29, 2007. He was 59. Yang was born in Shanghai, China, on November 6, 1947. He was raised in Taipei, Taiwan, where he became interested in films at an early age. He attended college in the United States and worked as a computer designer in Seattle, Washington. Yang returned to Taiwan in the early 1980s, where he scripted the film The Winter of 1905 (1981). The following year, he directed the segment Desires for the feature In Our Time. Yang directed seven features during his career including That Day, on the Beach (1983), Taipei (1985), The Terrorist (1986), A Brighter Summer Day (1991), A Confucian Confusion (1994), and Mahjong (1996). He was best known to American audiences for his final completed film, Yi Yi, known as A One and a Two in the U.S. This tale of a Taiwanese family received critical acclaim and earned the best picture honors from the National Society of Film Critics.

Edward Yang

YOKOYAMA, KNOCK Knock Yokoyama, a former comedian who became governor of Osaka, Japan, died of throat cancer in Ashiya, Hyogo, Japan, on May 3, 2007. He was 75. He was born Isamu Yamada in Hyogo on January 30, 1932. He adopted the

Knock Yokoyama

YONALLY, DAVID Filmmaker David Yonally died of a heart attack at his home in Kansas on January 4, 2007. He was 40. Yonally was born in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 12, 1966. He began his career in films as an extra in the 1983 tele-film The Day After. Yonally worked as a set dresser on the film Nice Girls Don’t Explode (1987), and the tele-films Cross of Fire (1989) and Stephen King’s Sometimes They Come Back. He wrote and directed the 2003 science fiction film Terminal Interface, and produced, write, photographed, and edited 2006’s Devotion. YOSHIZAWA, MASAKAZU Masakazu Yoshizawa, a leading Japanese flute player, died of stomach cancer at his home in San Gabriel, California, on October 24, 2007. He was 57. Yoshizawa was born in Takayama, Japan, on September 10, 1950. He learned to play various musical instruments including the accordion, piano, and shakuhachi at an early age. He worked as a studio musician while in his teens, and graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in the early 1970s. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a musician. His proficiency with the shakuhachi, or Japanese flute, led frequent work on film and television soundtracks. He played for the 1986 film The Karate Kid, Part II, and worked with composer John Williams on the soundtrack for Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park in 1993. Yoshizawa’s shakuhachi playing was also heard in the films Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) which also featured him onscreen as a musician, Vanished Acres (2006), and TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) (2007).

417

2007 • Obituaries

of Baghdad (1978), The Bunker (1981), The Country Girls (1984), Children in the Crossfire (1984), Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985), John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985), The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1990), To Be the Best (1992), and the 1992 series Covington Cross.

Masakazu Yoshizawa

YOUNG , AIDA British film producer Aida Young died in London on August 12, 2007. She was 86. Young was born in London on August 14, 1920. She began working in films in the late 1940s, as a second assistant director on such films as Vengeance Is Mine (1949), Dark Interval (1950), Mantrap (1953), Four Sided Triangle (1953), and Break in the Circle (1955). She also worked on the landmark Hammer Films science fiction classic The Quatermass Experiment (aka The Creeping Unknown) in 1955. She worked in television as a production supervisor for such series as The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, William Tell and Invisible Man. She became an associate producer for the Patrick McGoohan spy series Danger Man in the early 1960s, and was producer for the subsequent Secret Agent series in 1964. Working with Hammer Films, she served as associate producer for the films What a Crazy World (1963), She (1965), One Million Years B.C. (1966), Prehistoric Women (1967), and The Long Duel (1967). Young advanced to producer with Hammer later in the decade, overseeing such film productions as The Vengeance of She (1968), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), When Dinosaurs Rules the Earth (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971), Steptoe and Son (1972), Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973), and The Likely Lads (1976). Young later worked frequently on television, producing such programs as Mousey (1974), The Thief

Aida Young

YOUNG, GEORGIANA Georgiana Young, the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban and half-sister of actresses Loretta Young, Sally Blane, and Polly Ann Young, died in Los Angeles on November 13, 2007. She was 84. She was born Georgiana Belzer in Los Angeles on September 30, 1923. She was contracted to David O. Selznick for three years in the late 1930s and screen-tested for the role of Scarlet O’Hara’s sister, Suellen, for Gone with the Wind (1939). She lost the role to Evelyn Keyes, but was featured as Berta Hubbard in 1939’s The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, which featured all four of the Young sisters. She also appeared in a small role in the 1940 musical No, No, Nanette. She worked as a model for several years before retiring to marry Ricardo Montalban in October of 1944. She is survived by her husband and their four children.

Georganne Young (with husband Ricardo Montalban)

ZACCARO, JOHN Actor John Zaccaro died in Los Angeles on March 21, 2007. He was 72. Zaccaro was born in New York City on October 2, 1934. He began his career as an actor on television in the early 1960s, appearing in episodes of Law of the Plainsman,

John Zaccaro

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418

Gunsmoke, Maverick, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Hawaiian Eye, Ripcord, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, Route 66, My Favorite Martian, and Burke’s Law. Zaccaro was also featured in several films including Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) and The Other Side of the Mountain (1975).

ZACHA, CHARLES M., JR. Actor turned production designer Charles M. Zacha, Jr., died of liver cancer in Shady Cove, Oregon, on June 8, 2007. He was 86. Zacha was born in Moberly, Missouri, on November 12, 1920. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and moved to California after the war. He began working as an actor under the name Paul Serra, and appeared on television in episodes of Bachelor Father and Perry Mason. He also began working for Walt Disney in the 1950s as a designer for such Disneyland attractions as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, and Main Street USA. He subsequently worked at MGM and Fox as an engineer. He began working as a set designer in the late 1970s on such series as Dallas, Dynasty, and Knot’s Landing. He was also art director for the tele-films The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979), Flamingo Road (1980), and Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981). ZAHAJSKY, JIRI Czech actor Jiri Zahajsky died of cancer in Prague, Czech Republic, on July 19, 2007. He was 68. Zahajsky was born in Mseno, Czechoslovakia, on January 19, 1939. He was a frequent performer in Czech film and stage productions from the early 1960s. He was seen in such films as Lide Jako Ty (1960), Florian (1961), I Am Heaven (1971), Rodeo (1972), And Give My Love to the Swallows (1972), Sokolovo (1974), Na Konci Sveta (1975), Dum na Porici (1976), Jak se Toci Rozmaryny (1977), Leave Me Alone (1978), Oddechovy Cas (1979), Brontosaurus (1980), Krakonos a Lyznici (1981), Modre z Nebe (1983), Jara Cimrman Lying, Sleeping (1983), Dissolved and Effused (1984), Mravenci Nesou Smrt (1985), The Beggar’s Opera (1991), Order (1994), and O Trech Rytirich, Krasne Pani a Inene Kytle (1996). He also appeared on Czech television in productions of Hamster in a Nightshirt (1987), Dno (1991), and Life at the Palace (1995).

ZAKHARCHENKO , VADIM Russian actor Vadim Zakharchenko died in Moscow on January 2, 2007. He was 77. Zakharchenko was born in Novosibirsk, Russia, on February 19, 1929. He appeared in more than 70 films during his lengthy career that began in the mid–1950s. Zakharcheko’s film credits include School of Courage (1954), The Forty-First (1956), And Quiet Flows the Don (1957), Nakhalenok (1961), The Day the War Ended (1961), Come Here, Mukhtar! (1964), Kakoe ono, More? (1964), Your Son and Brother (1965), Such a Big Boy (1966), the horror film Viy or Spirit of Evil (1967), Pryamaya Iiniya (1968), Oshibka Rezidenta (1968), Happy Go Lucky (1972), The Last Meeting (1974), The Lost Expedition (1975), Legend About Thiel (1976), A Lullaby for Men (1976), Duck Village: A Tale (1976), Trans-Siberian Express (1977), Aniskin Again (1978), During a Beautiful Childhood (1979), Syshchik (1979), Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (1979), Garazh (1979), Sailors Have No Questions (1980), Born by the Storm (1981), There Was No Sorrow (1982), Take Care of the Men! (1982), Without Special Risk (1983), Copper Angel (1984), Rys Returns (1986), From Pay to Pay (1986), The Christians (1987), Yolki-Palki (1988), The Secret of the Golden Breguet (1988), God, Let Me Die... (1988), Little Vera (1988), Two and One (1988), Our Country House (1990), The Murder of Zhdanovskaya (1992), A Big Exchange (1992), The Executor (1992), Stalin’s Testament (1993), Wandering Sagittarius (1993), Russian Business (1993), My Family Treasure (1993), Alfons (1993), Russian Wonder (1994), Nocturne for Drum and Motorcycle (1994), Hagi-Tragger (1994), Go! (1995), Lady into Lassie (1995), and The Lost Expeition (1996).

Vadim Zakharchenko

Jiri Zahajsky

ZAMORA, RAMON Philippine action star Ramon Zamora died of a heart attack in a Marikina City, the Philippines, on August 26. 2007. He was 72. Zamora began his film career in the 1960s. His roles in such action films as Mystical World of Pedro Penduko (1973) and Return of the Dragon (1974) led to his being called the Bruce Lee of the Philippines. His other film credits include Peter Pandesal (1974), They Call Him Chop-Suey (1975), The Interceptors (1977), Dragon, Lizard, Boxer (1977), Bruce Liit (1978), Ahas sa Pugad Lawin (1979), Snake Dragon Connection (1980), Death Raiders (1984), The Rookies and the Mighty Kids (1987),

419 Lorenzo Ruiz the Saint (1988), Me and Ninja Liit (1988), My Darling Domestic (1989), Pedro Penduko, Episode II: The Return of the Comeback (2000), Basta Tricycle Driver ... Sweet Lover (2000), Isang lahi, isang dugo sa lupang pangako (2000), Bawat hakbang panganib (2000), Eva lason kay Aban (2002), Pistolero (2002), Pelukang itim: Agimat ko ito for Victory Again (2005), Lisensyadong kamao (2005), M.O.N.A.Y ni Mr. Shooli, Ang (2007), and Casket for Hire (2007).

2007 • Obituaries

ZARET, HY Songwriter Hy Zaret, who was best known for penning the lyrics for the song “Unchained Melody,” died at his home in Westport, Connecticut, on July 2, 2007. He was 99. He was born Hyman Zaritsky in New York City on August 21, 1907. He began writing songs in the early 1930s, and scored a hit teaming with Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn to write “Dedicated to You” in 1935. Zaret was also cowriter of such songs as the 1941 Jimmy Dorsey hit “My Sister and I,” the popular Andrews Sisters’ novelty song “One Meatball,” and Long, for a While,” which became the theme song for the radio and television program Your Hit Parade. He teamed with Alex North to write the song “Unchained Melody” in 1955 as the theme for the film Unchained. The song was recorded over 300 times by such artists as the Righteous Brothers, Elvis Presley, Guy Lombardo, Lena Horne, and U2. “Unchained Melody” returned to the charts in 1990 when it was featured on the soundtrack of the film Ghost. Zaret teamed with Lu Singer for a series of six albums of education children’s music in the late 1950s entitled Ballads for the Age of Science.

Ramon Zamora

ZANDER, JACK Animator Jack Zander died on December 17, 2007. Zander was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in May of 1908. He was 99. He began working in animation at Roemer Grey Studios in the late 1930s, where he learned his craft from Tom and Bob McKimson. He later worked on cartoons at Warner and Van Buren Studios. Some of his credits include Puss Gets the Boot (1940), The Night Before Christmas (1941), Fine Feathered Friend (1942) and Sufferin’ Cats (1943). He made Army training films during World War II, and worked on early Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM after the war. Zander worked in television commercials from the 1950s and formed Zander’s Animation Parlour in 1970. His 1981 animated television special Gnomes was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Hy Zaret

ZAWINUL, JOE Austrian jazz musician and composer Joe Zawinul died in a Vienna, Austria, hospital on complications from a rare form of skin cancer on September 11, 2007. He was 75. Zawinul was born in Vienna on July 7, 1932. He trained as a classical pi-

Jack Zander Joe Zawinul

Obituaries • 2007

420

anist and began playing professionally with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1950s. He also performed with Dinah Washington before joining alto sax player Cannonball Adderley. The two worked together for the rest of the decade, and wrote and recorded the hit song “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” He was considered one of the creators of jazz fusion and was an early innovator in the use of electric pianos and synthesizers. He founded the band Weather Report in 1970, recording the albums Heavy Weather, Black Market, and I Sing the Body Electric. He also recorded with Miles Davis, serving as keyboardist on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. He founded a new band, Zawinul Syndicate, in 1987, and also composed a symphony, “Stories of the Danube,” which debuted in 1993.

ZEDNIKOVIC , MARIAN Slovakian actor Marian Zednikovic died of cancer in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, on May 5, 2007. He was 55. Zednikovic was born in Bratislava, then part of Czechoslovakia, on August 15, 1951. He began acting in films and television in the late 1970s. Zednikovic was featured in such films as Zbohom, Sladke Driemonty (1983), Run, He Is Coming! (1987), Volna Noha (1989), Orbis Pictus (1997), and Zborovna (1999).

on January 25, 2007. He was 42. Zhegalov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (in what was then the Soviet Union), on May 27, 1964. He served as director of photography for numerous films from the early 1990s including The Castle (1994), Peculiarities of the National Hunt (1994), Checkpoint (1998), The Christmas Miracle (2000), The Cuckoo (2002), Red Serpent(2002), Sapiens (2004), Turkish Gambit (2005), Brezhnev (2005), Mama Don’t Cry 2 (2005), Transit (2006), and The Island (2006).

ZIFFREN, LESTER Journalist and writer Lester Ziffren died of congestive heart failure at his home in Manhattan, New York, on November 12, 2007. He was 101. Ziffren was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 30, 1906. He began working with the United Press news service in the late 1920s. He was stationed in Madrid, Spain, in 1933 and three years later he became the first reporter to break the news of the start of the Spanish Civil War. He remained in Spain for another year until he was forced to flee the country. Leaving journalism as well, he headed to Hollywood where he worked at 20th Century–Fox for producer Sol Wurtzel. Ziffren wrote a handful of films over the next several years, including City Girl (1938), Sharpshooters (1938), Boy Friend (1939), The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk (1940), Charlie Chan in Panama (1940), Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise (1940), Charter Pilot (1940), Murder Over New York (1940), and Charlie Chan in Reno (1941). He served as a propaganda specialist in South America during World War II. After the war, Ziffren served as first secretary for the U.S. Embassy in Colombia in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, he worked in public relations until his retirement.

Marian Zednikovic

ZHEGALOV, ANDREI Russian cinematographer Andrei Zhegalov died of heart failure in Moscow

Lester Zi›ren

Andrei Zhegalov

ZINDLER, MARVIN Marvin Zindler, a television investigative reporter whose broadcasts attacked a rural Texas brothel served as the inspiration for the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, died of complications from pancreatic cancer in Houston, Texas, on July 29, 2007. He was 85. Zindler was born on August 10, 1921. He began working as a journalist in the early 1950s before spending over a decade working with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Department. He became an investigative reporter for Houston station

421 KTRK-TV in 1973. A colorful onscreen personality, he soon engaged in a campaign to close the Chicken Ranch brothel when local law enforcement refused to enforce the law. The brothel was soon closed and Playboy magazine featured Zindler in an article about the controversy. The story was adapted for a popular Broadway musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in 1978. A film version followed in 1982 starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, with Zindler’s character (renamed Melvin P. Thorpe) portrayed by Dom DeLuise. Zindler continued to work as a consumer reporter for WTRK until his death.

Marvin Zindler

ZINNER, PETER Oscar-winning film editor Peter Zinner died in a Santa Monica, California, hospital after a long illness on November 13, 2007. He was 88. Zinner was born in Vienna, Austria, on July 24, 1919. He and his family fled Vienna when the Nazis came to power in the late 1930s and settled in Los Angeles in 1940. He began working in film several years later as an apprentice film editor at 20th Century–Fox. He also did sound effects editing at Universal from 1947 to 1949, and was music editor at MGM from 1949 to 1960. He served as music editor for the 1961 television series Miami Undercover and for such films as For the First Time (1959), X-15 (1961), the U.S. release of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and Varan the Unbelievable (1962), The Madmen of Mandoras (aka They Saved

Peter Zinner

2007 • Obituaries

Hitler’s Brain) (1963), The Naked Kiss (1964), and Lord Jim (1965). He also began editing films in the early 1960s, with such credits Wild Harvest (1962), The Professionals (1966), Gunn (1967), Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (1967), Changes (1969), The Red Tent (1969), and Darling Lili (1970). Zinner shared an Academy Award nomination for editing Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 film The Godfather. He also edited the sequel, The Godfather Part II in 1974, and such films as The Valdez Horses (1973), Crazy Joe (1974) also serving as associate producer, Mahogny (1975), Foxtrot (1976), A Star Is Born (1976), Tintorera ... Bloody Waters (1977), The Deer Hunter (1978) which garnered him an Oscar, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979), Foolin’ Around (1980), and An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) which earned him another Academy Award nomination. He directed his only film, The Salamander, in 1981. He subsequently returned to editing with the films Running Brave (1983), Love and War (1985), Saving Grace (1985), Eternity (1989), Ted and Venus (1991), Genghis Khan (1992), Gladiator (1992), A Gun, a Car, a Blonde (1997) which he also co-produced, Motel Blue (1999), and The Omega Code (1999). Zinner also edited the tele-films and mini-series The Winds of War (1983), Broken Vows (1987) also serving as executive producer, War and Remembrance (1988) which earned him an Emmy Award, Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture (1990), Citizen Cohn (1992) which gained him a second Emmy, The Enemy Within (1994), Dirty Pictures (2000), American Tragedy (2000), Conspiracy (2001) which he also was executive producer for, and 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002). Zinner made his only onscreen appearance in 1990’s The Hunt for Red October, in the role of Admiral Yuri Ilyich Padorin. His final credit was the 2006 documentary Running with Arnold about California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, which he coedited with his daughter Katina.

ZUCKER, CHARLOTTE Charlotte Zucker, mother of film directors David and Jerry Zucker who appeared in small roles in several of their films, died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 5, 2007. She was 86. Zucker was born on March 10, 1921. She made her film debut in the 1977 comedy film The Kentucky Fried Movie, and was featured as the passenger having diffi-

Charlotte Zucker

Obituaries • 2007

422

culty putting on her makeup in the Zucker’s hit comedy Airplane! in 1980. She also appeared in the films Top Secret! (1984), Ruthless People (1986), The Naked Gun (1988), Ghost (1990), The Naked Gun 21 ⁄ 2: The Smell of Fear (1991), Brain Donors (1992), My Life (1993), Naked

Gun 331 ⁄ 3: The Final Insult (1994), First Knight (1995), High School High (1996), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), BASEketball (1998), Rat Race (2001), and My Boss’s Daughter (2003).