Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Jean Grualt

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."

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.


Mack Sevier

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. 

Pumpkinhead

Rapper -- via Billboard. AKA P.H., Robert Diaz.



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."



Tiki Nxumalo

Actor -- via eNCA.

Aarthi Agarwal

Actress -- via the Deccan Chronicle. So sad, if true, that she died from complications after a liposuction procedure.

Jorge Galemire

Ray Kennedy

Jazz pianist -- via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Giacomo Furia

Actor -- via Il Reppublica.






Nick Marsh

Ludvik Vaculik

Writer -- via the BBC.

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.







Vladimir Furduj

Drummer; composer -- via Telegraf.

Juan Carlos Caceres

Musician -- via The Independent.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Hermann Zapf

Typeface designer -- via Quartz. Best known for his creation of Palatino and Optima, and the wonderful Zapf Dingbats!






Kurt Weber

Cinematographer -- via wiadomosci.com.


Albert West

Singer -- via Omreop Brabant. His big hit, with the Shuffles: "Cha-la-la I Need You," 1969.

Miguel-Angel Cardenas

Artist -- via El Tiempo.


Silvio Spaccesi

Actor and voice actor -- via Il Resto del Carlino. The Italian voice of Yoda.



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.

Richard Watson

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

Edith Hancke

Actress - via westernboothill.blogspot.com.

Allan "Eddie" Fryer

Musician -- via Ultimate Classic Rock.




Leonid Plyushch

Dissident and mathematician -- via Yahoo News.

Bud Kraehling

Beloved TV weatherman -- via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Ricardo Moran

Actor and director -- via Clarin.


Kirill Pokrovsky

Composer -- via PC Gamer.

John Malloy

Actor -- via the Memphis Flyer.


Dudley Williams

Dancer -- via the New York Times.






Mario Cooper

AIDS activist -- via the New York Times.

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

Michael "Slim" Richey

Guitarist, fiddler, and bandleader -- via the Austin Statesman.






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.


Peter Cropper

Violinist -- via the Telegraph.



Morris Beckman

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.