Deaths: March 12
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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Multi-talented actress Lynne Thigpen was born Cherlynne Thigpen in Joliet, Illinois, on December 22, 1948. She performed in community theater and university theater productions while attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Following graduation, she taught high-school English for a short time, but her interest in acting eventually prevailed over teaching. Her desire to act professionally was further fueled by a strong set of vocal chops.
Moving to New York, Lynne subsequently won a singing role as part of the ragtag disciple ensemble in the hip, flower-powered musical "Godspell" in 1971. Two years later she transferred her role to film along with several other members of the original stage cast. Godspell (1973) opened a major door for the actress as a performer of boundless energy and vocal power, as exemplified by her rousing version of "O Bless the Lord My Soul."
Lynne continued on the 1970s musical stage with roles in "The Magic Show" and the blue-collar piece "Working," and in 1981 earned a Tony nomination for her powerhouse performance in "Tintypes." She eventually reasoned, however, that if she was to be taken seriously as a dramatic actress, she would need to refocus her energies. She then abandoned her tuneful ways and ventured assertively into films and TV.
During her 30-year career, Lynne went on to appear in nearly 40 movies and numerous television series, usually secondary in nature but alternately fiery and dignified in character. Lynne became a strong, set-jawed figure in social and urban drama as she managed to avoid the easy pitfalls of typecasting. Though most of her early film parts seemed small and insignificant, she continued to grow and gain a more assured footing while appearing in such popular features as Tootsie (1982), Sweet Liberty (1986), Hello Again (1987), and Running on Empty (1988).
Every now and then she was given a chance to shine, as with her volatile school parent in Lean on Me (1989). TV was a more palpable and productive medium for her with a stand-out recurring role as a judge on L.A. Law (1986) and a long-running part on the daytime soap All My Children (1970). She also committed herself to wholesome viewing for children, portraying the unnamed Chief on the PBS children's series Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991) and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1996), earning four Emmy nominations in the process.
Throughout the years, Lynne remained a vital force on the stage. She won a Los Angeles Drama Critics award for her performance in August Wilson's "Fences," two off-Broadway Obies for Athol Fugard's "Boesman and Lena" (1992) and "Jar the Floor" (2000), and a Tony for "Best Supporting Actress" for her portrayal of a half-Black, half-Jewish feminist in "An American Daughter" (1997).
Other strong theater roles came with "A Month of Sundays" (1987) and as a spunky 101-year-old maiden woman in "Having Our Say." Lynne's dusky-voiced command was also utilized to narrate more than 20 socially relevant books on tape. Her last regular TV series role was as police clerk and computer expert Ella Farmer on The District (2000), a role she played until her sudden death.
Lynne was found unconscious at her home in Marina del Rey, California, by a friend. She died on March 12, 2003, age 54, of a cerebral hemorrhage. Her final film Anger Management (2003), which starred Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, was released posthumously.- Actor
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- Writer
Alphonse Beni was born in 1946 in Nkongsamba, Cameroon. He was an actor and director. He was married to Suzanne Beni. He died on 12 March 2023.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Young Arnold Ridley was forced to give up a budding acting career and turn to writing. He hit the jackpot with 'The Ghost Train' which was a great West End success, and has been filmed several times. This was followed by a number of other plays during the 1920s and 1930s. In later life he returned to acting, often as kindly and gentle old men such as his most famous role as Private Godfrey in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army (1968) from 1968 to 1977.
Ridley's acting career began before World War I while he was a student at Bristol University when he was paid a pound a week for, in his own words, "playing bits and pieces" at the Theatre Royal in Bristol (now the Bristol Old Vic). Having been "rather badly knocked about" in World War I (he fought at the Battle of the Somme and was injured three times, with one serious bayonet wound leaving him with no strength in his right arm) he returned to England but could find no acting work and went instead to work for his father's boot company in Bath. Still keen on pursuing a life in the theatre he turned to writing. He wrote a lot of what he called "serious plays," claiming that he didn't like thrillers very much, but after one of these was rejected by London producers, he went to the theatre to pass the evening before returning to the West Country the following morning.
He saw "an American thriller which I didn't like a bit, and I thought to myself, 'If that's the sort of tosh they'll put on, I'll write one of those only I'll try to make mine a bit better than that.'" The result was "The Ghost Train" which was a West End hit and whose popularity endures over 80 years on. He wrote several other plays in the 1920s and '30s, directing in the theatre and on film, and running both a theatre and film company (which went bust). When times were hard in the late-1920s he sold the amateur rights to "The Ghost Train" for 200 pounds, a decision he later regretted, believing that he had "lost a fortune" by selling the rights to such a popular play. He was wounded again in World War II and returned to acting, appearing in numerous television shows through the 1950s and '60s until he was cast as the kindly, retired shop assistant Mr Godfrey in Dad's Army (1968). Colleagues from the show commented that he had been "forced" to work long into his old age by financial circumstances, but he said himself that his great fear was being forced to retire.
He continued to work until the show ended in 1977, by which time he was 81. He was made an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1982 Queen's New Years Honours List, for services to drama, and died two years later.- Barbara Morrison was born on 1 October 1907 in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK. She was an actress, known for From Here to Eternity (1953), Papillon (1973) and Darktown Strutters (1975). She died on 12 March 1992 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Celmira Luzardo was born on 31 March 1952 in Bogota, Colombia. She was an actress, known for La mujer del presidente (1997), Herencia maldita (1990) and Los Cuervos (1984). She died on 12 March 2014 in Bogota, Colombia.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Charles Christopher Parker Jr. was born on August 29, 1920, in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, to Charles Parker Sr. and his 18-year-old wife Addie. His father ran out on the family when Charlie was just a little boy. When he was 11 his mother bought him an alto saxophone for his birthday. By the time he was 15 Charlie was working as a musician in the flourishing Kansas City jazz scene. He also began drinking heavily and using drugs, which were also a part of the KC jazz scene, as were illegal after-hours gambling casinos.
Charlie became more experienced by playing with various bands, including those of Lawrence Keyes and Harlan Leonard, before joining Jay McShann's band in 1940. The band was widely heard on radio across the country, so Charlie's saxophone playing became well known, even though people didn't know his name, so he became known as the Yardbird, or just The Bird. While still in Kansas City, Charlie reached a breakthrough: tired of playing solo with the same scales, he discovered that if he used a higher interval of the chords from a popular song or melody line, with a pianist or guitarist adding the appropriate new chords, he finally could play the sound he always had been hearing in his head. Essentially turning the melody line inside out, he began experimenting with this new style, which became known as "bebop".
Charlie played with McShann in New York City until 1942, when he left for brief stints with the bands of pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines and singer Billy Eckstine. The association with the Hines Orchestra was a significant one because of the other musicians, who included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. By 1945 Charlie was back in New York and leading his own small groups. He got married, but continued to live like a nomad, traveling from place to place and spending almost every other night in a hotel or boarding house. He also became a drug addict, and as his addiction increased so did his appetite, and he began putting on weight.
Charlie took part in the first bebop recording session in 1945. With Gillespie and Miles Davis, he recorded songs like "Billie's Bounce" and "Koko" for Savoy Records. Not long afterward, he recorded such classic songs as "A Night in Tunisia" and "Yardbird Suite" for another small label, Dial Records. In the late 1940s Charlie toured Europe, where he was received like visiting royalty. He made several tours of Cuba, where he began experimenting with large string sections and Afro-Cuban rhythms. After a few years of relative stability, however, Charlie began a downward slide. He got hooked back on drugs again (heroin was his favorite), he began nodding out on bandstands, getting into fistfights and pawning his saxophones for drug money. Aware of the effects of drug use, he chastised younger sax players who emulated his heroin use.
By the early 1950s Charlie's drinking and drug use made him gray and prematurely lined. His self-abuse began to infringe on his musical ability. During this time, Charlie was befriended by a wealthy European baroness who was living in New York, loved his jazz music and helped him out when he needed it. In early 1955, on his way to a gig in Boston, Charlie stopped by her apartment for a visit. Alarmed by his obvious ill health, she had her personal doctor examine him, which revealed that he had stomach ulcers and many other health problems, the result of his years of drinking and drug use. The doctor recommended hospitalization, but the stubborn Charlie refused to consider it. The baroness got him to rest at her place for a few days.
On March 12, 1955, the baroness found Charlie Parker dead, slumped over in an easy chair in front of the TV set in her apartment. He was 34 years old. An autopsy revealed such damage to the inside of his body that the doctor who performed the autopsy thought Charlie was a man at least 50 years old. Charlie Parker's legend grew even larger after his death. Fans scrawled "Bird Lives!" on walls of jazz clubs from New York, to Los Angeles, to Paris, France. To this day, more than 40 years after his death, Bird remains jazz's single most venerated figure.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Charlie Quintana was born in 1962 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Repo Man (1984), Cruzados: Motorcycle Girl (1985) and Cruzados: Hanging Out in California (1986). He died on 15 March 2018.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Clive Burr was born on 8 March 1957 in East Ham, London, England, UK [now East Ham, Newham, London, England, UK]. He was an actor, known for Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986), Me Me Me (2011) and Alcatraz: Island in the Sun (1983). He died on 12 March 2013 in Wanstead, London, England, UK.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Craig Mack was born on 3 September 1971 in North Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Wackness (2008), 25th Hour (2002) and Barbershop (2002). He died on 12 March 2018 in Walterboro, South Carolina, USA.- Danny Thompson was born on 1 October 1947 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Space Is the Place (1974), Spaceways (1968) and Parkinson (1971). He was married to Marilyn Ojugbana. He died on 12 March 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Don Burrows was born on 8 August 1928 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was a composer and actor, known for Fluteman (1982), Two Thousand Weeks (1969) and Death of a Soldier (1986). He died on 12 March 2020 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- Dorothy Maclean was born on 7 January 1920 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She was married to John Wood. She died on 12 March 2020 in Findhorn, Moray, Scotland, UK.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Erol Büyükburç was born on 8 August 1936 in Adana, Turkey. He was an actor and composer, known for Neredesin Firuze (2004), Haydi Gençlik Hop Hop Hop (1975) and Kizilciklar oldumu (1967). He was married to Emel Büyükburç. He died on 12 March 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Estelita Rodriguez was born on 2 July 1928 in Guanajay, Cuba. She was an actress, known for Rio Bravo (1959), Belle of Old Mexico (1950) and Susanna Pass (1949). She was married to Dr. Ricardo A. Pego, Ismael Alfonso Halfss, aka Henry Half, Grant Withers and Chu Chu Martinez. She died on 12 March 1966 in Van Nuys, California, USA.- Eurico Miranda was born on 7 June 1944 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was married to Sylvia Brandão Miranda. He died on 12 March 2019 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Former stage actor and playwright - he wrote over 150 plays and vaudeville sketches - Hugh Herbert went, in the early 1930s to Hollywood, as a comedian. In the 1930s he worked mostly for Warner Bros., impersonating often eccentric millionaires, tycoons and dimwitted professors. In a few movies he collaborated on the screenplays, e.g. on "Gold Diggers of 1935" and "Hit Parade of 1941".- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Jean Vallée was born on 2 October 1939 in Verviers, Belgium. He was an actor and composer, known for Fusil chargé (1972), Night Club (1966) and Chansons euro '70 (1969). He died on 12 March 2014 in Clermont-sur-Berwinne, Belgium.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Joe Morello was born on 17 July 1928 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate (1967), Närvarande (2003) and Jazz i K.B. Hallen: Dave Brubeck Quartet (1965). He was married to Jean. He died on 12 March 2011 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA.- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Editor
John Cazale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an Irish-American mother, Cecilia (Holland), and an Italian-American father, John Cazale. Cazale made only five feature films in his career, which fans and critics alike call classics. But before his film debut, in the short The American Way (1962), he won Obie Awards for his off-Broadway performances in "The Indian Wants the Bronx" and "The Line".
Cazale scored the role of Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), after his long-time friend, Al Pacino, invited him to audition. He reprised his role as the troubled Fredo in The Godfather Part II (1974), where his character endures one of the most infamous movie moments in the history of cinema.
Cazale also starred with Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford in the thriller, The Conversation (1974), as Hackman's assistant, Stan. The Godfather's director, Francis Ford Coppola, also directed the movie.
Cazale's fourth feature film, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sal, a bank robber. His long-time friend and Godfather costar, Al Pacino, played his partner, Sonny.
His final film, The Deer Hunter (1978), was filmed whilst he was ill with cancer. He was in a relationship with his costar, Meryl Streep, whilst filming The Deer Hunter (1978), whom he met when they both appeared in the New York Public Theater's 1976 production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.
Controversy occurred during the filming. While the studio was unaware of his condition, the director, Michael Cimino, knew about it. As Cazale was evidently weak, he was forced to film his scenes first. When the studio discovered he was suffering from cancer, they wanted him removed from the film. His costar and girlfriend, Meryl Streep, threatened to quit if he was fired. He died shortly after filming was completed.- John Richardson was born on 6 February 1924 in London, England, UK. He died in March 2019 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Jorge Guinzburg was an Argentine journalist, writer, humorist and publicist. Born in Argentina in 1948, he began his career in radio with his friend Carlos Abrevaya (deceased in 1994), after both leave the studies in the law University. He made debut on radio in the Juan Carlos Mareco's program (Pinocheando/Radio Rivadavia). Later came his big successes: Satiricón (a magazine emblem of the 70s), the diary tale "Diógenes and the linyera" (in the snack of the newspaper Clarin), "The ventilator" (El ventilador) and "G Vitamin" (Vitamina G) in radio. An separate place deserves "The Rebellious News" (La noticia rebelde), a program that transformed the Argentine television and the way of make humor. In the last years came "The Bible and the Boiler" (La Biblia y el calefón) and "Informal mornings" (Mañanas informales), both products as good as everything that he did in his short life. He was rewarded on eight occasions by "Clarín" (Clarin Spectacles Awards) and with 10 "Martin Fierro", the most important award of Argentina.- Josephine Sherwood changed her name after marrying stage actor Shelly Hull in 1910. She studied drama at Radcliffe College -- much to the dismay of her parents -- and first worked on the stage in a stock company in Boston. Her husband died in 1919, aged 35, of Spanish influenza. Josephine left the stage for three years and never re-married but resumed her theatrical career with renewed vigour from 1923. Short and dumpy of stature and with a distinctively brittle delivery, Josephine possessed an undeniable stage presence as well as exquisite timing. On Broadway, she alternated between comedy and drama. One of her best performances was as a member of the balmy Vanderhof family in You Can't Take It with You (1938) (the film version by Frank Capra came out two years later).
She is most fondly remembered for two indelible theatrical enactments which she would later reprise on screen. First, she was the sweetly homicidal Abby Brewster in the farce 'Arsenic and Old Lace', who, with her sister Martha (Jean Adair), sets about poisoning lonely old men with elderberry wine. The play ran on Broadway for three seasons (1941-44) and was a massive popular and critical hit with 1444 performances. The resulting 1944 motion picture was an equally resounding success and became one of Warner Brothers three biggest money-making films of the year. Josephine's second major role was that of Veta Louise Simmons, perpetually befuddled, beleaguered sister of Elwood P. Dowd (whose best friend is an imaginary rabbit) in Harvey (1950). This delightfully whimsical play by Mary Chase was an even greater smash hit, totalling 1775 performances between November 1944 and January 1949. Again, Josephine reprised her role on screen in 1950 and deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that year. Critic Bosley Crowther commented "Josephine Hull plays Elwood's sister with such hilarious confusion and daft concern that she brings quite as much to the picture as does Mr.Stewart - or his pal to be sure...and it would be an unhappy screen version that did not contain her rotund frame, her scatter-brained fussing and fluttering and her angelic gentleness of soul" (New York Times, December 22 1950). Hardly surprising, then, that with so many years spent on the stage, Josephine Hull's screen career was not particularly prolific. She even got to first billing in the starring role of the theatrical version of 'The Solid Gold Cadillac' (1953-55), as Laura Partridge (later filmed with Judy Holliday in the lead).
Josephine died in New York in March 1957 of a brain hemorrhage, aged 80. - Juanin Clay was born on 26 November 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for WarGames (1983), The Edge of Night (1956) and The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981). She was married to Joe Lambie. She died on 12 March 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
Karen Steele was born on March 20, 1931, in Honolulu, Hawaii. A former cover girl and model, she was one of the most strikingly beautiful actresses to ever work in film and television. She went to the University of Hawaii and to Rollins College in Florida before gracing our film screens with her first film in 1952. Rumor has it she was mistaken for another actress by producer Delbert Mann when he cast her as a hard case in the drama film Marty (1955). Like many actresses, as she got older, she turned to television commercials for income. She also became involved in charitable causes and community service. Karen Steele died of cancer in Kingman, Arizona, on March 12, 1988, little more than a week before her 57th birthday.- Magda Guzmán was born on 16 May 1928 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. She was an actress, known for In the Name of Love (2008), La duda (1954) and La vida no vale nada (1955). She was married to Federico Falcón and Julian Dupre. She died on 12 March 2015 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.