Screenwriter who helped establish the New Wave -- via Le Monde. A key player in French film in the '60s, though underestimated. He wrote scripts for directors such as Rivette ("Paris Belongs to Us"), Resnais ("My American Uncle"), and Rossellini ("The Rise of Louis XIV"). His chief collaboration was with Truffaut, for whom he wrote many great screen adaptations, some of my favorite films: "Jules and Jim," "The Wild Child," "The Story of Adele H.", and "Two English Girls."
Interesting, overlooked, and significant obituaries from around the world, as they happen, emphasizing the positive achievements of those who have died. Member, Society of Professional Obituary Writers.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
William H. MacLeish
Writer -- via the Boston Globe. A specialist in environmental journalism. The son of the highly esteemed 20th-century writer Archibald, Bryan Marquard's beautifully written obit tells the story of a loving son who nonetheless had to step out of his father's shadow to find his own quite effective voice as a a writer. A compelling and well-researched archetype of the good obituary.
Sonya Rapoport
Artist -- via Temple Beth El. A pioneer in conceptual and digital art, very witty and innovative and waaaay ahead of her time.
Gilbert Lewis
Actor best known as the original King of Cartoons on "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" -- via peewee.com. When the show moved from New York to L.A. in Season 2, Lewis was replaced by the great Shakespearean actor (and Blacula!) William Marshall. Still, there was something in Lewis's mien that was more disturbing -- that wall-eyed, drunken-hobo gaze that lurked at the edges of his geniality.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Vincent Musetto
Editor and writer; composer of the immortal headline, 'HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR' -- via the New York Times. An exquisitely written tribute by Margalit Fox.
I love this guy. He was that rarest of talents, a tabloid genius. As a per-fessional headline writer, I know how hard the task is. It's a daily game whose goal is to get the reader to pick up a paper. The rules vary from publication to publication, but these days it seems that only the good old New York Post and various supermarket tabs go for the no-holds-barred, pithy, urgent "screamer"/banner/streamer, that goes above the fold and compels the unwitting consumer to devour the strange tidings within.
We headline writers are a devious lot. Like a carny barker, we must flog the goods without giving away the punch line, utilizing Fieldsian levles of linguistic chicanery to entice the rubes into the tent. I used to have to pitch the lead story on the front page in 40-point type, which means nine characters or less, including spaces. It was excruciatingly difficult. I believe my most poignantly laconic headline, regarding some city kerfluffle or other, was OOPS. I'm sure it's in the files somewhere.
Musetto was handed a great opportunity on April 15, 1983, and recognizing one when it comes along is half the battle. A lesser man might have taken a more decorous route; not our boy! The story is true; a man shot a topless bar owner in Queens, took several women hostage, raped one, and forced another to decapitate the dead man.
Not precisely the stuff of whimsy.
However, Musetto's outrageous yet perfectly accurate four-word summary, its parallel construction, made it not just memorable but unforgettable. Around the newsroom, we cited it regularly, along with the movie Airplane's 'BOY TRAPPED IN REFRIGERATOR EATS OWN FOOT'. (Yes, journalists are children. Get over it.)
Headlines inspire the worst instincts in their composers -- they demand oversimplification, yearn for the insertion of puns, and invite misrepresentation. They provoke the mischievous, thumb-your-nose impulses that got us into journalism in the first place. Musetto's gloriously vulgar blazon shines out like a beacon of sheer cheek in a tidy, uptight world.
I love this guy. He was that rarest of talents, a tabloid genius. As a per-fessional headline writer, I know how hard the task is. It's a daily game whose goal is to get the reader to pick up a paper. The rules vary from publication to publication, but these days it seems that only the good old New York Post and various supermarket tabs go for the no-holds-barred, pithy, urgent "screamer"/banner/streamer, that goes above the fold and compels the unwitting consumer to devour the strange tidings within.
We headline writers are a devious lot. Like a carny barker, we must flog the goods without giving away the punch line, utilizing Fieldsian levles of linguistic chicanery to entice the rubes into the tent. I used to have to pitch the lead story on the front page in 40-point type, which means nine characters or less, including spaces. It was excruciatingly difficult. I believe my most poignantly laconic headline, regarding some city kerfluffle or other, was OOPS. I'm sure it's in the files somewhere.
Musetto was handed a great opportunity on April 15, 1983, and recognizing one when it comes along is half the battle. A lesser man might have taken a more decorous route; not our boy! The story is true; a man shot a topless bar owner in Queens, took several women hostage, raped one, and forced another to decapitate the dead man.
Not precisely the stuff of whimsy.
However, Musetto's outrageous yet perfectly accurate four-word summary, its parallel construction, made it not just memorable but unforgettable. Around the newsroom, we cited it regularly, along with the movie Airplane's 'BOY TRAPPED IN REFRIGERATOR EATS OWN FOOT'. (Yes, journalists are children. Get over it.)
Headlines inspire the worst instincts in their composers -- they demand oversimplification, yearn for the insertion of puns, and invite misrepresentation. They provoke the mischievous, thumb-your-nose impulses that got us into journalism in the first place. Musetto's gloriously vulgar blazon shines out like a beacon of sheer cheek in a tidy, uptight world.
Vincent Bugliosi
Attorney and writer -- via the New York Times. Best known for his prosecution of the defendants in the Tate-LaBianca murders (Manson family), and his book about the case, "Helter Skelter."
Aarthi Agarwal
Actress -- via the Deccan Chronicle. So sad, if true, that she died from complications after a liposuction procedure.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Mary Ellen Trainor
Actress -- via the Hollywood Reporter. She was Mrs. Walsh in "The Goonies," she was in all four "Lethal Weapon" films, and plenty else. Lots of TV, too. A solid pro.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Hermann Zapf
Ruth Duskin Feldman
Original 'Quiz Kid' and writer, educator, gifted-education expert, and madricha -- via the Chicago Tribune. "The Quiz Kids" was an NBC radio show, modeled on the earlier "stump the experts" show "Information Please," that ran from 1940 to 1953, making its young players stars. Feldman later examined the phenomenon in her book "Whatever Hapened to the Quiz Kids?," bringing gifted-education issues to the awareness of the American public.
Ronnie Gilbert
Singer, songwriter, and activist; one of the original members of the Weavers -- via the New York Times. A great singer and a fine spirit.
Richard Johnson
Actor, writer, and producer -- via the BBC. Best known for his work in the classics, as well as adventure films such as "Khartoum" and "Operation Crossbow."
Pierre Brice
Actor -- via Deutsche Welle. AKA Pierre-Louis Baron de Bris. Best known for his long-standing portrayal of Apache chief Winnetou in 11 film adaptations of Karl May's "Shatterhand" adventure novels.
Larry Kolber
Songwriter and lyricist -- via legacy.com. Best known for writing the words to the pop hit "I Love How You Love Me."
Friday, June 5, 2015
Will Holt
Songwriter, performer, librettist, and lyricist -- via the New York Times. Most notably, wrote the lyrics for pop hit "Lemon Tree" and the score for "The Me Nobody Knows."
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Gunther Schneider-Siemssen
Stage designer for opera -- via the New York Times. Best know for his sumptuous designed for Wagner, especially the Met's famed Otto Schenk "Ring" cycle.
Katherine Chappell
Visual-effects editor -- via Vulture. A promising young talent, she was mauled to death while on vacation by a lion in Africa.
John Carter
An instantly recognizable face -- an actor and director, on stage, film, and television -- via legacy.com. Beginning the New York theater, Carter moved west and racked up more than 100 credits on TV -- specializing in judges, doctors, and the like later in his career -- and in films such as the Pacino "Scarface," "Badlands," and others. One of those solid, dependable pros who are much better performers than one might assume.
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