Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hollywood. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Hollywood Scion
Samuel Goldwyn Jr.,
an urbane, soft-spoken scion of a Hollywood dynasty who became an
influential movie executive in his own right, supporting promising young
directors and advancing the independent film movement, died here on
Friday. He was 88. A ravenous book reader, possessing intellectual curiosity in a business
not known for it, Mr. Goldwyn was an early champion of stylized,
cerebral films that most major studios thought would never sell a
ticket. His indie operation, the Samuel Goldwyn Company, founded in
1979, helped create a business model — low production costs, guerrilla
marketing — that allowed art-house movies to grow into a powerful
cultural and economic force.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Arthur wrote about Groucho
As a child Mr. Marx spent several years on the road with Groucho Marx and the rest of the Marx Brothers’ vaudeville act — Chico, Harpo, Gummo and later Zeppo — before enjoying a celebrity-filled youth in Los Angeles as the brothers rose to stardom. His own show-business career was varied and long, writing Hollywood screenplays and scripts for some of television’s most popular sitcoms.
Taken together, Arthur Marx’s two books about his father offered a bittersweet picture of life in the Marx home. He described himself as desperate both to escape from his father’s shadow and to please him, an impossible task. The comic genius who kept millions in stitches was, in his private life, miserly and emotionally distant.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Elizabeth Taylor
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/03/23/elizabeth-taylor-dies/
Elizabeth Taylor's New York Times obiturary writer died six years ago
Los Angeles Times - 16 hours ago
Elizabeth Taylor may have died Wednesday morning, but the writer of the obituary the New York Times published celebrating the film star died six years ago CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Elizabeth Taylor in 1957.
Elizabeth Taylor, whose name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour, dazzled generations of moviegoers with her beauty.
Interactive Timeline
Slide Show
Critics' Picks: 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf'Saturday, November 6, 2010
Starred in feminist roles
“I guess people look at me and they think I’m a ladylike character,” Ms. Clayburgh told The New York Times in 1982. “But it’s not what I do best. I do best with characters who are coming apart at the seams.”
TCM profile. On Saturday night 6 November I watched Running with Scissors, in which Clayburgh had a role. The movie as a whole was of questionable quality, and her role was equally so, yet it was clear that she was a talented actor who could breathe life into a role. "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy was so impressed with the now character actress that he also tapped her to play the depressed adoptive mother of Augusten Burroughs in his film version of the author's best-selling memoir, "Running with Scissors" (2006) - in which she was often cited as the best thing about the depressing, bizarre film.
And another remembrance.
TCM profile. On Saturday night 6 November I watched Running with Scissors, in which Clayburgh had a role. The movie as a whole was of questionable quality, and her role was equally so, yet it was clear that she was a talented actor who could breathe life into a role. "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy was so impressed with the now character actress that he also tapped her to play the depressed adoptive mother of Augusten Burroughs in his film version of the author's best-selling memoir, "Running with Scissors" (2006) - in which she was often cited as the best thing about the depressing, bizarre film.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Stephen J. Cannell
Legendary TV producer Stephen J. Cannell has died
By Alan Duke, CNN
October 1, 2010 -- Updated 2026 GMT (0426 HKT)
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Television producer Stephen J. Cannell, known for his work on shows including "21 Jump Street" and "The A-Team," died Thursday, his publicist said. Cannell was 69. Cannell died from complications associated with melanoma at his Pasadena, California, home surrounded by family and loved ones, said a family statement.
He created, wrote and produced several iconic TV series, starting in the 1970s with "The Rockford Files."
We watched that show regularly, and really liked it.
His other hit series included: "Greatest American Hero," "The A-Team," "Hunter," "Riptide," "Hardcastle & McCormick," "21 Jump Street," "Wiseguy," "The Commish," "Profit," and syndicated shows "Renegade" and "Silk Stalkings."
Viewers may best remember the trademark closing for Cannell's productions, which showed him at a typewriter tossing a sheet of paper over his shoulder.
I do remember.
He also acted, sometimes appearing in his own shows. Cannell had a recurring role on ABC-TV's hit series "Castle."
Cannell authored 16 novels, including the "Shane Scully" series.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Marcia, three children and three grandchildren, the family said. Cannell overcame severe dyslexia as a child growing up in Pasadena, and later became a spokesman for the International Dyslexia Associationand an advocate for children and adults with learning disabilities. He formed an independent production company, Stephen J. Cannell Productions, in 1979, which gave him control and ownership of his shows. His studio is developing feature film versions of several of his hit TV shows, including "21 Jump Street" and "The Greatest American Hero." "The A-Team" movie was released in theaters last summer.
CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report.
By Alan Duke, CNN
October 1, 2010 -- Updated 2026 GMT (0426 HKT)
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Television producer Stephen J. Cannell, known for his work on shows including "21 Jump Street" and "The A-Team," died Thursday, his publicist said. Cannell was 69. Cannell died from complications associated with melanoma at his Pasadena, California, home surrounded by family and loved ones, said a family statement.
He created, wrote and produced several iconic TV series, starting in the 1970s with "The Rockford Files."
We watched that show regularly, and really liked it.
His other hit series included: "Greatest American Hero," "The A-Team," "Hunter," "Riptide," "Hardcastle & McCormick," "21 Jump Street," "Wiseguy," "The Commish," "Profit," and syndicated shows "Renegade" and "Silk Stalkings."
Viewers may best remember the trademark closing for Cannell's productions, which showed him at a typewriter tossing a sheet of paper over his shoulder.
I do remember.
He also acted, sometimes appearing in his own shows. Cannell had a recurring role on ABC-TV's hit series "Castle."
Cannell authored 16 novels, including the "Shane Scully" series.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Marcia, three children and three grandchildren, the family said. Cannell overcame severe dyslexia as a child growing up in Pasadena, and later became a spokesman for the International Dyslexia Associationand an advocate for children and adults with learning disabilities. He formed an independent production company, Stephen J. Cannell Productions, in 1979, which gave him control and ownership of his shows. His studio is developing feature film versions of several of his hit TV shows, including "21 Jump Street" and "The Greatest American Hero." "The A-Team" movie was released in theaters last summer.
CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tony Curtis
Excellent movie. Curtis made a number of good ones. He died yesterday, aged 85.He had an interesting career. Born on Bronx, growing up poor, named Bernie Schwartz
The Defiant Ones was a real good one. Sweet smell of success was one of his film that revolved around New York.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Computer Pioneer Turned Investor, Activist
Max Palevsky made some of the first mainframe computers, then cashed out with one of the early personal fortunes in the computer industry. He became a flamboyant Democratic money man, movie producer and art collector. Mr. Palevsky, who died Wednesday at age 85, was co-founder of computer manufacturer Scientific Data Systems, which innovated with small mainframes based on silicon chips. Though never in the top tier of computer makers, SDS was profitable nearly from its inception in 1961.
"Many of us early workers in computers were philosophy majors," Mr. Palevsky told the Chicago Tribune in 1968. "You can imagine our surprise at being able to make rather comfortable livings."
So much so that just a year later, Xerox Corp., seeking to develop a digital complement to its imaging systems, paid $910 million in stock for the company at a time "when $1 billion meant something," as Mr. Palevsky once said. He walked away with about $100 million and became the chairman of Xerox's executive committee.
A philosophy major chairing an executive committee?
Mr. Palevsky used his fortune to fund a series of projects, including in 1970 an investment in the fledgling magazine Rolling Stone. "We were looking for a business counselor or adviser," magazine co-founder Jann Wenner said Thursday. "He was a restlessly curious individual." Mr. Palevsky served as chairman of Rolling Stone's board for a time, and befriended one of the magazine's writers, Hunter S. Thompson. Published letters to Mr. Palevsky from Mr. Thompson in 1973 record the writer's dismay that Mr. Palevsky had the temerity to ask for repayment of a $10,000 personal loan.
The association with Rolling Stone soon ended, too. "We had the typical Max falling out," Mr. Wenner said. "He could be very rigid."
Mmm. Wonder if that was simply a one-way street.
In 1972, Mr. Palevsky was for a time the largest contributor to George McGovern's presidential campaign. But he abruptly quit the campaign and gave interviews criticizing it as a slapdash organization. A year later, he was back in the arena as campaign manager for Tom Bradley's first successful run for mayor of Los Angeles. He was often associated with a group of wealthy, liberal donors known as the "Malibu Mafia."
Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Palevsky was the son of Russian immigrants who spoke Yiddish at home. His father was a house painter. Mr. Palevsky often spoke darkly about his childhood. During World War II, he served as a meteorologist in the Army Air Corps, stationed in New Guinea. He then studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Chicago. He embarked on an academic career but said he dropped out of graduate school after hearing a lecture on computers by John von Neumann, one of the fathers of computer science.
Starting in the 1950s, Mr. Palevsky worked on early computers at Bendix Corp., then helped Packard-Bell Electronics Corp. launch a computer affiliate. In 1961, he and several Packard-Bell colleagues launched SDS to produce small computers for scientists and industrial controls, a market that larger manufacturers such as International Business Machines Corp. had ignored.
Bendix? A familiar name. Car parts, supplies? ("Supplier of air brake and filtration systems to the heavy-duty commercial vehicle industry.") And, yes, indeed, Mary Cunningham was there when William Agee was CEO and launched a hostile takeover: the details are sketchy, but I remeber them both.
As an executive, Agee was recognized in Time Magazine for his creative vision that Bendix could break from its history of being a slow growth manufacturing company in a mature industry (automotive parts) by diversifying into high-tech through selective bold acquisitions. It was this diversification strategy that ultimately allowed the shareholders of Bendix to dramatically increase their stock value during his tenure despite a recession that afflicted two of its main businesses, automobile parts and machine tools. While competitors floundered in 1981, Bendix' profits increased 136% and revenues for its fiscal year rose to $4.4 billion.
Time magazine in 1967 hailed SDS for its innovations, but Xerox wasn't able to keep the company's profits rolling. It shuttered SDS, renamed Xerox Data Systems, in 1975.
One of the great all-time fiascos: Xerox leaving the computer industry, unable to make money.
Mr. Palevsky served for many years on the board of Intel Corp., but eventually abandoned the computer industry. In a 2001 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Palevsky proclaimed himself "a Luddite." He dabbled in the film business, producing "Fun With Dick and Jane" and "Islands in the Stream." He built up a collection of modern art and furniture from the arts and crafts era, much of which he donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art — though he once sued the museum, claiming it had promised to let him take charge of the architecture of a new gallery.
Maybe Jann Wenner was right, after all.
Mr. Palevsky's interest in politics persisted, and in the past decade his main cause was campaign-finance reform. In a statement of support in 2000 for Proposition 25, which would have limited campaign donations, he wrote, "I am making this million-dollar contribution in hopes that I will never again legally be allowed to write huge checks to California political candidates." But his ability to donate survived as the proposition failed.
REMEMBRANCES. MAY 7, 2010
Max Palevsky 1924-2010
Computer Pioneer Turned Investor, Activist
By STEPHEN MILLER. Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A7
"Many of us early workers in computers were philosophy majors," Mr. Palevsky told the Chicago Tribune in 1968. "You can imagine our surprise at being able to make rather comfortable livings."
So much so that just a year later, Xerox Corp., seeking to develop a digital complement to its imaging systems, paid $910 million in stock for the company at a time "when $1 billion meant something," as Mr. Palevsky once said. He walked away with about $100 million and became the chairman of Xerox's executive committee.
A philosophy major chairing an executive committee?
Mr. Palevsky used his fortune to fund a series of projects, including in 1970 an investment in the fledgling magazine Rolling Stone. "We were looking for a business counselor or adviser," magazine co-founder Jann Wenner said Thursday. "He was a restlessly curious individual." Mr. Palevsky served as chairman of Rolling Stone's board for a time, and befriended one of the magazine's writers, Hunter S. Thompson. Published letters to Mr. Palevsky from Mr. Thompson in 1973 record the writer's dismay that Mr. Palevsky had the temerity to ask for repayment of a $10,000 personal loan.
The association with Rolling Stone soon ended, too. "We had the typical Max falling out," Mr. Wenner said. "He could be very rigid."
Mmm. Wonder if that was simply a one-way street.
In 1972, Mr. Palevsky was for a time the largest contributor to George McGovern's presidential campaign. But he abruptly quit the campaign and gave interviews criticizing it as a slapdash organization. A year later, he was back in the arena as campaign manager for Tom Bradley's first successful run for mayor of Los Angeles. He was often associated with a group of wealthy, liberal donors known as the "Malibu Mafia."
Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Palevsky was the son of Russian immigrants who spoke Yiddish at home. His father was a house painter. Mr. Palevsky often spoke darkly about his childhood. During World War II, he served as a meteorologist in the Army Air Corps, stationed in New Guinea. He then studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Chicago. He embarked on an academic career but said he dropped out of graduate school after hearing a lecture on computers by John von Neumann, one of the fathers of computer science.
Starting in the 1950s, Mr. Palevsky worked on early computers at Bendix Corp., then helped Packard-Bell Electronics Corp. launch a computer affiliate. In 1961, he and several Packard-Bell colleagues launched SDS to produce small computers for scientists and industrial controls, a market that larger manufacturers such as International Business Machines Corp. had ignored.
Bendix? A familiar name. Car parts, supplies? ("Supplier of air brake and filtration systems to the heavy-duty commercial vehicle industry.") And, yes, indeed, Mary Cunningham was there when William Agee was CEO and launched a hostile takeover: the details are sketchy, but I remeber them both.
As an executive, Agee was recognized in Time Magazine for his creative vision that Bendix could break from its history of being a slow growth manufacturing company in a mature industry (automotive parts) by diversifying into high-tech through selective bold acquisitions. It was this diversification strategy that ultimately allowed the shareholders of Bendix to dramatically increase their stock value during his tenure despite a recession that afflicted two of its main businesses, automobile parts and machine tools. While competitors floundered in 1981, Bendix' profits increased 136% and revenues for its fiscal year rose to $4.4 billion.
Time magazine in 1967 hailed SDS for its innovations, but Xerox wasn't able to keep the company's profits rolling. It shuttered SDS, renamed Xerox Data Systems, in 1975.
One of the great all-time fiascos: Xerox leaving the computer industry, unable to make money.
Mr. Palevsky served for many years on the board of Intel Corp., but eventually abandoned the computer industry. In a 2001 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Palevsky proclaimed himself "a Luddite." He dabbled in the film business, producing "Fun With Dick and Jane" and "Islands in the Stream." He built up a collection of modern art and furniture from the arts and crafts era, much of which he donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art — though he once sued the museum, claiming it had promised to let him take charge of the architecture of a new gallery.
Maybe Jann Wenner was right, after all.
Mr. Palevsky's interest in politics persisted, and in the past decade his main cause was campaign-finance reform. In a statement of support in 2000 for Proposition 25, which would have limited campaign donations, he wrote, "I am making this million-dollar contribution in hopes that I will never again legally be allowed to write huge checks to California political candidates." But his ability to donate survived as the proposition failed.
REMEMBRANCES. MAY 7, 2010
Max Palevsky 1924-2010
Computer Pioneer Turned Investor, Activist
By STEPHEN MILLER. Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A7
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
He spied
Early entries of his obituary.2 from the LA Times, 1 from the NY Daily News.
Actor Robert Culp dies after falling at his Hollywood home
March 24, 2010 | 2:02 pm
Culp Actor Robert Culp, best known for his role as an international tennis star and globe-trotting secret agent in the hit 1960s television series "I Spy," died Wednesday morning after a fall at his Hollywood home, authorities said.
The 79-year-old actor was rushed to Queen of Angels hospital shortly after 11 a.m. after hitting his head while taking a walk outside his home in the 1800 block of El Cerrito Place, said LAPD Lt. Bob Binder. He was found by a jogger who called 911, and paramedics, patrol officers and detectives responded to the scene.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. A preliminary investigation found "that his death is accidental and there appears to be no sign of foul play," Binder said. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office is pending.
Culp broke into Hollywood in the late 1950s but catapulted to fame playing Kelly Robinson in the hourlong 1965-68 espionage series "I Spy," which was shot in exotic locales around the world.
Besides its popularity, the show also broke the color barrier for dramatic television series as the first noncomedy series to star an African American actor, Bill Cosby.
Off screen, Culp has been active in civic causes, most recently in his efforts to oppose construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo.
In 2007, the actor joined with real estate agent Aaron Leider in filing a lawsuit against zoo director John Lewis and the city to stop construction of a $42-million elephant exhibit and bar the zoo from keeping elephants there, accusing authorities at the facility of withholding medical care from the animals and keeping them cramped in small places.
Last year, after temporarily halting construction on the elephant exhibit amid a fierce debate, the City Council voted to go ahead with the project as planned.
A full obituary is coming shortly from The Times.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Robert Culp in the action-adventure television series "I Spy."
Gold Derby
Tom O'Neil has the inside track on Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and all the award shows.
« Previous Post | Gold Derby Home
Robert Culp never cracked Emmy's secret code
March 24, 2010 | 4:48 pm
Robert Culp died TV news
Robert Culp may have portrayed a secret government agent on TV, but there's one thing he never spied on his mantle at home: an Emmy or Golden Globe.
Before his death today at age 78, Robert Culp was nominated by both of those awards, but he had bad luck. Actually, he had really bad luck at the Emmys considering that he lost best drama actor three years in a row (1966-68) to his "I Spy" costar Bill Cosby. Culp was also nominated once for writing (1967), losing to Bruce Geller ("Mission: Impossible"). That other hit espionage TV series, "Mission:Impossible," out-gunned "I Spy" twice in the battle over best drama series (1967, 1968). In 1966, "I Spy" lost to "The Fugitive."
Both Bill Cosby and Robert Culp lost best TV actor at the Golden Globes in 1967 to Dean Martin ("The Dean Martin Show"), but "I Spy" won best TV show that same year. Culp isn't listed as one of the technical winners of that statuette, but he deserves much of the credit for his dashing role as a spy parading as a pro tennis player.
Photo: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby in "I Spy" (NBC)
Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in "I Spy."
Veteran actor Robert Culp, who teamed with Bill
Cosby to break down racial barriers on the hit
1960s show "I Spy," died Wednesday after
collapsing outside his Hollywood home.
The 79-year-old actor was found on the ground by
a jogger who called 911, cops said.
The actor's son was told he died of a heart attack,
said Culp's manager, Hillard Elkins.
Culp was a versatile actor known for his dramatic
and comedic work on stage, television and movies.
He was debonaire and easily pulled off the man-in-
charge look, making him perfect for his roles as the
arrogant mayor of New York in 1985's "Turk 182"
- and as the corrupt president in 1993's "The
Pelican Brief."
But he first came into national prominence with "I
Spy," a television milestone that ran from 1965-68.
It was the first integrated television show featuring a
black actor as one of the leads.
Culp and Cosby traded quips as the show's cool co-
stars, combining humor and adventure in a style
copied for decades.
He and Cosby were also involved in civil rights
causes, and when Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in 1968 the pair traveled to Memphis,
Tenn., to join the striking garbage workers King had
been organizing.
One of his most acclaimed film roles was as Bob in
the 1969 sex comedy, "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice."
On television he appeared for three seasons in the
1980s as an FBI agent for three seasons on "The
Greatest American Hero." And from 2000 to 2004,
he had a recurring role on the hit "Everybody Loves
Raymond" as Ray Barone's father-in-law.
Culp also worked as a director, and had dozens of
television credits across his half-century in the
business.
Actor Robert Culp dies after falling at his Hollywood home
Culp Actor Robert Culp, best known for his role as an international tennis star and globe-trotting secret agent in the hit 1960s television series "I Spy," died Wednesday morning after a fall at his Hollywood home, authorities said.
The 79-year-old actor was rushed to Queen of Angels hospital shortly after 11 a.m. after hitting his head while taking a walk outside his home in the 1800 block of El Cerrito Place, said LAPD Lt. Bob Binder. He was found by a jogger who called 911, and paramedics, patrol officers and detectives responded to the scene.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. A preliminary investigation found "that his death is accidental and there appears to be no sign of foul play," Binder said. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office is pending.
Culp broke into Hollywood in the late 1950s but catapulted to fame playing Kelly Robinson in the hourlong 1965-68 espionage series "I Spy," which was shot in exotic locales around the world.
Besides its popularity, the show also broke the color barrier for dramatic television series as the first noncomedy series to star an African American actor, Bill Cosby.
Off screen, Culp has been active in civic causes, most recently in his efforts to oppose construction of an elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo.
In 2007, the actor joined with real estate agent Aaron Leider in filing a lawsuit against zoo director John Lewis and the city to stop construction of a $42-million elephant exhibit and bar the zoo from keeping elephants there, accusing authorities at the facility of withholding medical care from the animals and keeping them cramped in small places.
Last year, after temporarily halting construction on the elephant exhibit amid a fierce debate, the City Council voted to go ahead with the project as planned.
A full obituary is coming shortly from The Times.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Robert Culp in the action-adventure television series "I Spy."
Gold Derby
Tom O'Neil has the inside track on Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and all the award shows.
« Previous Post | Gold Derby Home
Robert Culp never cracked Emmy's secret code
March 24, 2010 | 4:48 pm
Robert Culp died TV news
Robert Culp may have portrayed a secret government agent on TV, but there's one thing he never spied on his mantle at home: an Emmy or Golden Globe.
Before his death today at age 78, Robert Culp was nominated by both of those awards, but he had bad luck. Actually, he had really bad luck at the Emmys considering that he lost best drama actor three years in a row (1966-68) to his "I Spy" costar Bill Cosby. Culp was also nominated once for writing (1967), losing to Bruce Geller ("Mission: Impossible"). That other hit espionage TV series, "Mission:Impossible," out-gunned "I Spy" twice in the battle over best drama series (1967, 1968). In 1966, "I Spy" lost to "The Fugitive."
Both Bill Cosby and Robert Culp lost best TV actor at the Golden Globes in 1967 to Dean Martin ("The Dean Martin Show"), but "I Spy" won best TV show that same year. Culp isn't listed as one of the technical winners of that statuette, but he deserves much of the credit for his dashing role as a spy parading as a pro tennis player.
Photo: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby in "I Spy" (NBC)
Veteran actor Robert Culp, who teamed with Bill
Cosby to break down racial barriers on the hit
1960s show "I Spy," died Wednesday after
collapsing outside his Hollywood home.
The 79-year-old actor was found on the ground by
a jogger who called 911, cops said.
The actor's son was told he died of a heart attack,
said Culp's manager, Hillard Elkins.
Culp was a versatile actor known for his dramatic
and comedic work on stage, television and movies.
He was debonaire and easily pulled off the man-in-
charge look, making him perfect for his roles as the
arrogant mayor of New York in 1985's "Turk 182"
- and as the corrupt president in 1993's "The
Pelican Brief."
But he first came into national prominence with "I
Spy," a television milestone that ran from 1965-68.
It was the first integrated television show featuring a
black actor as one of the leads.
Culp and Cosby traded quips as the show's cool co-
stars, combining humor and adventure in a style
copied for decades.
He and Cosby were also involved in civil rights
causes, and when Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in 1968 the pair traveled to Memphis,
Tenn., to join the striking garbage workers King had
been organizing.
One of his most acclaimed film roles was as Bob in
the 1969 sex comedy, "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice."
On television he appeared for three seasons in the
1980s as an FBI agent for three seasons on "The
Greatest American Hero." And from 2000 to 2004,
he had a recurring role on the hit "Everybody Loves
Raymond" as Ray Barone's father-in-law.
Culp also worked as a director, and had dozens of
television credits across his half-century in the
business.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Number Six
Patrick McGoohan, a multifaceted actor who spun television legend by creating and starring in the 1960s program “The Prisoner,” a mysterious allegory about a mysterious man in a mysterious seaside village that became a cult classic, died on Jan. 13 in Los Angeles. He was 80.
His death was announced on the Web site of Six of One — the Prisoner Official Appreciation Society, netreach.net/~sixofone, of which Mr. McGoohan was the honorary president for 32 years. His agent, Sharif Ali, said Mr. McGoohan had died suddenly after a brief illness.
Mr. McGoohan’s career ranged from success on the stages of London’s West End to starring in a popular spy series called “Secret Agent” in the United States. He was critically praised for his King Edward I in Mel Gibson’s 1995 film “Braveheart” and won Emmys as a guest star on “Colombo” in 1975 and 1990.
But it was as the lead character in “The Prisoner,” identified only as No. 6, that he struck a remarkable chord with audiences, one that has continued to reverberate in re-runs, festivals, university courses, doctoral theses and a quarterly magazine — all on the strength of just 17 episodes. The show’s legions of interpreters have perceived elements of the cold war, mob mentality, mind control and more in the show.
Broadcast on CBS in 1968 and 1969, “The Prisoner” tells the story of an unnamed spy who resigns his position and is then gassed in his apartment as he packs his bags. He wakes up in the Village, a resortlike community that is actually a high-tech prison. In each episode, No. 6 struggles with the camp authority figure, No. 2, who pressures him to say why he resigned. No. 2 is played by a different actor each time.
At the beginning of each episode, No. 6 declares: “I am not a number. I am a free man.”
“The Prisoner” remains “one of the most enigmatic and fascinating series ever produced for television” the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago said on its Web site, adding that some critics believe it to be “television’s first masterpiece.”
A question that has long intrigued fans is whether “The Prisoner” grew directly out of “Danger Man,” as “Secret Agent” was known in Britain. “Danger Man” began in London in 1960, then ran briefly on CBS in 1961 as a half-hour show before becoming an hourlong show on CBS in the mid-1960s.
A 1964 episode had Mr. McGoohan’s character, John Drake, infiltrating a spy school in the middle of nowhere that the instructors had scant hope of leaving. Did Drake later materialize as No. 6?
Mr. McGoohan always said no, although three episodes of “Danger Man” were shot at the Hotel Portmeirion resort, a series of fantasy buildings on the Welsh seacoast, which he acknowledged was an inspiration for the Village. He said in 1977 that boredom with “Danger Man” had inspired him to create “The Prisoner,” for which he wrote and directed some episodes.
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was born on March 19, 1928, in Astoria, Queens. When he was 6 months old, his parents returned to their native Ireland, then to Sheffield, England, when farming proved unprofitable. He dropped out of school at 16 and took jobs where he could find them, like working on a chicken farm.
Aspiring to the theater, Mr. McGoohan started as a stagehand at the Sheffield Playhouse and worked his way up to leading man. He went on to become well-known for Ibsen and Shakespeare roles and earned praise for his performance in 1955 in a West End production of “Moby Dick Rehearsed,” written and directed by Orson Welles. In 1951, he married Joan Drummond, an actress. She survives him, along with three daughters, Catherine, Anne and Frances; five grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
In the 1950s, Mr. McGoohan did a series of films for the Rank Organization, a British movie company. By the time he was the popular star of “Danger Man,” Mr. McGoohan was the highest-paid television actor in Britain.
Mr. McGoohan’s many film roles included a doctor in David Cronenberg’s 1981 film “Scanners,” itself a cult classic. In 1977, he starred in the television series “Rafferty” as a retired Army doctor adjusting to civilian life. He appeared on Broadway only once, in 1985, as a British spy in Hugh Whitmore’s “Pack of Lies,” for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk award as best actor.
In 2000, Mr. McGoohan reprised his role as No. 6, at least in voice, in an episode of “The Simpsons.” Homer Simpson, as No. 5, stole No. 6’s boat and escaped.
January 15, 2009
Patrick McGoohan, Star of ‘The Prisoner,’ Dies at 80
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
ITC, via WNYC -Patrick McGoohan in the mysterious title role of “The Prisoner,” a 1960s television series.
Mr. McGoohan’s career ranged from success on the stages of London’s West End to starring in a popular spy series called “Secret Agent” in the United States. He was critically praised for his King Edward I in Mel Gibson’s 1995 film “Braveheart” and won Emmys as a guest star on “Colombo” in 1975 and 1990.
But it was as the lead character in “The Prisoner,” identified only as No. 6, that he struck a remarkable chord with audiences, one that has continued to reverberate in re-runs, festivals, university courses, doctoral theses and a quarterly magazine — all on the strength of just 17 episodes. The show’s legions of interpreters have perceived elements of the cold war, mob mentality, mind control and more in the show.
Broadcast on CBS in 1968 and 1969, “The Prisoner” tells the story of an unnamed spy who resigns his position and is then gassed in his apartment as he packs his bags. He wakes up in the Village, a resortlike community that is actually a high-tech prison. In each episode, No. 6 struggles with the camp authority figure, No. 2, who pressures him to say why he resigned. No. 2 is played by a different actor each time.
At the beginning of each episode, No. 6 declares: “I am not a number. I am a free man.”
“The Prisoner” remains “one of the most enigmatic and fascinating series ever produced for television” the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago said on its Web site, adding that some critics believe it to be “television’s first masterpiece.”
A question that has long intrigued fans is whether “The Prisoner” grew directly out of “Danger Man,” as “Secret Agent” was known in Britain. “Danger Man” began in London in 1960, then ran briefly on CBS in 1961 as a half-hour show before becoming an hourlong show on CBS in the mid-1960s.
A 1964 episode had Mr. McGoohan’s character, John Drake, infiltrating a spy school in the middle of nowhere that the instructors had scant hope of leaving. Did Drake later materialize as No. 6?
Mr. McGoohan always said no, although three episodes of “Danger Man” were shot at the Hotel Portmeirion resort, a series of fantasy buildings on the Welsh seacoast, which he acknowledged was an inspiration for the Village. He said in 1977 that boredom with “Danger Man” had inspired him to create “The Prisoner,” for which he wrote and directed some episodes.
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was born on March 19, 1928, in Astoria, Queens. When he was 6 months old, his parents returned to their native Ireland, then to Sheffield, England, when farming proved unprofitable. He dropped out of school at 16 and took jobs where he could find them, like working on a chicken farm.
Aspiring to the theater, Mr. McGoohan started as a stagehand at the Sheffield Playhouse and worked his way up to leading man. He went on to become well-known for Ibsen and Shakespeare roles and earned praise for his performance in 1955 in a West End production of “Moby Dick Rehearsed,” written and directed by Orson Welles. In 1951, he married Joan Drummond, an actress. She survives him, along with three daughters, Catherine, Anne and Frances; five grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
In the 1950s, Mr. McGoohan did a series of films for the Rank Organization, a British movie company. By the time he was the popular star of “Danger Man,” Mr. McGoohan was the highest-paid television actor in Britain.
Mr. McGoohan’s many film roles included a doctor in David Cronenberg’s 1981 film “Scanners,” itself a cult classic. In 1977, he starred in the television series “Rafferty” as a retired Army doctor adjusting to civilian life. He appeared on Broadway only once, in 1985, as a British spy in Hugh Whitmore’s “Pack of Lies,” for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk award as best actor.
In 2000, Mr. McGoohan reprised his role as No. 6, at least in voice, in an episode of “The Simpsons.” Homer Simpson, as No. 5, stole No. 6’s boat and escaped.
January 15, 2009
Patrick McGoohan, Star of ‘The Prisoner,’ Dies at 80
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
“On an Island With You”
MGM, via Photofest - Before “Fantasy Island”: Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams in the film “On an Island With You” (1948).
January 15, 2009
Ricardo Montalbán, Star of ‘Fantasy Island,’ Dies at 88
By CLAIRE DEDERER and BRUCE WEBER
Ricardo Montalbán, one of Hollywood’s first Latino leading men, who had a long career as a television and movie actor but whose lingering fame perhaps owes most to a less august role as the debonair concierge of “Fantasy Island,” died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 88.
His death was announced by Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, who represents the Hollywood district where Mr. Montalbán lived and where a theater is named for him, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Garcetti did not give a cause, the Associated Press said.
Every week on “Fantasy Island,” a fairy tale of wish fulfillment and exotic luxury that was shown on ABC from 1978 to 1984, a planeload of visitors with unachieved dreams flew in to a remote resort somewhere in the Pacific and were greeted by their dream facilitators, the sleek and suavely welcoming Mr. Roarke, played by Mr. Montalbán, and his assistant, an irrepressibly spirited dwarf named Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize. They became one of television’s most legendary odd couples.
Though Mr. Roarke became Mr. Montalbán’s signature role, it was a mere bump in the timeline of a career that spanned decades, media and genres. Mr. Montalbán embodied stereotypes, fought them and transcended them in his years in show business. His entire reputation, both as smooth Latin seducer and parodist of a smooth Latin seducer, was capsulized in a television advertisement from the mid-1970s in which he served as pitchman for the Cordoba, a luxury car being introduced by Chrysler. He purred over the automobile’s assets, including the seats, upholstered, he said, in “soft, Corinthian leather,” a phrase that became a campy giggle-inducer, especially after it became known that there is no such thing as Corinthian leather, from Corinth or anywhere else: the description was just a marketing invention.
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino was born in Mexico City on Nov. 25, 1920, and moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to live with his older brother Carlos, who was pursuing a career in show business. The brothers traveled to New York in 1940, and Ricardo landed a bit part in “Her Cardboard Lover,” a play starring Tallulah Bankhead.
The next year Mr. Montalbán returned to Mexico, where his mother was dying. He made a dozen Spanish-language films in Mexico, becoming a star. In 1944 he married Georgiana Young, the half-sister of the film actress Loretta Young. The couple went on to raise four children in Los Angeles: Mark, Victor, Laura and Anita. Georgiana Young died in 2007.
Mr. Montalbán made his Hollywood debut in 1947 in “Fiesta,” a musical in which he was cast as an aspiring toreador with a twin sister, improbably played by the movie’s star, Esther Williams. They also starred together a year later in “On an Island With You.” The next year he was signed as a contract player for MGM, and specialized in Latin-lover roles, perfecting if not defining the stereotype. He played opposite Cyd Charisse (“Mark of the Renegade”), Shelley Winters (“My Man and I”) and Pier Angeli (“Sombrero”), among others. A 1953 film in which he starred with Lana Turner was actually called “Latin Lovers.”
Like other minority actors of the time, Mr. Montalbán, with his dark good looks and his Spanish accent, seemed to be a kind of racial utility player. This was the era of the western, and he repeatedly played American Indians, including a Blackfoot war chief in “Across the Wide Missouri.” He appeared as an ancient Babylonian in “The Queen of Babylon” and as a Japanese Kabuki actor in “Sayonara.” In the Broadway musical “Jamaica,” set on a mythical Caribbean island, he starred opposite Lena Horne in a cast that was, aside from himself, entirely African-American. For his performance he was nominated for a Tony in 1958.
As a performer Mr. Montalbán was fluid and broad, the kind of actor who could telegraph his intent with intelligence and humor. His ability to move easily between comedy and drama kept him busy long after his beefcake appeal began to fade. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s Mr. Montalbán worked constantly, mostly in television, including performances on his sister-in-law’s series, “The Loretta Young Show.”
In 1971, troubled by the way he was asked to portray Mexicans, he helped to found Nosotros, an advocacy group for Latinos working in the movie and television industry. As president of the organization, he later said: “I put my career aside and dedicated my heart and soul for over a year and a half to this new organization, going to radio and television to talk about it, talking to directors, producers, writers. I received tremendous support, but there were also some negative repercussions. I was accused of being a militant and as a result I lost jobs.”
In 1967, during the first season of “Star Trek,” he was a guest star as Khan Noonien Singh, a tyrannical superhuman villain; he reprised the role in the 1982 “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” giving a performance that was gleefully and confidently weird.
“With his fierce profile, long white hair, manful décolletage and Space Age jewelry, Mr. Montalbán looks like either the world’s oldest rock star or its hippest Indian chief,” Janet Maslin wrote, reviewing the film in The New York Times. “Either way, he looks terrific.”
In recent years Mr. Montalbán found work in children’s entertainment, appearing in “Spy Kids” movies, and providing the voice of characters on the television series “Dora the Explorer” and in the 2006 film “The Ant Bully,” in which he plays the leader of an ant colony’s ant council.
“I always had Ricardo Montalbán in my head,” John A. Davis, the director and writer of “The Ant Bully,” said in an interview. “I don’t know why, but I just always heard that voice because he’s so noble and powerful and strong.”
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