Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Margaret Juntwait

Metropolitan Opera radio announcer -- via Parterre. This one hurts. I thought she was sick, as she was out this season of broadcasts; however, she chose not to announce her illness as various hosts filled in for her. She picked up beautifully from the previous host Peter Allen, and kept me spellbound for a decade. Her warm tone, impeccable knowledge, and sense of fun informed every performance. Truly a model of the informed and welcoming voice on the air.

My mother also died from ovarian cancer. I am intimately acquainted with its horrors. My condolences to her family and friends and colleagues. I loved, loved, loved listening to her.

Alberto De Martino

Screenwriter and director -- via Corriere della Sera. One of the great cinematic schlockmeisters, he made B-movies in almost every popular genre of the time -- gladiator films ("Hercules vs. the Giant Warriors"), "macaroni combat" films ("Dirty Heroes"), spaghetti Westerns ("He Who Shoots First"), horror ("Blood Link"), gangster films ("Crime Boss"), and even the hilarious superhero movie "The Pumaman," immortalized by treatment on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." Many of these films were ripoffs of American hits -- "The Antichrist" for "The Exorcist," "Holocaust 2000" for "The Omen," etc. Often cast a Hollywood star or two to punch up the box office -- he worked with Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Dorothy Malone, Mel Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Balsam, and so forth.










Florentino Soria

Screenwriter, director, actor, journalist, teacher, and film historian -- via El Pais. Best known for writing the "chorizo" Western "Sabata the Killer."



Hiroshi Koizumi

Actor -- via godzilla-movies.com. Although he started his career with a significant role in Naruse's "Late Chrysanthemums," he is best role for his multiple roles in Godzilla and other Japanese kaiju  films.




Carole Seymour-Jones

Biographer -- via the Times of London.


William Bronder

Actor -- via Dignity Memorial. Perhaps best remembered as the junkman Milo Pressman in "Stand by Me."




Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Shone An

Singer and actor -- via Asia One.


Nico Castel

Tenor, language and diction coach, and translator of libretti -- via Slipped Disc. A specialist in comprimario (supporting) roles, he also preserved and transmitted many Shepardic Jewish songs.



Christina Reid

Playwright -- via the Belfast Telegraph.


Billy Meshel

Joel Champetier

Sci-fi and fantasy author -- via revue-solaris.com.

Lennie Merullo

Billy Wayne

Rockabilly singer -- via legacy.com. AKA Billy Wane Rolison.




William MacLeod Newman

Actor -- via legacy.com.

Carole Mathews

Actress -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com. AKA Jean Deifel. Beginning as a dancer (her time in a nunnery was truncated by her nomination as Miss Chicago in 1938), she worked extensively in early television.



Al Webb

Journalist --via UPI. One of the classic old-school pre-digital globetrotters who could get in and get the story from anywhere.




Jim Bailey

Jean Ritchie

Folk musician, songwriter, and singer; a pivotal figure in American traditional musics -- via mudcat.org. AKA "The Mother of Folk." Her encyclopedic knowledge of folk songs, derived from her Kentucky culture, made her a last living link to a lost world.






Monday, June 1, 2015

Julie Harris

Oscar-winning costume designer -- via Variety. Known for her work on films such as "Darling" (Oscar), "Rollerball," "Live and Let Die," and "A Hard Day's Night."




Everett Lee "Skeeter" Kell

Former MLB player -- via Arkansas Online.

Masayuki Imai

Actor -- via The Japan News.

Jake D'Arcy

Actor -- via the BBC.


Steven Gerber

Composer -- via stevengerber.com.




Betsy Palmer

Actress -- via cleveland.com. AKA Patricia Bets Hrunek. Although the mainstream media keeping whingeing on about her "defining" role as the killer in "Friday the 13th," she had a long cfareer on stage and in TV and in films such as "The Tin Star" and "Mister Roberts."






Billy Cummings

Former child actor -- via legacy.com.


Johnny Keating

Musician, composer, songwriter, and arranger -- via the Scotsman. Bet known for his theme for the long-running British TV sereis "Z Cars," some of his '60s hi-fi arrangements were resurrected for use in the New Lounge movement.








Walter Burkert

Scholar -- via the Independent.


Elisabeth Wiedemann

Actress -- via tagesschau.de.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Cotton Coulson

Photographer -- via National Geographic.

Morris Wilkins

Dave Sweet

Surfboard maker -- via the New York Times.


Jan Prochyra

Actor -- via dziennikteatralny.pl.


Jerry Dior

Friday, May 29, 2015

Claudio Caligari

Director and screenwriter -- via L'Huffington Post.




Lillian Cornell

Actress and singer -- via legacy.com. AKA Lillian Michuda Fessenden.

Jackie Fielding

Actress and director -- via the North-West Evening Mail.

Christer Jansson

Drummer -- via Aftonbladet.

Art Thieme

Folk musician, storyteller, and photographer -- via the Chicago Tribune.

Reynaldo Rey

Comedian and actor -- via Deadline. AKA Harry Reynolds.






Mel Waiters

Blues singer -- via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Wally Cassell

Actor -- via the Hollywood Reporter. AKA Oswaldo Castellano.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Rocky Frisco

Pianist, primarily for JJ Cale -- via KJRH. AKA Don Roscoe Joseph III, Rocky Curtiss.



Bob Hornery

Actor - via the Sydney Morning Herald.

Vicente Aranda

Director, screenwriter, and producer -- via Vida Latina San Diego. His best-known film in English-speaking countries -- 1991's "Amantes."

Rich Griffin

Radio host -- via the CBC.

Mike O'Brien

Comedy writer and actor -- via the Huffington Post.

Lulu Naw

Activist who aided immigrants -- via syracuse.com.

Liv Marit Wedvik

Country singer -- via Norway Today.




Claude Carliez

Master fencer, stuntman, and stunt coordinator -- via escrime-ffe.fr. A master of arms at 21, Carliez worked with actors such as Marais and Belmondo, appeared in dueling scenes in many films, and coordinated stunts for films such as "Moonraker."