Friday, June 12, 2015

Archie Alleyne

Drummer -- via the CBC. Played with Holiday, Getz, Young, Hawkins, Webster and many other greats.



Paul Bacon

Superb designer of book and record jackets -- via the New York Times. He was also a layer of the jazz . . . comb.


Vera Bjelogrlić

Director -- via Glavnesti.


Valery Leventhal

Stage designer -- via Slipped Disc.


Callisto Cosulich

Film critic, writer, journalist, and screenwriter -- via La Stampa. Contributed to the screenplay of Bava's cult classic "Planet of the Vampires" and opened the first arthouse cinema in Italy.

Steve Nave

Actor and casting director -- via westernboothill.blogspot.com.


Dennis Ferrante

Grammy-winning sound engineer -- via NJ 101.5. Lennon's go-to for recording in New York.

PJ Paparelli

Theatre director -- via the Washington Post.

Eron the Wizard

Wizard -- via the Cornish Herald. AKA  Ian Alexander Wilson.

Hideo Imamura

Actor -- via legacy.com. AKA Hideo Inamura.


Thursday, June 11, 2015

Ron Moody

Actor, singer, writer, composer, and lyricist; forever Fagin in "Oliver!" -- via the New York Times. AKA Ron Moodnick. Who else could yell "Shut up and drink yer gin!" to children so winningly?



Robert Chartoff

Oscar-winning producer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. With Irwin Winkler, made many of the great films of his time -- "Rocky," "Raging Bull," "The Right Stuff," Boorman's "Point Blank," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", Reisz's "The Gambler," "True Confessions," "The New Centurions." Even his Charles Bronson vehicle "The Mechanic" is arguably Bronson's best. As the Hollywood Reporter piece states so succinctly, "Their films collected 12 Oscars and 40 nominations". He made a lot of money and he made good work -- these goals are not incompatible. Mighty impressive.




Seth Winston

Oscar-winning filmmaker and educator -- via  the Hollywood Reporter. Best Live Action Short, 1991, "Session Man."




Paul Raley

Comedy writer and comedian -- via Deadline. AKA P.J. Rails.

Ronald Barrett

Ornette Coleman

Pulitzer-winning saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer; inventor of free jazz -- via the New York Times. Not many people create a musical genre, but that's what this genius did. In a music that prizes improvisation, he was despised early in his career for improvising too much, and for playing "the wrong notes." His recorded braveries sometimes makes the work of Parker, Davis, and Coltrane sound like mere mannerism.

He was even assaulted for this, and once had his sax destroyed as well by irate listeners. However, he pressed on. He reminded me of another dead rebel, comedian Bill Hicks. Both he and Coleman did what they needed to do onstage, and either you were down with that or you could leave. Or the artist would be happy to fight you. Comedy and music are two of the few remaining entertainment genres in which you risk getting the shit kicked out of you in the course of a night's work.

He believed one could erase, alter, ignore, fuse, mutate, spindle, mutilate, enshrine, and/or make love to all the structures and habits of all music up to that point and beyond, all at the same time. Starting with a blank conceptual slate, he cut to the chase, a musical mad scientist, a raging blank-rhyme poet, letting the music take him where it would and teaching an entire generation to do the same. AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL, full of his intelligence and feeling.

He somehow knew that the act of committing is powerful in and of itself. He somehow knew that trusting whatever sounds come out is the fantastic spontaneous heartbeat of art. Like Charles Ives, he heard music where others denied it. He heard it and made it everywhere, in every setting, with every kind of player.

He constantly innovated, trying new things with hundreds of collaborators. That is music is so engaging is a tribute to his innate musicianship -- others might make a self-indulgent mess of free jazz, but Coleman could always find the dynamic, listenable heart of any piece and send that understanding to the audience. Like a contemporary visionary, Sun Ra, he is still way ahead of his time.





Christopher Lee

Actor and singer; the last great classic horror film star -- via the Guardian. One of the hardest-working actors in film history (281 iMDB credits), Lee was the last towering figure from horror's heyday -- in terms of height (6'5") as well as power. He began his career in 1946, and worked up to the present -- nearly 70 years!

Of course, he was the definitive Dracula for Britain's Hammer horror studio -- elegant with an undercurrent of carnivorous rage -- in 1958's "The Horror of Dracula," and eight subsequent, increasingly mediocre films. His work with his dear friend Peter Cushing (25 films together) will last forever.



Beyond his work for Hammer, which included playing Frankenstein's monster ("The Curse of Frankenstein"),



the Mummy, Fu Manchu, Rasputin, and the like. He created many more indelible characterizations, primarily villainous.

In the 1970s, he briefly returned to popular consciousness as the evil assassin Scaramagna in the James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974.



However, it took another 25 years before his work in the "Star Wars" franchise (Count Dooku),



"Lord of the Rings""Hobbit" films (Saruman),



and five films with Tim Burton, gave him the affection and regard that he deserved.



His expert fencing stood him well in many period films, another specialty of his. There was something of another century about him -- his gravitas and focus weighted him and made simply his silent presence substantial. He also was a fine baritone, and recorded many albums of classical selections -- and many, many heavy metal albums, a genre he also loved.

He worked for directors as diverse as Burton, Peter Jackson, Robert Siodmak ("The Crimson Pirate"), John Huston ("Moulin Rouge"), Billy Wilder ("The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes"), Spielberg ("1941" -- he was an adept at comedy as well!), and Scorsese (the gentle bookseller in "Hugo").

Here is a selection of my favorite roles of his, besides those referenced above:

Resurrection Joe in "Corridors of Blood," 1958 -- as a body snatcher, he gives Karloff a run for his money



Kurt Menliff in "The Whip and the Body," 1963 -- an extremely disturbing sex-and-violence Gothic tale from Mario Bava



Franklyn Marsh, the victim of "The Disembodied Hand" segment of "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," 1965

The Duc de Richleau in "The Devil Rides Out," 1968 -- one of Lee's few heroic roles, and one he carries off splendidly



Lord Summerisle in "The Wicker Man," 1973 -- perhaps his most terrifying characterization, as the performance is delivered in such a low-key, matter-of-fact manner



Rochefort in Richard Lester's "Three Musketeers" and "Four Musketeers" -- Droll and deadly, his duel to the death with Michael York in the latter film is one of the great swordfights ever filmed



Jinnah in "Jinnah" -- his favorite role, in a biopic that is very hard to find



A class act, a sweet guy, and a great actor.














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."