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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lys Assia was born on 3 March 1924 in Rupperswil. Aargau, Switzerland. She was an actress, known for Oberstadtgass (1956), Palace Hotel (1952) and Die Beine von Dolores (1957). She was married to Oscar Pedersen and Johann Heinrich Kunz. She died on 24 March 2018 in Zollikerberg, Zollikon, Kanton Zürich, Switzerland.- Writer
- Producer
Alan Friedman was born on 4 January 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Girls on the Loose (1958), A Letter for Evie (1946) and Harrigan's Kid (1943). He was married to Kate Miller Gilbert Friedman and Lenore Helman. He died on 24 March 2019 in Escondido, California, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Albert Uderzo is a French comic book writer and artist, of Italian descent. Albert was born in 1927 in the town of Fismes, in the Marne department of north-eastern France. Marne was created from the remains of the older province of Champagne, and the local capital is Chalons-en-Champagne.
Alnert's parents were Silvio Uderzo (1888-1985) and Iria Crestini. They had met in 1915, during World War I. Silvio was at the time serving in the Royal Italian Army, and Iria was working at the arsenal of La Spezia, Liguria, where she was maintaining and repairing weapons and ammunition. Silvio was discharged from military service in 1919, and the couple married in 1920. Silvio returned to his civilian job as a carpenter, and the Uderzo family soon migrated to the French Third Republic, where there were more job opportunities.
Albert was named after his older brother Albert Uderzo, who had been born in 1925 . The older Albert had died of pneumonia when he was only 8-months-old, and the grieving parents wanted a replacement. The official name of the younger Albert at the birth registry was Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, due to a misunderstanding between Silvio and the employee at the registry. The family rarely used this "official" name.
Albert was born an Italian citizen, and officially gained French citizenship 1934. He experienced racism against Italian immigrants as a child, though he was both born and raised in France. He recalled people blaming him for Benito Mussolini's policies and spitting at him.
In the 1930s, Albert developed a fascination for American comic and animated cartoons, and was particularly impressed with the works of Walt Disney. He was a poor student at school, but received good grades in sketching and art-related lessons. He had been practicing drawing as a hobby since he was in kindergarten, and he was good at it. When he was 11 or 12 years old, his parents realized that Albert was color-blind. It had not affected his sketches, because most of them were black-and-white.
During World War II, Albert was too young to serve in the conflict, but his older brother Bruno was conscripted and fought in the Battle of France (1940). By the 1950s, Albert had become a professional artist, and he met his partner René Goscinny in 1951. During the 1950s, Uderzo provided the artwork for moderately successful series such as the historical fiction series "Oumpah-pah" and "Jehan Pistolet" (both written by Goscinny) and the aviation comic series "Tanguy et Laverdure" (written by Jean-Michel Charlier).
Uderzo and Goscinny created the historical fiction series "Asterix" in 1959, featuring heroic Gauls fighting in the historical Gallic Wars (58-50 BC). It became one of the most successful European comic book series, with Uderzo serving as its main artist from 1959 to 2004. When Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo decided to take over the writing duties as well. While writing several successful stories of his own, Uderzo is mostly considered an inferior writer to Goscinny. There was a perceived decline in the writing quality of the series over the decades.
In 2005, Uderzo released "Asterix and the Falling Sky", the only science-fiction entry in this historic fantasy series, and intended to serve as a parody of then-popular anime and manga series. The story was widely mocked for its dated humor, and the use of anti-Japanese stereotypes dating back to World War II. It was the last Asterix story written by Uderzo.
In 2007, Uderzo sold his shares of the company "Editions Albert René" (which owns the rights to Asterix) to the publishing company Hachette. He had a public falling out with his daughter Sylvie Uderzo who also owned shares of the original company and disagreed with her father's decision. After a few years of mostly working on short-stories and comic strips, Uderzo announced his retirement in 2011. He died in 2020.
According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, Uderzo was the 10th most often translated French-language author, with Goscinny being the 4th one. He was the third most often translated French-language comics author behind René Goscinny and Hergé.- Alfred Gomolka was born on 21 July 1942 in Breslau, Germany. He was married to Maria Schöpf. He died on 24 March 2020 in Loitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
The world's first female filmmaker, French-born Alice Guy entered the film business in 1896 as a secretary at Gaumont, a manufacturer of movie cameras and projectors who had purchased a "cinématographer" from its inventors, the Lumiere brothers. The next year Gaumont became the world's first motion picture production company when they switched to creating movies, and Guy became its first film director. She impressed the company so much with the output (she averaged two two-reelers a week) and quality of her productions that by 1905 she was made the company's production director, supervising its other directors. In 1907 she married Herbert Blaché, an Englishman who ran Gaumont's British and German offices. The pair went to the U.S. to set up the company's operations there. In 1910 Mme. Guy set up her own production company, Solax, in New York and with her husband built a studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. After a period of critical and financial success, the couple's fortunes declined when Thomas Alva Edison's trust hindered film production in the East coast, and they eventually shut down the studio in 1919. Although her husband secured work directing films for several major Hollywood studios, Guy was never able to secure any directorial jobs there, never made a film again, most of her films were lost, some were credited to other film directors, and she did no receive recognition for her pioneering work in France and the United States. She returned to France in 1922 after her divorce from Blaché, and in 1964 returned to the U.S. and lived in Mahwah, New Jersey - not far from where her original studios were - with her daughter, where she died in 1968.- Anatoli Mokrenko was born on 22 January 1933 in Sumskaya oblast, USSR. He was an actor, known for Black Rada (2000), Lucia di Lammermoor (1980) and Tigrolovi (1994). He was married to Maria. He died on 24 March 2020.
- Bernie DeKoven was born on 15 October 1941. He is known for Crush, Crumble and Chomp!: The Movie Monster Game (1981). He was married to Rosanne Friedlander. He died on 24 March 2018 in the USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Bill Rieflin was born on 30 September 1960 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), Rango (2011) and Exit to Eden (1994). He was married to Francesca Sundsten. He died on 24 March 2020 in Seattle, Washington, USA.- César Milstein was born on 8 October 1927 in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 24 March 2002 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK.
- Chela Cordero was born in 1892 in Mendoza, Argentina. She was an actress, known for La cumparsita (1947), Fantasmas en Buenos Aires (1942) and La quinta calumnia (1941). She was married to Luis Sandrini and Ratti, César. She died on 24 March 1982 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Craig muMs Grant was born on 18 December 1968 in Bronx, New York, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Dark Water (2005), Side Effects (2013) and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). He died on 24 March 2021 in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Deke Richards was born on 8 April 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), The Italian Job (2003) and Phenomenon (1996). He died on 24 March 2013 in Bellingham, Washington, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Denise trained at the College of Dramatic Art and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. She began her career in rep. at the Gateway Theatre in Edinburgh and then transferred to the Palladium Theatre, also in Edinburgh, where she appeared in various variety shows. She worked as an interviewer for BBC radio before finding work as an actress on the West End stage. Her theatre credits include West End productions of 'High Spirits', 'The Beggars Opera' and 'Let's Get a Divorce' and numerous productions at the Mermaid Theatre. Denise appeared in the feature films "Waltz of the Toreadors", "Georgy Girl" and "Far From the Madding Crowd" and made many television appearances, most notably the "Stanley Baxter" series, "Do Not Adjust Your Set", "Captain Fantastic" and "Girls About Town". Denise's pastime interests include sea angling and playing the flute.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
He was also the Creator and Executive Producer for the show "FALCON CREST'' 1981 thru 1988. The show starred Jane Wyman, Lorenzo Lamas, Robert Foxworth, and Susan Sullivan. The show was set in the Napa Valley of California. And centered on the power and intrigues of the families involved in the wine producing industry.- Earl Schuman was born on 24 February 1916 in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Taxi (2004), Mr. Deeds (2002) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). He was married to Edith (Edie) Bartnof and Beulah. He died on 24 March 2016 in Santa Clarita, California, USA.
- Ellen Hall was born on 18 April 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Range Law (1944), Lawless Code (1949) and Brand of the Devil (1944). She died on 24 March 1999 in Bellevue, Nebraska, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Garry Shandling was born on 29 November 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Larry Sanders Show (1992), It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He died on 24 March 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- George McDaniel was born on 30 June 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last Starfighter (1984), Lionheart (1990) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984). He died on 24 March 2023 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Gerard Schurmann was born on 19 January 1924 in Kertosono, Kediri, Dutch East Indies [now Kertosono, East Java, Indonesia]. He was a composer, known for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Cross of Iron (1977) and Konga (1961). He died on 24 March 2020 in Hollywood Hills, California, USA.- Harold Melvin was born on 25 June 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Ovelia. He died on 24 March 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Ignacio Trelles was born on 31 July 1916 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He died on 24 March 2020 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
- Writer
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Jean Rouverol was born on 8 July 1916 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for It's a Gift (1934), Bar 20 Rides Again (1935) and Guiding Light (1952). She was married to Hugo Butler. She died on 24 March 2017 in Wingdale, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Acclaimed actress Jessica Walter was born on January 31, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Esther (Groisser), a teacher, and David Walter (his original surname was Warshawsky), a musician who was a member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the NYC Ballet Orchestra. She was of Russian Jewish descent, the sister of screenwriter and Chairman of the UCLA Screenwriting program Richard Walter. Their uncle was stage and screen actor Jerry Jarrett. Raised in Queens, Walter was a graduate of New York's High School of the Performing Arts and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She first acted in summer stock and her extensive subsequent career on the stage included productions both on- and off-Broadway.
On Broadway, Walter appeared in Peter Ustinov's "Photo Finish" (which earned her the Clarence Derwent Award as Most Promising Newcomer), "A Severed Head", "Advise and Consent", "Night Life" and Neil Simon's "Rumors". Off-Broadway, she acted in a 1986 Los Angeles Theater Center production of "Tartuffe" opposite Ron Leibman (to whom she was married from 1983 until his death in 2019).
After guesting on several TV series in the early and mid-1960s, Walter made her move to feature films where she attracted attention for her role as the brash Libby in Sidney Lumet's The Group (1966). This seemed to set the tone for her next screen personae as bitchy, difficult or dangerously vindictive women, the most memorable of which was Evelyn in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut film, Play Misty for Me (1971). This earned Walter a richly deserved Golden Globe nomination. Another stand-out role was Pat, the bored ex-glamour model wife of one racing driver (Brian Bedford) and troublesome girlfriend of another (James Garner) in Grand Prix (1966). Walter's numerous TV roles included the enchantress Morgan LeFay in the rarely seen telemovie Dr. Strange (1978). Of her many screen villainesses she later said: "those are the fun roles. They're juicy, much better than playing the vanilla ingénues".
By the 1980s, Walter had turned increasingly towards comedy, both on the big screen (The Flamingo Kid (1984)) and the small (Three's a Crowd (1984)). However, she never shied away from other genres, whether playing an EarthGov senator on the cult sci-fi series Babylon 5 (1993) or providing the voice for the leading female character in the animated sitcom Dinosaurs (1991). Walter received an Emmy Award for Best Dramatic Actress in the Ironside (1967) spin-off Amy Prentiss (1974) and was nominated for guest-starring roles in episodes of Trapper John, M.D. (1979) and The Streets of San Francisco (1972). She found a new audience among younger viewers as the devious matriarch Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development (2003).
Jessica Walter died in her sleep on March 24, 2021 from undisclosed causes at the age of 80. Riverside Memorial Chapel and Funeral Home in New York City completed her final arrangements. She was cremated and her ashes are with her daughter.- Johan Cruyff (or Cruijffie) is voted the best European soccer player of the twentieth century (and the second best worldplayer). He started his career with AJAX Amsterdam and led them to 4 European finals of which 3 were won (1971/1972/1973). In 1973 Cruyff joined Barcelona (for a the then record-fee of 6 million guilders), He became a very popular player
- also known as el salvador - and gave Barcelona (and Catalonia) their
After a few years he became involved again with his first love, Ajax. He coached them for a few years, winning the European cup winners cup, before he got fired after arguing with the president of the club. But he has not only a first love, but maybe he has an even greater second love, Barcelona. He coached them for a few years, winning the European Champions league for the first time and four times the Spanish league. - John Campbell-Jones was born on 21 January 1930 in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He died on 24 March 2020 in Camden, London, England, United Kingdom.
- John Ehle was born on 13 December 1925 in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. He was a writer, known for Winter People (1989), The Journey of August King (1995) and General Electric Theater (1953). He was married to Rosemary Harris and Nancy Gail Oliver. He died on 24 March 2018 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
- Jorge Barreiro was born on 14 March 1930 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Cuatro hombres para Eva (1966), Candilejas (1965) and El precio del poder (1992). He died on 24 March 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Jose Antonio Abreu was born on 7 May 1939 in Valera, Trujillo, Venezuela. He died on 24 March 2018 in Caracas, Venezuela.
- Actor
- Make-Up Department
Born in the Italian section of East Boston to a hardworking Italian family (his father was professional trombonist with the Les Brown Orchestra), Pilato admits that his flair for performing was discovered quite by accident, when he became an alter boy. Still, it wasn't until his college years that he took the big step towards honing his love for performance into a craft. Unfortunately, once he got there, he realized that his only points of reference for law were those found on television and film. He realized quickly that he didn't want to be a lawyer, so much as he wanted to PLAY a lawyer. Acting classes followed at Emerson College and Suffolk University, in Boston, and soon he was on stage with such notable troupes as Boston Repertory Theatre, Stage One Theatre Company and Reality Theatre. Though the progression seems almost natural, he still credits both religion and law as his main influences for taking the big leap of faith. Savagely bitten by the acting bug, the fledgling actor made his way to New York City, where he was an original member of the Working Theatre, studying with such luminaries as Joe Chalkin, Kristin Linklatter and Peter Kass. It was while in New York that he also began his collaboration with Jersey Growtowski's Polish Laboratory Theatre. In the late 70s, Pilato relocated to Pittsburgh, where he was a resident actor with the Pittsburgh Public Theatre and the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival. He also picked up a few gigs as an acting coach at local colleges. His career took an upswing when he became a member of the Pittsburgh Film Family and consequently met the Godfather of cult cinema, George A. Romero. As odd as it may seem for a theatrically trained actor to pair up with a filmmaker of Romero's stature, the match appeared to be a heavenly one. Pilato's first role, a small part in 'Dawn Of The Dead' (as a police officer), led to yet another small part in 'Knight Riders' (as a disgruntled fair worker), alongside Ed Harris, followed closely by his signature role as Captain Rhodes in 'Day Of The Dead.' In fact, it's his memorable death scene that really grabbed the attention of fans. Since that auspicious "debut," Pilato's resume has grown over the years to include roles in Ron Howard's 'Gung Ho,' Charlie Peter's 'Music From Another Room,' and Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' (as Dean Martin), as well as such cult fare as Bob Kurtzman's 'The Demolitionist' and 'Wishmaster,' 'Alienators,' 'The Ghouls,' 'Last Seduction' and Zebediah de Soto's 'Wardog.' His voiceover work includes that of Metal Greymon in the children's animated series, 'Digimon.' It's also a little known fact that Pilato was in the original trailer for the low-budget version of Tarantino's 'From Dusk Til Dawn,' where he can be seen wearing the infamous black suit, white shirt, and black tie, which later became a Tarantino trademark in such films as 'Reservoir Dogs' and the afore-mentioned 'Pulp Fiction.' Even so, he's never forgotten the role that made him famous and can often be seen at conventions, signing autographs and talking to enthusiastic fans about his experiences on the film. Ask him what his favorite roles to date have been, however, and you may be surprised. Though Captain Rhodes will always be near and dear to his heart, he waxes nostalgic about his roles as a professional Christmas caroler at Gimbel's Department Store in Pittsburgh, where he founded the Dickens Carolers, and as a stand-in for Robert DeNiro in 'The Deer Hunter.'- Director
- Writer
- Animation Department
Juan Padrón was born on 29 January 1947 in Havana, Cuba. He was a director and writer, known for Más ¡vampiros en La Habana! (2003), Quinoscopio 1 (1986) and Elpidio Valdés contra dólar y cañón (1983). He died on 24 March 2020 in Havana, Cuba.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was one of the most famous French novelists of all time. His major work is the "Extraordinary Journeys", a series of more than sixty adventure novels including "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Around the World in 80 Days", "20.000 Leagues under the Seas" and "The Mysterious Island" which had multiple cinematographic adaptations. Nicknamed "The father of science fiction", he is the second most translated author in the world after Agatha Christie.- The daughter of glamorous British film star Margaret Lockwood was destined for an acting career by the age of five when she was enrolled in a theatrical school. Around this time her parents separated and then divorced three years later. Young Julia was often left in the care of a nanny, though her mother remained on hand to provide gentle prodding into the world of entertainment. Julia's film debut duly followed in 1947 with a tiny role in Daphne Du Maurier's Hungry Hill (1947). Mother and daughter also shared the stage on several occasions. In 1953, Julia returned to the screen as the juvenile lead in a television adaptation of Johanna Spyri's Swiss classic novel Heidi (1953). 'Toots', as she was affectionately called, went on to reprise her role in a BBC children's serial in 1954. By decade's end, she had moved from standard teenage family fare (including The Flying Eye (1955), which is possibly the first film to presage the development of drones) to bawdy comedy (Please Turn Over (1959), directed by the regular helmsman of the Carry On franchise, Gerald Thomas). Julia spent most of the 60s alternating between stage ('Peter Pan', 'Arsenic and Old Lace') and TV work. She twice more co-starred with her mother in The Royalty (1957) and its sequel The Flying Swan (1965), about the daily goings on at a posh London hotel. Her last recurring role was in a short-lived sitcom with Richard Briers, Birds on the Wing (1971), which ran to just six episodes. Julia married the character actor Ernest Clark (best known as the bluff Sir Geoffrey Loftus in the 1970s "Doctor" comedies) in December 1972. With her husband, she retired to her 14th century Somerset farmhouse in 1976 where she devoted herself to raising a family.
- Kari Onstad Winge was an actress, known for I Belong (2012), X and Homesick (2015). She was married to Stein Winge. She died on 24 March 2020 in Norway.
- Kunie Tanaka was born on 23 November 1932 in Gifu, Japan. He was an actor, known for Sanjuro (1962), Live Your Own Way (1968) and Nogare no machi (1983). He died on 24 March 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Actress
- Composer
- Producer
Lola Beltrán was born on 7 March 1931 in Rosario, Sinaloa, Mexico. She was an actress and composer, known for No Country for Old Men (2007), Transamerica (2005) and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). She was married to Alfredo Leal and José Manuel Tirado. She died on 24 March 1996 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Loring Mandel was born on 5 May 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer, known for Playhouse 90 (1956), The Little Drummer Girl (1984) and Love of Life (1951). He was married to Dorothy Mandel. He died on 24 March 2020 in Lenox, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lynne Perrie (7 April 1931 - 24 March 2006) was a Yorkshire based actress and singer.
Known as ''Little Miss Dynamite'', due to her vibrant personality, Perrie performed her cabaret act in clubs all around Britain, and in France, Germany, South Africa and the United States throughout the 1960s. In 1964, she appeared as a regular support act for the Beatles, and appeared on the same bill as other emerging stars like Sacha Distel and the Rolling Stones. She also performed eight times at London's Royal Albert Hall. On television, she made appearances on various television variety programmes, including ITV's ''Stars and Garters''.
In 1970, she won critical acclaim for her debut acting role as the neglectful mother in Ken Loach's award-winning film ''Kes''. This led to various television roles, including Mrs. Petty in the ITV comedy series ''Queenie's Castle'' (1970-1972), starring Diana Dors.
Perrie is best remembered for playing Ivy Tilsley (later Brennan) in the UK's flagship soap opera ''Coronation Street'', in which she appeared from 1971-1994.
After she left the ''Street'', Perrie returned to the stage with a new cabaret act and published her best-selling autobiography ''Secrets Of The Street'', appearing on many popular television chat shows to promote it.- Margaret "Maggie" Blye attended the University of Texas, before transferring to UCLA in her senior year. She was quickly spotted by a talent agent, and the agent booked Maggie for her first audition in the Oscar-nominated film "Summer and Smoke" starring Geraldine Page. Maggie went on to participate, and star, in many feature films, working with some of the best in the business: "Hombre" with Paul Newman, "Waterhole #3" with James Coburn, "Hard Times" with Charles Bronson, "Diamonds Are For Breakfast" with Marcello Mastroianni, "Ash Wednesday" with Elizabeth Taylor, and the original "The Italian Job" with Michael Caine. In addition, her television roles included extensive guest stars and in numerous television series pilot trials. Maggie joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1968. Maggie was active in organizations, serving for many years on the Foreign Language Film Award (FLFA) Screening Committee. After a two year battle with cancer, Maggie passed away peacefully on March 24, 2016 at her home in West Hollywood, California, with her sister, Judy Blye Wilson, and her brother, John Richard Blye by her bed side. Per her wishes, Maggie was laid to rest next to her parents at Forest Park Lawn in Houston, Texas on March 30, 2016.Maggie Blye
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Manu Dibango was born on 12 December 1933 in Douala, Cameroon. He was a composer and actor, known for Colors (1988), Ride Along (2014) and Parole de flic (1985). He died on 24 March 2020 in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, France.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marion Townsend married Harold Clinton Marlowe of Draper, Rockingham Co, NC in 1949, 3 years after he got a bag of popcorn released from a vending machine for her. He was a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles, where they lived as she tried to establish a movie career, prior to being 'discovered' by Arthur Godfrey. They remained married at least through Mother's Day, 1951, when they visited his parents for that occasion. Their picture appeared in the newspaper of the local mill (The Mill Whistle).- Melinda O. Fee was born on 7 October 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), The Invisible Man (1975) and Quincy M.E. (1976). She was married to Steven S. Harrison. She died on 24 March 2020 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.
- Michael Lynne was born on 23 April 1941 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). He was married to Ninah Plotkin. He died on 24 March 2019 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Nancy Gates was born February 1, 1926 in Dallas, Texas. She entered show business, at an early age, when she was signed to a contract with RKO Studios when she was 15. Her first production with that studio was in 1942's Hitler's Children (1943). Nancy was also in two more films that year, those being The Great Gildersleeve (1942) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). The young actress was equally busy the following year with appearances in Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943), Behind the Rising Sun (1943) and This Land Is Mine (1943). However, after 1949, Nancy didn't appear in another film until she was 26 years old. In 1952, Nancy appeared in five films, beginning with Target Hong Kong (1953). Up to this point, the beautiful actress appeared mostly in character roles. Two of her finest performances did come in the Fifties. In 1954, Nancy played "Ellen Benson", a woman whose home was commandeered by a would-be assassin (Frank Sinatra) of the President of the U.S., in Suddenly (1954). The other was as "Edith Barclay", the secretary to a small-town jeweler, in 1958's Some Came Running (1958). After the production of Comanche Station (1960), Nancy left film acting to be with her family but continued off and on with guest spots on television shows up to her swan song in an episode of The Mod Squad in 1969.. She had 34 films on her dossier, along with a host of television appearances.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Noah Keen was born on 10 October 1920 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and Gable and Lombard (1976). He was married to Gerrianne Raphael and Barbara Corday. He died on 24 March 2019 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Odile Schmitt was born on 5 November 1956 in Alger, Algeria. She was an actress, known for The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982) and Nestor Burma, détective de choc (1982). She died on 24 March 2020 in Creil, Oise, France.
- Peter Duryea was born on 14 July 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Star Trek (1966), The Bounty Killer (1965) and Catalina Caper (1967). He died on 24 March 2013 in Gray Creek, British Columbia, Canada.
- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pradeep Sarkar was born on 30 April 1955 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He was a director and writer, known for Parineeta (2005), Mardaani (2014) and Dabba Gul. He died on 24 March 2023 in India.- Queen Mary was born Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes Mary in Kensington Palace on May 26, 1867 to Duke Francis and Duchess Mary of Teck. Young Mary was the great-granddaughter of George III and a second cousin to Queen Victoria.
She and her family lived a quiet life in England, forced to exist on the money that Duchess Mary's mother the Duchess of Cambridge was able to give them. Unfortunately the money was not enough to keep the creditors away and in 1883 the family moved around Europe, settling in Italy for awhile.
They went around Europe for two years before settling again in London. After this Mary, as she was called, became her mother's unofficial secretary. Mary spent much of her time corresponding with her family including her Aunt who lived in Germany. She also corresponded with her cousin (and future sister-in-law) Maude (the daughter of future King Edward VII).
In 1891, at the behest of Queen Victoria, Mary was engaged to Queen Victoria's grandson Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. Unfortunately Albert died shortly afterwards. Queen Victoria, however, suggested that Mary marry Albert's brother George.
Although it was an arranged marriage George and Mary fell deeply in love and on July 6, 1893 they were married.
Over the course of their marriage the Yorks (they were Duke and Duchess of York until his father became King) had six children: Prince Edward in 1894, Prince Albert in 1895, Mary in 1897, George, Duke of Kent in 1902, and Prince John in 1905.
In January 1901 Queen Victoria died and Mary's father-in-law became King Edward VII. This led Mary and George to be Prince and Princess of Wales about a year later.
In 1910 her father-in-law died and Mary became Queen Mary. As Queen she helped her husband with his new role as King. She was the Queen Consort for about 25 years before her husband died in January of 1936.
Her oldest son Edward became Edward VIII after the death of George V. Shortly afterwards she was shocked and saddened to hear that her son would renounce his throne to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson.
Her second son, Albert, then became King choosing to name himself King George VI. She supported her son and his wife in their new role being the first dowager Queen to go to a successor's coronation. While the new King and Queen traveled around the British Commonwealth, Queen Mary helped look after their two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.
During World War Two, the King was worried about his mother's safety and he suggested that she move somewhere in the country where it would be safer. She did what he asked and went to live with her niece, only leaving the house shortly after the war in Europe was over.
She spent the remaining years of her life devoting herself to charities. She also liked obtaining jewels including the jewels of Empress Marie of Russia (Nicholas II's mother). During this time she also spent time with her great-grandchildren, Charles and Anne, helping look after them when their parents (Elizabeth and Prince Phillip) were away helping the ailing king.
In 1952 her son King George VI died of lung cancer. She was sick at the time with lung cancer as well, and shortly before the coronation of her granddaughter Elizabeth, she died. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ray Goulding was born on 20 March 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for ABC Comedy News (1973), Author! Author! (1982) and Saturday Night Live (1975). He was married to Mary Elizabeth Leader. He died on 24 March 1990 in Manhasset, New York, USA.- Richard Leech was born on 24 November 1922 in Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for A Night to Remember (1958), Gandhi (1982) and The Good Companions (1957). He was married to Diane Margaret McClelland and Helen Hyslop Uttley. He died on 24 March 2004 in London, England, UK.
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Richard Widmark established himself as an icon of American cinema with his debut in the 1947 film noir Kiss of Death (1947), in which he won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination as the killer Tommy Udo. Kiss of Death (1947) and other noir thrillers established Widmark as part of a new generation of American movie actors who became stars in the post-World War II era. With fellow post-War stars Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum, Widmark brought a new kind of character to the screen in his character leads and supporting parts: a hard-boiled type who does not actively court the sympathy of the audience. Widmark was not afraid to play deeply troubled, deeply conflicted, or just downright deeply corrupt characters.
After his debut, Widmark would work steadily until he retired at the age of 76 in 1990, primarily as a character lead. His stardom would peak around the time he played the U.S. prosecutor in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) as the 1950s segued into the 1960s, but he would continue to act for another 30 years.
Richard Weedt Widmark was born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota, to Ethel Mae (Barr) and Carl Henry Widmark. His father was of Swedish descent and his mother of English and Scottish ancestry. He has said that he loved the movies from his boyhood, claiming, "I've been a movie bug since I was 4. My grandmother used to take me". The teenaged Widmark continued to go to the movies and was thrilled by Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). "I thought Boris Karloff was great", Widmark said. Although he loved the movies and excelled at public speaking while attending high school, Widmark attended Lake Forest College with the idea of becoming a lawyer. However, he won the lead role in a college production of, fittingly enough, the play "Counsellor-at-Law", and the acting bug bit deep. After taking his bachelor of arts degree in 1936, he stayed on at Lake Forest as the Assistant Director of Speech and Drama. However, he soon quit the job and moved to New York to become an actor, and by 1938 he was appearing on radio in "Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories". He made his Broadway debut in 1943 in the play "Kiss and Tell" and continued to appear on stage in roles that were light-years away from the tough cookies he would play in his early movies.
After World War II, he was signed by 20th Century-Fox to a seven-year contract. After seeing his screen test for the role of Tommy Udo, 20th Century-Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that the slight, blonde Widmark - no one's idea of a heavy, particularly after his stage work - be cast as the psychopath in Kiss of Death (1947), which had been prepared as a Victor Mature vehicle. Even though the role was small, Widmark stole the picture. The publicity department at 20th Century-Fox recommended that exhibitors market the film by concentrating on thumping the tub for their new antihero. "Sell Richard Widmark" advised the studio's publicity manual that an alert 20th Century-Fox sent to theater owners. The manual told local exhibitors to engage a job printer to have "wanted" posters featuring Widmark's face printed and pasted up. He won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nod for the part, which led to an early bout with typecasting at the studio. Widmark played psychotics in The Street with No Name (1948) and Road House (1948) and held his own against new Fox superstar Gregory Peck in the William A. Wellman western Yellow Sky (1948), playing the villain, of course. When his pressuring the studio to let him play other parts paid off, his appearance as a sailor in Down to the Sea in Ships (1949) made headlines: Life magazine's March 28, 1949, issue featured a three-page spread of the movie headlined "Widmark the Movie Villain Goes Straight". He was popular, having captured the public imagination, and before the decade was out, his hand- and footprints were immortalized in concrete in the court outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The great director Elia Kazan cast Widmark in his thriller Panic in the Streets (1950), not as the heavy (that role went to Jack Palance) but as the physician who tracks down Palance, who has the plague, in tandem with detective Paul Douglas. Widmark was establishing himself as a real presence in the genre that later would be hailed as film noir. Having proved he could handle other roles, Widmark didn't shy away from playing heavies in quality pictures. The soon-to-be-blacklisted director Jules Dassin cast him in one of his greatest roles, as the penny-ante hustler Harry Fabian in Night and the City (1950). Set in London, Widmark's Fabian manages to survive in the jungle of the English demimonde, but is doomed. Widmark was masterful in conveying the desperation of the criminal seeking to control his own fate but who is damned, and this performance also became an icon of film noir. In that same year, he appeared in Oscar-winning writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's No Way Out (1950) as a bigot who instigates a race riot.
As the 1950s progressed, Widmark played in westerns, military vehicles, and his old stand-by genre, the thriller. He appeared with Marilyn Monroe (this time cast as the psycho) in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) and made Pickup on South Street (1953) that same year for director Samuel Fuller. His seven-year contract at Fox was expiring, and Zanuck, who would not renew the deal, cast him in the western Broken Lance (1954) in a decidedly supporting role, billed beneath not only Spencer Tracy but even Robert Wagner and Jean Peters. The film was well respected, and it won an Oscar nomination for best screenplay for the front of Hollywood 10 blacklistee Albert Maltz. Widmark left Fox for the life of a freelance, forming his own company, Heath Productions. He appeared in more westerns, adventures and social dramas and pushed himself as an actor by taking the thankless role of the Dauphin in Otto Preminger's adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan (1957), a notorious flop that didn't bring anyone any honors, neither Preminger, his leading lady Jean Seberg, nor Widmark. In 1960, he was appearing in another notorious production, John Wayne's ode to suicidal patriotism, The Alamo (1960), with the personally liberal Widmark playing Jim Bowie in support of the very conservative Wayne's Davy Crockett. Along with character actor Chill Wills, Widmark arguably was the best thing in the movie.
In 1961, Widmark acquitted himself quite well as the prosecutor in producer-director Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), appearing with the Oscar-nominated Spencer Tracy and the Oscar-winning Maximilian Schell, as well as with superstar Burt Lancaster and acting genius Montgomery Clift and the legendary Judy Garland (the latter two winning Oscar nods for their small roles). Despite being showcased with all this thespian firepower, Widmark's character proved to be the axis on which the drama turned. A little later, Widmark appeared in two westerns directed by the great John Ford, with co-star James Stewart in Two Rode Together (1961) and as the top star in Ford's apologia for Indian genocide, Cheyenne Autumn (1964). On Two Rode Together (1961), Ford feuded with Jimmy Stewart over his hat. Stewart insisted on wearing the same hat he had for a decade of highly successful westerns that had made him one of the top box office stars of the 1950s. Both he and Widmark were hard-of-hearing (as well as balding and in need of help from the makeup department's wigmakers), so Ford would sit far away from them while directing scenes and then give them directions in a barely audible voice. When neither one of the stars could hear their director, Ford theatrically announced to his crew that after over 40 years in the business, he was reduced to directing two deaf toupees. It was testimony to the stature of both Stewart and Widmark as stars that this was as far as Ford's baiting went, as the great director could be extraordinarily cruel.
Widmark continued to co-star in A-pictures through the 1960s. He capped off the decade with one of his finest performances, as the amoral police detective in Don Siegel's gritty cop melodrama Madigan (1968). With Madigan, one can see Widmark's characters as a progression in the evolution of what would become the late 1960s nihilistic antihero, such as those embodied by Clint Eastwood in Siegel's later Dirty Harry (1971). In the 1970s, he continued to make his mark in movies and, beginning in 1971, in television. In movies, he appeared primarily in supporting roles, albeit in highly billed fashion, in such films as Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Robert Aldrich's Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977), and Stanley Kramer's The Domino Principle (1977). He even came back as a heavy, playing the villainous doctor in Coma (1978).
In 1971, in search of better roles, he turned to television, starring as the President of the U.S. in the TV miniseries Vanished (1971). His performance in the role brought Widmark an Emmy nomination. He resurrected the character of Madigan for NBC in six 90-minute episodes that appeared as part of the rotation of "NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie" for the fall 1972 season. Widmark was married for 55 years to playwright Jean Hazlewood, from 1942 until her death in 1997 (they had one child, Anne, who was born in 1945). He lived quietly and avoided the press, saying in 1971, "I think a performer should do his work and then shut up". Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas thought that Widmark should have won an Oscar nomination for his turn in When the Legends Die (1972) playing a former rodeo star tutoring Frederic Forrest's character.
It is surprising to think that Kiss of Death (1947) represented his sole Oscar nomination, but with the rise of respect for film noir around the time his career began tapering off in the '70s, he began to be reevaluated as an actor. Unlike Bogart, who did not live to see his reputation flourish after his death, Widmark became a cult figure well before he retired.- Actor
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Tall, slim and exceedingly good-looking American leading man Robert Culp, a former cartoonist in his teen years, appeared off-Broadway in the 1950s before settling into polished, clean-cut film leads and "other man" supports a decade later. Hitting the popular TV boards in the hip, racially ground-breaking espionage program I Spy (1965), he made a slick (but never smarmy), sardonic name for himself during his over five-decade career with his sly humor, casual banter and tongue-in-cheek sexiness. Though he had the requisite looks and smooth, manly appeal (not to mention acting talent) for superstardom, a cool but cynical and somewhat detached persona may have prevented him from attaining it full-out.
He was born Robert Martin Culp on August 16, 1930, in Oakland California. The son of attorney Crozie Culp and his wife, Bethel Collins, who was employed at a Berkeley chemical company, he offset his only-child loneliness by playacting in local theater productions. Culp also showed a talent for art while young and earned money as a cartoonist for Bay Area magazines and newspapers in high school, but the fascination with becoming an actor proved much stronger. He attended Berkeley High School and graduated in 1947. The athletically-inclined Culp dominated at track and field events and, as a result, earned athletic scholarships to six different universities. He selected the relatively minor College of the Pacific in Stockton, California primarily because of its active theater department. Transferring to various other colleges of higher learning (including San Francisco State in 1949), he never earned a degree. After performing in some theatre in the San Francisco area, he moved to Seattle and then New York in 1951.
Studying under famed teacher Herbert Berghof and supporting himself during this time teaching speech and phonetics, Bob eventually found work on the theatre scene, making his 1953 Broadway debut (as Robert M. Culp) in "The Prescott Proposals" with Katharine Cornell. He eventually returned to Broadway with "Diary of a Scoundrel" starring Blanche Yurka and Roddy McDowall in 1956 and with a strong role in "A Clearing in the Woods" (alongside Kim Stanley) a year later. He earned an off-Broadway Obie Award for his very fine work in "He Who Gets Slapped" in 1956, and also appeared in the plays "Daily Life" and "Easter".
Gracing a few live-TV dramas during his New York days, he returned to his native California for his first major TV role. It was an auspicious one as post-Civil War Texas Ranger "Hoby Gilman" in the western series Trackdown (1957). He earned widespread attention in the series that based many of its stories from actual Texas Ranger files, and the show itself received the official approval not only of the Rangers themselves but by the State of Texas. The series led to a CBS spin-off of its own: Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), which made a TV star out of Steve McQueen.
From there, Culp guested on a number of series dramas: Bonanza (1959), The Rifleman (1958), Rawhide (1959), The Detectives (1959), Ben Casey (1961), The Outer Limits (1963), Naked City (1958) and Combat! (1962). He also starred in the two-part Disney family-styled program "Sammy the Way Out Seal" (1962), which was subsequently released as a feature in Europe. He and Patricia Barry played the hapless parents of precocious Bill Mumy and Michael McGreevey whose "adopted" pet animal unleashes major chaos in their suburban neighborhood.
During this time, Bob began to seek lead and supporting work in films. Despite his co-starring with Cliff Robertson, Rod Taylor and the very perky Jane Fonda (as her straight-laced boyfriend) in the sparkling Broadway-based sexcapade Sunday in New York (1963); playing Robertson's naval mate in the popular John F. Kennedy biopic PT 109 (1963); recreating the legendary "Wild Bill" Hickok in the western tale The Raiders (1963); and heading up the adventurous cast of the Ivan Tors' African yarn Rhino! (1964) (which included Harry Guardino and the very fetching British import Shirley Eaton), Culp wasn't able to make a serious dent in the medium.
TV remained his best arena and gave him more lucrative offers, professionally. It rewarded him quite richly in 1965 with the debonair series lead "Kelly Robinson", a jet-setting, pro-circuit tennis player who leads a double life as an international secret agent in I Spy (1965). Running three seasons, Culp co-starred with fellow secret agent Bill Cosby, who, as "Alexander Scott", posed as Culp's tennis trainer. The role was tailor-made for the suave, Ivy-League-looking actor. He looked effortlessly cool posing in sunglasses amid the posh continental settings and remained handsomely unflinching in the face of danger. It was the first U.S. prime-time network drama to feature an African-American actor in a full-out starring role and the relationship between the two meshed perfectly and charismatically on screen. Both were nominated for acting Emmys in all three of its seasons, with Cosby coming out the victor each time. Filmed on location in such cities as Hong Kong, Acapulco and Tokyo, Culp also wrote and directed certain episodes of the show He also met his third wife, the gorgeous Eurasian actress France Nuyen, while on the set. They married in 1967 but divorced three years later. At this stage, the actor already had four children (by second wife, sometime actress Nancy Ashe).
Following the series' demise, Culp took on perhaps his most-famous and controversial film role as Natalie Wood's husband "Bob" in the titillating but ultimately teasing "flower power" era film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), with Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon as the other-half couple who examine the late 60s "free love" idea of wife-swapping. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards (two went to supporting actors Gould and Cannon). The movie did not reignite Culp's popularity on the large screen, but it did lead to his rather strange pairing with buxom Raquel Welch in the violent-edged western Hannie Caulder (1971) and a reunion with his I Spy (1965) pal Cosby in the far-more entertaining Hickey & Boggs (1972), which reestablished their great tongue-in-cheek rapport as two weary-eyed private eyes. Culp also directed the film while his real-life wife, actress Sheila Sullivan, played his screen wife as well.
The late 1970s produced a flood of routine mini-movies and B-pictures, the latter including Inside Out (1975), Sky Riders (1976), Breaking Point (1976), The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976), Flood (1976), Goldengirl (1979) and Hot Rod (1979). While he remained a sturdy and standard presence in such mini-movies as Houston, We've Got a Problem (1974), Spectre (1977) and Calendar Girl Murders (1984), his better TV-movie roles were in A Cold Night's Death (1973), Outrage (1973), A Cry for Help (1975) and as "Lyle Pettyjohn" in the acclaimed mini-series sequel Roots: The Next Generations (1979).
Bob returned to series TV as stern FBI Special Agent "Bill Maxwell", whose job was to work with handsome William Katt, who starred as an ersatz The Greatest American Hero (1981). The show lasted three seasons. Other series guest spots, both comedic and dramatic, included Hotel (1983), Highway to Heaven (1984), The Golden Girls (1985) and an episode of his old buddy's show The Cosby Show (1984). He was also a guest murderer in three of the "Columbo" episodes. Although he was relegated to appearing in such film fodder as Turk 182 (1985), Big Bad Mama II (1987) and Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog (1989), the 1990s offered him one of his best film roles in years as the ill-fated President in the Denzel Washington/Julia Roberts political thriller The Pelican Brief (1993). A year later, he again reteamed with Cosby in the TV-movie I Spy Returns (1994).
Culp became very active in the 1960s Civil Rights movement and later became a prominent face in local civic causes, joining in a lawsuit to cease construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo and accusing officials there of mistreatment. In the long run, however, the construction was given the green light. Culp also married a fifth time to Candace Faulkner and, by her, had daughter Samantha Culp in 1982. Older sons Jason Culp (born 1961) and Joseph Culp (born 1963) became actors, while another son, Joshua Culp (born 1958), entered the visual effects field. Daughter Rachel, an outré clothing designer for rock stars, was born in 1964.
In later years, Culp could be seen occasionally as Ray Romano's father-in-law on the hugely popular Everybody Loves Raymond (1996). His last film, the family drama The Assignment (2010), was unreleased at the time of his death. On March 24, 2010, the 79-year-old Culp collapsed from an apparent heart attack while walking near the lower entrance to Runyon Canyon Park, a popular hiking area in the Hollywood Hills. Found by a hiker, Culp was transported to a nearby hospital where he died from the head injuries he sustained in the fall. Five grandchildren also survive.- Born the first of four children in Santiago, Rodrigo started out as a communications student in the Catholic University of Chile. From there he went on to host several shows and then acted in various soap operas. He moved to Mexico in early 2000 to star in top-rated soap "El Precio de Tu Amor" and was so well-received that he decided to stay on.
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Roger Cicero was born on 6 July 1970 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Hilde (2009), Großstadtrevier (1986) and Stefanie feat. Roger Cicero: Would you (2008). He died on 24 March 2016 in Berlin, Germany.- Originally named Shalom Jaffe, he became known to the world as Sam Jaffe. He was born in New York City, to Heida (Ada) and Barnett Jaffe, who were Russian Jewish immigrants. As a child, he appeared in Yiddish theatre productions with his mother, a prominent regional stage actress. He graduated from the City College of New York and then studied engineering at Columbia University graduate school. He began his career as a mathematics teacher in the Bronx. Around 1915 Jaffe joined the Washington Square Players. By 1918 he was no stranger to Broadway, having debuted in the original play Youth, and he appeared regularly through the 1920s, though less in the 1930s and only sporadically in the 1940s. He appeared in 21 plays on Broadway during his acting career, his final appearance in 1979.
Jaffe was a method actor before it was defined and early on sported his signature shock of curly hair that some people would later misinterpret as part of some Harpo Marx characterization. Jaffe was anything but. His acting talents were considerable, and Hollywood noticed him first for the unusual role of the mad Grand Duke Peter in Josef von Sternberg 's The Scarlet Empress (1934). Frightening in his rendition of Peter, he was dispatched by the always magnificent Marlene Dietrich.
Jaffe was no matinee idol but his homely features were made for unusual character roles. He did not disappoint in providing unforgettable performances. Frank Capra cast him as the mysterious High Lama in Lost Horizon (1937) (as last minute replacement; the actor originally cast had died). It would be another two years before Jaffe was once more called to Hollywood - he was back quite busy on Broadway. He appeared in George Stevens Gunga Din (1939) which sported big star names as well. Stevens gave Jaffe the lead, Gunga Din, native regimental bhisti (Hindi for water-carrier). It was probably Jaffe's most familiar film role. It was a standout part which Jaffe handled with great humanity, and the film was a huge hit.
Jaffe would not appear in another film for eight years. His second of two movies in 1947 was Elia Kazan 's powerful expose of anti-Semitism Gentleman's Agreement (1947) in which Jaffe played an Albert Einstein-like professor. Jaffe would play doctors of one sort or another in the handful of movies for the next few years. Then in 1950 he played a very different doctor - Doc Erwin Riedenschneider, criminal mastermind -- in John Huston's taut The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Jaffe would receive a nomination for a supporting actor Oscar for this effort. Of the three films he did in 1951, Jaffe also appeared in an another Einstein-like role in the Robert Wise sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
Jaffe experienced the destructive anti-communist furor when his name was included on a listing of performers sympathetic to communism in the Red Channels pamphlet and like many, was blacklisted by the big Hollywood studios. He was considered essential by producer Julian Blaustein and Robert Wise to play Professor Jacob Barnhardt, and 20th Century Fox boss Darryl Zanuck (who had resisted much heat for Gentleman's Agreement (1947)) agreed. It was ironic that Einstein, veiled as the character Barnhardt, was a pacifist and being watched by the U.S. government at that time. There was some credence for rumors that Jaffe provided the calculus equations (mainly the gravitational force between bodies) on Barnhardt's blackboard - solved so easily by alien Michael Rennie.
Jaffe didn't appear on-screen for seven years due to the punitive effects of the blacklisting. In 1958, John Huston wanted him for his very original The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958) with John Wayne, and director William Wyler also came forward later to cast him as faithful servant Simonides in the blockbuster Ben-Hur (1959). From then on Jaffe was very busy, especially with episodic TV through the 1960s which included his own recurring role as Dr. Zorba in the very popular Ben Casey (1961) series. Jaffe also appeared with his lifelong best friend, screen icon Edward G. Robinson in the made-for-TV film The Old Man Who Cried Wolf (1970) . Jaffe remained active into the year of his passing, a thoroughly engaging and unique actor and human being who never pushed his views on anyone. - Sam Lloyd Sr. was born on 8 September 1925 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Where the Rivers Flow North (1993), The Spitfire Grill (1996) and Bereft (2004). He was married to Barbara Lee, Marianne Taylor McGuffin and Shirley Dawn Johnson. He died on 24 March 2017 in Weston, Vermont, USA.
- Santiago Gómez Cou was born in 1903 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was an actor, known for Una mujer sin importancia (1945), The Count of Monte Cristo (1953) and El túnel (1952). He died in April 1984 in Argentina.
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Stuart Gordon started his film directing career in 1985. After graduating from Lane Technical High School, Gordon worked as a commercial artist apprentice prior to enrolling at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Unable to get into the film classes, he enrolled in an acting class and ended up majoring in theater. In 1968, he directed a psychedelic adaptation of Peter Pan as a political satire. He was arrested on obscenity charges and Gordon dropped out of the university. He and his wife Carolyn formed the Organic Theater and moved the group to Chicago.
The Organic performed their work on and off-Broadway, in Los Angeles, and toured Europe. Among their productions were the world premiere of David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," which launched Mamet's playwriting career, the improv-based comedy "Bleacher Bums," which ran for over ten years in Los Angeles, and the hospital comedy E/R (1984), which became a TV series produced by Norman Lear.
He joined with Brian Yuzna and Charles Band's Empire Pictures to create the company's first major hit, Re-Animator (1985), based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft, which won a Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Gordon then helmed another Lovecraft adaptation From Beyond (1986) and tackled the murderous Dolls (1986) followed by Robot Jox (1989). Gordon co-created the story for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) a major hit for Disney. The same year, he directed the remake and more graphic version of The Pit and the Pendulum (1991). Other works include Fortress (1992), and the screenplay for The Dentist (1996) and Body Snatchers (1993), which he co-wrote with long-time writing partner Dennis Paoli.
In 2001, Gordon returned to the H.P. Lovecraft territory with Dagon (2001), and in 2003, directed King of the Ants (2003) about a housepainter-turned-hit man, and brought the David Mamet play Edmond (2005) to the screen.
He contributed to the horror anthology series Masters of Horror (2005) with the episode Dreams in the Witch-House (2005), based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. He returned to the series in 2007 with the episode The Black Cat (2007), based on Edgar Allan Poe's story. And in 2008, he directed Eater (2008) for the NBC series Fear Itself (2008).
He is also known for frequently murdering his wife, actress Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, in many of his films.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Actor
Terrence McNally was born on 3 November 1938 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for American Playhouse (1980), Frankie and Johnny (1991) and The Ritz (1976). He was married to Thomas Kirdahy. He died on 24 March 2020 in Sarasota, Florida, USA.- Actor
Tony Rutter was born on 24 September 1941 in West Midlands, UK. He was an actor. He died on 24 March 2020 in the UK.- Actor
- Producer
- Sound Department
Bill was an award-winning actor, director, writer, and producer of audio fiction, who taught and inspired hundreds of people in the art form. As a long-time member of the National Audio Theatre Festivals family, Bill shared his passion for audio storytelling in workshops, performances, and more. Bill started by working with British audio genius Dirk Maggs. From there he voiced Spiderman for BBC radio, became Bob The Builder in American cartoons, brought the X-Files to audio with much of the original cast, voiced over 400 audiobooks, and founded three audio theatre production companies in the U.S., establishing his own Mind's Eye Productions as one of the first independent, all-digital production facilities in the country. AudioFile Magazine named him "one of the best voices of the century" in 2012.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Yenny Polanco Lovera was born in 1959 in the Dominican Republic. She was an actress, known for Un Asalto en la Lincoln (1999), El Hombre del Sombrero (1997) and Nueba Yol 3: Bajo la nueva ley (1997). She died on 24 March 2020 in the Dominican Republic.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Yolanda was born on 21 March 1908 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Sydney White (2007), The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and Under the Pampas Moon (1935). She was married to Veloz. She died on 24 March 1995 in Burbank, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
Britisher Yvonne Mitchell was born on July 7, 1915, in London and was first and foremost a stage actress who, after being educated at St Paul's Girls School in London and The London Theatre Studio, began her theatrical career in the late 1930s. By the time of her death, she had performed under the theatre lights for over four decades. Her output in films and TV paled in comparison, but the work she put out in those mediums were of unusually high quality with mature themes.
The dark-haired actress made her starring film debut in The Queen of Spades (1949) and proceeded to become a moving, thoughtful, often anguished presence throughout the 1950s, winning the British Film Award for her touching, sterling performance as the biological mother of a foster child in The Divided Heart (1954). Her slovenly, cuckolded wife in Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) won her the Berlin International Film Festival Award.
Other important films included Escapade (1955), Sapphire (1959), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) and Johnny Nobody (1961).
On the sly, Yvonne was a novelist of both children and adult books and an award-winning playwright. She also penned an enormously successful biography entitled "Colette--A Taste for Life" based on the famed French writer. The wife of film and stage critic Derek Monsey, she wrote her biography in 1957.
She died of cancer on March 24, 1979, in London.