The 2019 Oscars In Memoriam
These are the talents who were included in the In Memoriam at the 91st Academy Awards, held on February 24th, 2019.
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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Susan Anspach was born on 23 November 1942 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Five Easy Pieces (1970), Play It Again, Sam (1972) and The Big Fix (1978). She was married to Sherwood Ball and Mark Goddard. She died on 2 April 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Ermanno Olmi was born on 24 July 1931 in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988) and Il posto (1961). He was married to Loredana Detto. He died on 5 May 2018 in Asiago, Veneto, Italy.- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
- Director
Richard Greenberg was born on 21 January 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a director, known for Predator (1987), Flash Gordon (1980) and Edge of Darkness (2010). He died on 16 June 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Director
John Carter was born on 22 September 1922 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an editor and director, known for Friday (1995), Boomerang (1992) and Men of Honor (2000). He was married to Carole Carter. He died on 13 August 2018 in White Plains, New York, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
John Morris was born on 18 October 1926 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. He was a composer, known for Blazing Saddles (1974), The Elephant Man (1980) and Coach (1989). He was married to Francesca Bosetti. He died on 25 January 2018 in Red Hook, New York, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director whose films were known for their colorful visual style, was born in Parma, Italy. He attended Rome University and became famous as a poet. He served as assistant director for Pier Paolo Pasolini in the film Accattone (1961) and directed The Grim Reaper (1962). His second film, Before the Revolution (1964), which was released in 1971, received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. Bertolucci also received an Academy Award nomination as best director for Last Tango in Paris (1972), and the best director and best screenplay for the film The Last Emperor (1987), which walked away with nine Academy Awards.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Michel Legrand is a three-time Academy Award-winning French composer, conductor and pianist who composed over 200 film and television scores as well as recorded over a hundred albums of jazz, popular and classical music.
He was born on February 24, 1932, in Becon-les-Bruyeres, in the Paris suburbs, France. His father, Raymond Legrand, was a French composer and actor. His mother, Marcelle der Mikaelian, was descended from the Armenian bourgeousie. From 1942 - 1949 young Legrand studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire. There his teachers were Nadia Boulanger and Henri Challan among other renown musicians. He received numerous awards for his skills in composition and piano and mastered a dozen other instruments. In 1947 he attended a concert by Dizzy Gillespie and caught a jazz bug. He started working as a pianist for major French singers. He eventually collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie on several albums and film scores.
In 1954 Legrand became an overnight star after his album "I Love Paris" became a hit, it went on selling over 8 million copies. He followed the success with such albums as "Holiday in Rome" (1955) and "Michel Legrand Plays Cole Porter" (1957). In 1958 he was invited to play at Moscow Festival of Students and Youth. There, in Moscow, he met his future wife, a young French model with who he went on to have three children.
In the late 1950s and 1960s Legrand was caught up in the French New Wave. He scored seven films for jean-Luc Godard, he also made ten films with Jacques Demy, and became responsible for creating the genre of musical in the French Cinema. In 1963 Legrand did The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the first film musical that was entirely sung. For that film score he received three Oscar nominations. His beautiful, haunting melody, "I Will Wait For You", received nomination for Best Original Song.
In 1966 Legrand decided to take his chances in Hollywood, and moved to Los Angeles with his wife and three children. His friendship with Quincy Jones and Hank Mancini helped him a great deal, especially in meeting the lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In 1969 Legrand won his first Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for "The Windmills of Your Mind" and was also nominated for Best Music, Original score for a Motion Picture for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Eventually Legrand went on to become a star in the US, he received twelve nominations for Academy Awards, and won two more Oscars. He was also nominated for a Grammy 27 times and received 5 Grammys in the 1970s.
In the 1980s and 1990s Legrand continued giving live concerts with his own jazz trio. He also led his big band which he took on several international tours, accompanying such stars as Ray Charles , Diana Ross , Björk , and Stéphane Grappelli who celebrated his 85th birthday in 1992. He also recorded several classical albums, including an album with cross-genre hits entitled "Kiri Sings Michel Legrand" with the opera singer Kiri te Kanawa. During the 2000s Legrand has been working mainly in the studio, and also made several international tours.
In 2005 a compilation of Legrand's best known film soundtracks was released under the title "Le Cinema de Michel Legrand", featuring 90 songs composed in the course of his career.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Margot Kidder was born Margaret Ruth Kidder in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, to Jocelyn Mary "Jill" (Wilson), a history teacher from British Columbia, and Kendall Kidder, a New Mexico-born mining engineer and explosives expert. Margot was a delightful child who took pride in everything she did. At an early age, she became aware of the great emotions she felt towards expressing herself, and caught the acting bug. As a child, she wrote in a diary that she wanted to become a movie star, and that one day it would happen, but she had to overcome something else first. She was aware that she was constantly facing mood swings, but didn't know why. At odd times, she would try to kill herself - the first time was at age 14 - but the next day she would be just fine. Her father's hectic schedule and moving around so much didn't help matters, either, causing her to attend 11 schools in 12 years. Finally, in an attempt to help Margot with her troubles, her parents sent" her to a boarding school, where she took part in school plays, such as Romeo and Juliet", in which she played the lead.
After graduation, Margot moved to Los Angeles to start a film career. She found herself dealing with a lot of prejudice, and hotheads, but later found solace with a Canadian agent. This was when she got her first acting job, in the Norman Jewison film Gaily, Gaily (1969). This led to another starring role in Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970), in which she co-starred with Gene Wilder. After some harsh words from the film's director, Margot temporarily left films to study acting in New York, doing television work to pay her bills, but when the money ran out, she decided it was time to make a second try at acting. When she arrived in Hollywood she met up at a screen test with actress Jennifer Salt, resulting in a friendship that still stands strong today. Margot and Jennifer moved into a lofty beach house and befriended other, then unknown, struggling filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg and Susan Sarandon, among others. Late nights would see the hot, happening youngsters up until all hours talking around a fire about how they were all going to change the film industry. It was crazy living and within the Christmas season, Margot had become involved with De Palma, and as a Christmas present he gave her the script to his upcoming film Sisters (1972). Margot and Salt both had the leads in the film, and it was a huge critical success.
The film made branded Margot as a major talent, and in the following years she starred in a string of critically acclaimed pictures, such as Black Christmas (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), 92 in the Shade (1975) - directed by Thomas McGuane, who was also her husband for a brief period - and a somewhat prophetic tale of self-resurrection, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975).
After three years of being a housewife, looking after her daughter Maggie and not working, Margot decided it was time to let her emotions take control and get back into acting. Once her marriage to McGuane was over, she eyed a script that would change her life forever. Her new agent referred her to a little-known director named Richard Donner. He was going to be directing a film called Superman (1978), and she auditioned for and secured the leading female role of Lois Lane. That film and Superman II (1980) filmed simultaneously. After the success of "Superman" she took on more intense roles, such as The Amityville Horror (1979) and Willie & Phil (1980). After that, Margot starred in numerous films, television and theater work throughout the 1980s, including Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). When the 1990s erupted with the Gulf War, Margot found herself becoming involved in politics. She made a stir in the biz when she spoke out against the military for their actions in Kuwait. She also appeared in a cameo in Donner's Maverick (1994).
In 1996, as she was preparing to write her autobiography, she began to become more and more paranoid. When her computer became infected with a virus, this gave her paranoia full rein, and she sank into bipolar disorder. She panicked, and the resulting psychological problems she created for herself resulted in her fantasizing that her first husband was going to kill her, so she left her home and faked her death, physically altering her appearance in the process. After an intervention took place, she got back on her feet and started the mental wellness campaign. Since then, she resumed her career in film, television, and theatre, including appearing in a Canadian stage production of "The Vagina Monologues", and in films like The Clown at Midnight (1998).
Margot died on May 13, 2018, in Livingston, Montana.- Casting Director
- Art Department
- Casting Department
Alixe Gordin was born on 10 April 1922 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. She was a casting director, known for Prizzi's Honor (1985), The Boys from Brazil (1978) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). She was married to Georgiana Jagiello. She died on 28 November 2018 in Duxbury, Massachusetts, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Neil Simon was born on 4 July 1927 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Odd Couple (1968), Murder by Death (1976) and The Goodbye Girl (1977). He was married to Elaine Joyce, Diane Lander, Marsha Mason and Joan Baim. He died on 26 August 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Born in Los Angeles on Nov. 15, 1926, Kline, with the help of his dad, landed a job in the camera department at Columbia Pictures after he graduated from high school in 1943. He worked as a slate boy on Cover Girl (1944), starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly. Richard is the fourth member of my family to be a part of the ASC. His father was cinematographer Benjamin H. Kline (Danger Street, Fireside Theatre, dozens of Westerns), and his uncles were, Phil Rosen, co-founded the American Society of Cinematographers in 1919 and served as its first president, and Sol Halperin who also served as president.
Kline assisted and operated on more than 200 motion pictures before becoming a director of photography in 1963, after which he compiled 46 feature credits. He is a product of the Hollywood studio-system heyday of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, an invaluable link to a time when filmmakers could focus almost exclusively on practicing their craft and improving with each picture. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944, stationed at the Photo Science Laboratory in Washington, D.C., before shipping out to the Pacific theater, where he stayed until mid-1946. After returning to the States, he began working as an assistant at Columbia. His first assignment upon his return became one of his most memorable assisting during the shooting of Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai.
As a cinematographer, Kline earned Academy Award nominations for the lavish 1968 musical Camelot and the 1976 remake of the epic King Kong. His other credits include Hang 'em High, The Boston Strangler, The Andromeda Strain, The Mechanic, Soylent Green, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Mr. Majestyk, The Fury, Who'll Stop the Rain, Star Trek - The Motion Picture, Breathless, Body Heat, All of Me and The Competition.
Based on the hit Broadway musical, Camelot was shot on location in Spain and on expansive sets built on the Warner Bros. lot. The picture would be one of Kline's greatest challenges. The scope was overwhelming at times. Winter forest set, built on Stage 8, was immense required more than 400 10K lamps. However, Kline's reliance on mere candlelight for the film's soft-lit wedding between Arthur (Richard Harris) and Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave) proved equally tricky, in part because the producers didn't believe real candles would actually read on film,Kline using more than 1,000 candles for the scene. The actors were supposed to walk through darkness, surrounded by all these candles, before kneeling and taking their vows. Employing a team of 30 prop men to simultaneously light the candles, while Kline doubled the wicks' effectiveness by placing mirrors in strategic positions around the set. To add a mystical glow to the proceedings, he placed an 8'x8' pane of glass in front of the camera at a 30-degree angle. Then, behind the camera, he beamed light onto a 20'x20' white flat, which was reflected by the glass into the lens. Onscreen, shot through the glass, the royal couple seemed to pass through a warm aura of mysterious illumination that was softened even more by a hint of gauze diffusion. Kline controlled colors and contrast on the picture by pre-flashing his negative, a technique he had heard about but never used. Because the process opened up the shadows slightly, he used far less fill than usual. Pre-flashing also muted the colors a bit, lending the realm of Camelot a burnished, more naturalistic look.- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Vittorio Taviani studied law at the University of Pisa, becoming interested in the cinema after seeing Roberto Rossellini's Paisan (1946). After writing and directing short films and plays with his brother Paolo, he made his first feature in 1962. The brothers have continued to work together ever since, with each directing alternate scenes with the other watching but never interfering.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Raised in Hong Kong, Elizabeth Sung is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin. She holds a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School and was a member of The Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Elizabeth studied acting with Sanford Meisner and Milton Katselas. She was in the Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute where she made her first award winning film, Requiem (1995). Her graduate thesis film, The Water Ghost (1998), earned Elizabeth an MFA in directing from the AFI.- Editor
- Actress
- Editorial Department
Françoise Bonnot was born on 17 August 1939 in Bois-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France. She was an editor and actress, known for Z (1969), Missing (1982) and The Tenant (1976). She was married to Henri Verneuil. She died on 9 June 2018 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Enduring, strong-featured, and genial star of US cinema, Burt Reynolds started off in T.V. westerns in the 1960s and then carved his name into 1970s/1980s popular culture, as a sex symbol (posing nearly naked for "Cosmopolitan" magazine), and on-screen as both a rugged action figure and then as a wisecracking, Southern type of "good ol' boy."
Burton Leon Reynolds was born in Lansing, Michigan. He was the son of Harriette Fernette "Fern" (Miller) and Burton Milo Reynolds, who was in the army. After World War II, his family moved to Riviera Beach, Florida, where his father was chief of police, and where Burt excelled as an athlete and played with Florida State University. He became an All Star Southern Conference halfback (and was earmarked by the Baltimore Colts) before a knee injury and a car accident ended his football career. Midway through college he dropped out and headed to New York with aspirations of becoming an actor. There he worked in restaurants and clubs while pulling the odd TV spot or theatre role.
He was spotted in a New York City production of "Mister Roberts," signed to a TV contract, and eventually had recurring roles in such shows as Gunsmoke (1955), Riverboat (1959) and his own series, Hawk (1966).
Reynolds continued to appear in undemanding western roles, often playing a character of half Native American descent, in films such as Navajo Joe (1966), 100 Rifles (1969) and Sam Whiskey (1969). However, it was his tough-guy performance as macho Lewis Medlock in the John Boorman backwoods nightmare Deliverance (1972) that really stamped him as a bona-fide star. Reynolds' popularity continued to soar with his appearance as a no-nonsense private investigator in Shamus (1973) and in the Woody Allen comedy Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972). Building further on his image as a Southern boy who outsmarts the local lawmen, Reynolds packed fans into theaters to see him in White Lightning (1973), The Longest Yard (1974), W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) and Gator (1976).
At this time, ex-stuntman and longtime Reynolds buddy Hal Needham came to him with a "road film" script. It turned out to be the incredibly popular Smokey and the Bandit (1977) with Sally Field and Jerry Reed, which took in over $100 million at the box office. That film's success was followed by Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). Reynolds also appeared alongside Kris Kristofferson in the hit football film Semi-Tough (1977), with friend Dom DeLuise in the black comedy The End (1978) (which Reynolds directed), in the stunt-laden buddy film Hooper (1978) and then in the self-indulgent, star-packed road race flick The Cannonball Run (1981).
The early 1980s started off well with a strong performance in the violent police film Sharky's Machine (1981), which he also directed, and he starred with Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and with fellow macho superstar Clint Eastwood in the coolly received City Heat (1984). However, other projects such as Stroker Ace (1983), Stick (1985) and Paternity (1981) failed to catch fire with fans and Reynolds quickly found himself falling out of popularity with movie audiences. In the late 1980s he appeared in only a handful of films, mostly below average, before television came to the rescue and he shone again in two very popular TV shows, B.L. Stryker (1989) and Evening Shade (1990), for which he won an Emmy. In 1988, Burt and his then-wife, actress Loni Anderson, had a son, Quinton A. Reynolds (aka Quinton Anderson Reynolds), whom they adopted.
He was back on screen, but still the roles weren't grabbing the public's attention, until his terrific performance as a drunken politician in the otherwise woeful Striptease (1996) and then another tremendous showing as a charming, porn director in Boogie Nights (1997), which scored him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Like the phoenix from the ashes, Reynolds resurrected his popularity and, in the process, gathered a new generation of young fans, many of whom had been unfamiliar with his 1970s film roles. He then put in entertaining work in Pups (1999), Mystery, Alaska (1999), Driven (2001) and Time of the Wolf (2002). Definitely one of Hollywood's most resilient stars, Reynolds continually surprised all with his ability to weather both personal and career hurdles and his almost 60 years in front of the cameras were testament to his staying ability, his acting talent and his appeal to film audiences.
Burt Reynolds died of cardiac arrest on September 6, 2018, in Jupiter, Florida, U.S. He was eighty two.- Her mother, Patsy Linn Compton, was a Cherokee Native American and her father, John R. O'Neil, an oil wildcatter, was Irish. They were married on October 20, 1940 in Wharton, Texas, USA. Kitty was born on March 24, 1946 in Nueces, Texas, USA. Shortly after her birth her father died in an airplane accident.
Kitty developed normally as an infant until she was five months old. She lost her hearing when she was struck by measles, mumps, and smallpox all at the same time. Patsy decided that Kitty should be home schooled, preparing for that task by taking education courses at The University of Texas. Her mother's goal was realized in terms of Kitty learning to speak normally and become proficient at speech (lip) reading. Kittys brother, John O'Neil III, was born on May 1, 1947.
Patsy attended university classes while raising two small children. By the age of eight Kitty was able to be enrolled in a regular public school third grade. Her mother taught many deaf children and was a founder of The Listening Eyes School for the Deaf in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA. Kitty learned to play the cello by sensing subtle changes in the frequency of the vibrations.
At the age of twelve Kitty joined a swim team. That led to developing an interest in diving. As a substitute for a diver who failed to show up, Kitty, who had never previously dived, won the first place medal. Six months later she had won the AAU Southwest District Junior meet. In 1962 Kitty's family moved to Anaheim, California, USA so she could train as a diver with nationally known diving coach, Sammy Lee. She spent four hours a day in the water. American Youth Magazine named her Youth Athlete of the Month. She won the 10 meter diving event at the 1964 AAU Nationals and was on her way to the qualifying heats for the Olympic Games.
Her diving career ended abruptly when she broke her wrist while diving, followed by a bout with spinal meningitis. For a time there was concern that she might lose the use of her legs, but Kitty persevered in getting back on her feet. Loving speed and competition Kitty moved to high speed water skiing. In 1970 she set the official women's water ski speed record, 104.85 miles per hour.
It seemed a natural progression to automobile racing and cross country motorcycle racing. It was an accident at a motorcycle race where she was aided by a fellow racer, Duffy Hambleton, that their relationship began. He accompanied her to the hospital and was unexpectedly put in the position of making medical decisions that enabled Kitty's two severed fingers to be reattached in a curved position during four hours of surgery. The therapy that followed enabled full left hand function, so complete that Kitty was again able to play the piano.
Duffy and Kitty lived on a ten acre citrus farm. He worked with her daily with voice modulation. Kitty would touch his throat and feel his normal vocal vibrations and then match them using her own voice. The constant goal was to reduce the high pitch that typifies deaf speech. It was Duffy that introduced Kitty to the world of doing movie stunts. Stunts Unlimited, an organization of Hollywood's top stunt performers, accepted Kitty O'Neil into membership in 1976. She was the first woman to be so honored.
In December 1976 Kitty shattered the world land speed record for women. At a dry lake bed (Alford Lake) in southeast Oregon, USA she averaged 512.70 miles per hour, bettering the old mark by over 200 miles per hour. She had driven a 48,000 horsepower rocket-powered vehicle named The Motivator designed by Ky MIchaelson, Rocketman Enterprises, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
For a 1977 NBC Special about the world's best stunt men and women Kitty tipped over a burning van, ran with her clothes on fire, and then fell seven stories over the parapet of a parking garage. The filming of the sheets of fire going over the van required Kitty to remain in the van as firemen doused the flames. The stunt crew then pulled off the windshield to extricate Kitty who was still strapped in the seat of the overturned van. In 1979 her accomplishments were the basis for a Hollywood movie, "Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story," starring Stockard Channing as Kitty. Duffy Hambleton was an executive producer and many of the stunts were done by the real Kitty O'Neil.
Kitty retired in 1986, moved from Elk River, Minnesota, USA in 1993 to Eureka, South Dakota, USA where she lives with her long time companion, Raymond Waid. When asked why she retired she said it was not because of fear, but because two friends had been killed while performing stunts. Why Eureka? Kitty loves the peace she feels at her home overlooking Lake Eureka. Kitty has devoted much of her time to supporting the American Cancer Society's efforts in the battle against breast cancer. Not a victim of the disease herself, Kitty volunteers her time and image to promote the cause and encourages women to be screened and receive mammograms every year after the age of forty. - Additional Crew
- Editorial Department
- Visual Effects
Not all of our most important filmmakers are the most well-known. Hailed as a genius by Stanley Kubrick and described by Jonathan Demme as "the best designer of film titles in the country today," Pablo Ferro has distinguished himself in film for more than three decades as a director, editor and producer specializing in graphic design, special effects, sequences and main titles, trailers and print campaigns. A significant influence on the "look" of the 1960s, he may have had an even more decisive impact on the world of advertising. In addition to creating and designing some of the more striking TV and print ads of the decade (one highlight was creating the corporate logo or Burlington Mills with fast-moving multicolored stitching animation for a classic commercial campaign), Ferro helped bring the "hard-sell" visual razzmatazz of cutting-edge advertising techniques to Hollywood films that strove to reflect the changing social scene. Often pointed and satirical, much of his best film work has been in association with directors once allied, to varying degrees, with so-called countercultural values such as Kubrick. Ferro may be best known as an early master of quick-cutting and for using multiple images within the frame. In his commercials and title sequences, he would create a continuous flow of imagery that drew upon a wide range of graphic materials from various media. The goal was to sell a product, a movie or an idea by visualizing abstract concepts with a thought-provoking mixture of animation, live-action, clips from newsreels, still photographs and original art work. His style of montage seemed strangely apt for the dawn of the age of media overload; Ferro found the poetry in the potential cacophony of too much information. With a strong foundation in animation, Ferro was a filmmaker in his own right. He produced and helmed a number of experimental shorts, pioneered the use of video for narrative storytelling and did second unit work for a number of his assignments. Despite a decided fondness for high-tech, another Ferro trademark is his elongated hand-drawn lettering--such as in the title sequence of Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove"--which emphasized the all-too-human hand of the artist in the filmmaking process. Raised on a remote farm in Cuba, Ferro emigrated to NYC with his parents as a teen. In 1953, as a high school student, he began teaching himself animation techniques from a book by Preston Blair (a frequent collaborator with celebrated animation director Tex Avery at MGM) with which he and two Brooklynite friends joined Abe Liss to build their own animation boards and stand for their own modest animation studio. The teens were able to shoot artwork with a 16mm Bell and Howell camera that photographed single frames. The young Ferro expanded his interest in the cinema working as an usher in a 42nd Street theater that screened foreign films. Ferro sharpened his graphic sense working with Stan Lee (the future editor of Marvel Comics) at Atlas comics where, as a penciller, he churned out a reasonable series of EC-inspired horror, sci-fi and adventure stories before segueing into animation. He landed his first job at a studio that produced black-and-white commercials. There he got firsthand training from a legendary animator, former Disney veteran William Tytla, who was best known for animating the devil in "The Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of "Fantasia" (1940). Ferro learned his lessons well, graduated to animation director and toiled at various NYC-based animation houses. In 1997 Ferro had a stellar year, creating the title designs and sequences for the Oscar award winning films "Good Will Hunting", "As Good as It Gets", "L.A. Confidential" and "Men in Black". Some of his other credits for this time period include the remake of "Dr. Dolittle" (1998), Forrest Whitaker's "Hope Floats" (1998), and the HBO biopic "Winchell" (1998) which we are happy to report did received a Golden Globe Award as well as an Emmy. Also in 1998, Pablo entered into his 7th collaboration with Jonathan Demme on the Oscar nominated film "Beloved". In October of 1998, Pablo was honored with a Special Achievement Award, presented by Michael Cimino at an Award Presentation at the Directors Guild of America. A Night With Pablo Ferro, hosted by the Latino Committee of the DGA was well attended by the industries finest. Pablo's peers and admirers were there to congratulate him, and see a special montage of his work, and attend the reception following the award presentation. In his most recent collaboration with Sam Raimi and Kevin Costner, he created the nostalgic title sequence in "For Love of the Game" (1999). On the small screen, Pablo has created titles for HBO's "Witness Protection" (1999), the new NBC pilot M.Y.O.B. (2000), as well as the new FOX pilot "The Street" (2000), a Darren Singer Production. In addition, Pablo has again been recognized by his peers, and has won the DaimlerChrysler Design Award for Film Design in 1999. The Daimler Chrysler award has honored elegant and innovative task solving, in activities ranging from human-powered flight to compelling visual persuasion. Spouse - (1957-1967) Susan Aurora Ferro, Model, artist / Divorced Daughter - born c. 1965 Joy Michelle Moore, Business Manager, Publicist Son - born c. 1957 Allen Ferro, Film editor, screenwriter- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
In 1978, on graduating from the University of Paris, Samuel Hadida founded Metropolitan Filmexport through which he has distributed over 100 films in France and French-speaking territories including David Fincher's Se7en (1995), the number one box-office hit in France in 1996. In 1990, Hadida set up Davis Films to produce genuinely international projects such as Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), written by Quentin Tarantino (whose debut feature Reservoir Dogs he had distributed in France), and Roger Avary's Killing Zoe (1993).
Other films produced by Hadida include Sheldon Lettich's Only the Strong (1993), Christophe Gans' Crying Freeman (1995) and the co-directed H. P. Lovecraft's _Necronomicon (1994)_, Steve Barron's The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996), Matthew Bright's Freeway (1996), Gabriele Salvatores' Nirvana (1997) and Michael Haussman's _Rhinoceros Hunting in Budapest (1996)_. Hadida recently produced the epic fantasy blockbuster _Pacte des Loups, Le (2001)_ (Brotherhood of the Wolf), directed by Christophe Gans, a box-office hit in France, and Resident Evil (2002).- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
A native of Guangdong province with Hakka roots, Golden Harvest studio president Raymond Chow was born in Hong Kong and considered to be a role model for success as a product of the parochial Catholic education system from China's past. Having first attended the legendary St. Stephen's College Preparatory School for Boys in the Stanley peninsula, Chow would migrate to Shanghai after his father's death during his middle school years to attend Shanghai's prestigious St. John's Secondary school and then on to college as a journalism major at St. John's University prior to returning to Hong Kong in 1949. A notable item in Chow's early resume prior to show business was his working in the audio visual department for the US Foreign service where he was later promoted as the radio program coordinator for the Voice of America in Hong Kong. This exposure landed Chow into the Hong Kong offices of the Shaw family from Singapore to direct their newly formed public relations and publicity operations in anticipation of usurping market share domination for the former island colony's entertainment dollar firmly held by their big studio rival Cathay/MPG&I studios run by the Loke family also of Southeast Asia. History has it that Chow would be the key catalyst in helping elevate Shaw Brothers as the new corporate 'Taipan' studio that would go on to dominate Hong Kong entertainment circles for the next twenty five years that is, until Chow himself who along with his defecting publicity apprentice Leonard Ho, would leave Shaws in 1970 to found the upstart Golden Harvest studios across town ironically at the newly defunct Cathay/MPGI studios compound. Having recruited other past Shaw alumni like directors Lo Wei, Huang Feng, Wu Chia Hsiang, Wu Ma and John Woo and stars like Cheng Pei Pei, Wang Yu, Michael Hui, Bruce Lee and a young stunt player named Jackie Chan, Raymond Chow and Company along with a reach that would extend across the pond to Hollywood, would quickly rise to become Shaws' main rival as a serious contender to dominate the box office for at home and abroad from the mid-1970s to the present.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
- Director
Pierre Rissient was born on 4 August 1936 in Paris, France. He was an assistant director and director, known for Breathless (1960), Alibis (1977) and Cinq et la peau (1982). He was married to Yung Hee Song. He died on 5 May 2018.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
After harrowing experiences as a nurse at Sir Archibald McIndoe's pioneering plastic surgery hospital in East Grinstead, Anne Coates started to fulfil her long-held ambition to be a film director with a company called Religious Films. The work consisted of patching up prints of devotional shorts before sending them out to Britain's churches. This led to a job in the cutting room at Pinewood, where she worked on "The Red Shoes" among others before achieving her first screen credit with "The Pickwick Papers".- Additional Crew
Paul Bloch was a publicist and chairman of the PR agency Rogers & Cowan. He represented such top Hollywood talent as Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Michael Keaton and Eddie Murphy.
Bloch started in the mail room of Rogers & Cowan in 1961, after his service in the army. He spent his entire career of 58 years at R&C mentored by founders Henry Rogers and Warren Cowan, before he died in 2018 at the age of 78.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Shinobu Hashimoto was born on 18 April 1918 in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for The Hidden Fortress (1958), Harakiri (1962) and Ikiru (1952). He died on 19 July 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Richard Marks was born on 10 November 1943 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an editor and producer, known for As Good as It Gets (1997), Dick Tracy (1990) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He was married to Barbara Marks. He died on 31 December 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Stéphane Audran was born on November 8, 1932 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines], France as Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville. She was an actress, known for Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie (1972), Babettes Fest (1987) and Der Schlachter (1970). She was married to Claude Chabrol and Jean-Louis Trintignant. She died at the age of 85 on March 27, 2018 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France after an illness.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Robby Müller was born on 4 April 1940 in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Breaking the Waves (1996), Paris, Texas (1984) and Repo Man (1984). He died on 3 July 2018 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.- Producer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Craig Zadan was born on 15 April 1949 in Miami, Florida, USA. He was a producer, known for Footloose (1984), Chicago (2002) and Hairspray (2007). He died on 20 August 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Barbara Harris began acting while still a teenager in Chicago, playing small parts in the Playwrights Theatre Club (whose other players included such youngsters as Edward Asner, Mike Nichols and Elaine May). She was also in "The Compass Players", the first ongoing improvisational theater troupe in America, directed by her then-husband Paul Sills (who founded the theater based on principles created by his mother, Viola Spolin , the author of "Improvisation for the Theatre"). A more polished version of the Compass, called "The Second City", was an enormous hit in Chicago and was moved to Broadway, where she was nominated for a Tony. She starred in a series of notable stage productions, including "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"; "Oh Dad Poor Dad"; "The Apple Tree" (Tony Award, 1967) and "Mother Courage". Her film credits include major roles in A Thousand Clowns (1965), Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967), Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971), The War Between Men and Women (1972), Nashville (1975), Freaky Friday (1976), Family Plot (1976), Plaza Suite (1971), Movie Movie (1978), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), Second-Hand Hearts (1980), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), and TV appearances included episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and Middle Ages (1992).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Claude Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in Bois-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He was a director and writer, known for Shoah (1985), The Four Sisters (2018) and Israel, Why (1973). He was married to Dominique Lanzmann-Petithory, Angelika Schrobsdorff and Judith Magre. He died on 5 July 2018 in Paris, France.- Producer
- Actor
Martin Bregman was born on 18 May 1926 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Shadow (1994) and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002). He was married to Cornelia Sharpe and Elizabeth Driscoll. He died on 16 June 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Nelson Pereira dos Santos was born on 22 October 1928 in São Paulo, Brazil. He was a director and writer, known for Memórias do Cárcere (1984), O Amuleto de Ogum (1974) and Tenda dos Milagres (1977). He was married to Ivelise Ferreira. He died on 21 April 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.- Producer
- Director
- Animation Department
Will Vinton was born on 17 November 1947 in McMinnville, Oregon, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Closed Mondays (1974), Return to Oz (1985) and Martin the Cobbler (1977). He was married to Susan Shadburne, Gillian Allred and Bevan Vinton. He died on 4 October 2018 in Portland, Oregon, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in Mittelbau-Dora, a sub camp of Buchenwald, and his mother died in Auschwitz, at which Milos became an orphan very early on. He studied screen-writing at the Prague Film Academy (F.A.M.U.). In his Czechoslovakian films, Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), and The Firemen's Ball (1967), he created his own style of comedy. During the invasion of his country by the troops of the Warsaw pact in the summer of 1968, to stop the Prague spring, he left Europe for the United States. In spite of difficulties, he filmed Taking Off (1971) there and achieved his fame later with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) adapted from the novel of Ken Kesey, which won five Oscars, including one for best direction. Other important films of Milos Forman were the musical Hair (1979) and his biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus (1984), which won eight Oscars.- Cinematographer
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Witold Sobocinski is a Polish cinematographer, academic teacher as well as former jazz musician.
As a cinematographer he is best known for The Promised Land (1975) and Frantic (1988).
Sobocinski cooperated with several notable directors, including Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polanski.
His son Piotr Sobocinski (1958-2001) was also a cinematographer.- Make-Up Department
- Actor
- Writer
Daniel C. Striepeke was born on 8 October 1930 in Sonoma County, California, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Forrest Gump (1994), Cast Away (2000) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). He was married to Sherry Sexton. He died in January 2019 in West Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Penny Marshall was born Carole Penny Marshall on October 15, 1943 in Manhattan. The Libra was 5' 6 1/2", with brown hair and green eyes. She was the daughter of Marjorie (Ward), a tap dance teacher, and Anthony "Tony" Marshall, an industrial film director. She was the younger sister of filmmakers Garry Marshall and Ronny Hallin. Her father was of Italian descent, originally surnamed "Masciarelli," and her mother was of German, Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry.
Penny was known in her family as "the bad one"... because not only did she walk on the ledge of her family's apartment building, but she snuck into the movies as a child and even dated a guy named "Lefty." She attended a private girls' high school in New York and then went to the University of New Mexico for two and a half years. There, Penny got pregnant with daughter, Tracy Reiner, and soon after married the father, Michael Henry, in 1961. The couple divorced two years later in 1963. She worked as a secretary for awhile. Her film debut came from her brother Garry Marshall, who put her in the movie How Sweet It Is! (1968) with the talented Debbie Reynolds and James Garner. She also did a dandruff commercial with Farrah Fawcett - the casting people, of course, giving Farrah the part of the "beautiful girl" and Penny the part of the "plain girl." This only added to Penny's insecurity with her looks.
She then married Rob Reiner on April 10, 1971, shortly after getting her big television break as Oscar Madison's secretary, Myrna Turner, on The Odd Couple (1970). She also played Mary Richards' neighbor, Paula Kovacks, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) for a couple of episodes. However, her Laverne & Shirley (1976) fame came when her brother needed two women to play "fast girls" who were friends of Arthur Fonzarelli and would date Fonzie and Richie Cunningham on Happy Days (1974). Penny had been working on miscellaneous writing projects ("My Country Tis Of Thee", a bicentennial spoof for Francis Ford Coppola and "Paper Hands" about the Salem Witch Trials) with writing partner Cindy Williams. Cindy happened to be a friend and ex-girlfriend of Henry Winkler's, so Garry asked the two to play the parts of these girls. The audience saw their wonderful chemistry, and loved them so much, a spin-off was created for them.
Penny was well-known as Laverne DeFazio. She and Rob had divorced in 1980. The show ended three years later, half a year after Cindy Williams left the show due to pregnancy (her first baby, Emily, from now ex-husband Bill Hudson)... they wanted Williams to work the week she was supposed to deliver.
Soon after, Penny began directing such films as Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Big (1988) and A League of Their Own (1992). Her hobbies included needlepoint, jigsaw puzzles and antique shopping. She was best friends with actress Carrie Fisher and was godmother to Carrie's daughter, Billie.
Penny died at 75 in Los Angeles, California.- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Isao Takahata was born on 29 October 1935 in Ise, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Pom Poko (1994) and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013). He died on 5 April 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Stephen Vaughan has been working for the greatest directors of Hollywood since 1978. He is credited on the most famous movies - more than 60 -: Blade Runner, Rain Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Mr & Mrs Smith, Master and Commander, Mission Impossible, Man on Fire or Inception.
Stephen entered the world of photography through the darkroom. He shot Marcel Marceau for a theater magazine, and started taking any job offered with the belief that he'd figure it out or fix it in the darkroom.
Founding member of The Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers, A Single Frame. Vaughan was recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Camera Operators, also awarded the Publicist Award for Excellence in Unit Still photography for Motion Pictures in 2011.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He had cameo appearances in many Marvel film and television projects, with many yet to come, posthumously. A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Stan was married to Joan Lee for almost 70 years, until her death. The couple had two children. Joan died on July 6, 2017. Stan died on November 12, 2018, in LA.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Screenwriter, novelist, playwright, non-fiction author. Born in Highland Park, Illinois, USA, began his career as a novelist in 1957. Started writing screenplays in 1965 with "Masquerade". A two-time Academy Award Winner, he is one of the most successful screenwriters and script doctors in Hollywood.- Set Decorator
- Art Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
John M. Dwyer was born on 25 August 1935 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was a set decorator, known for Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Generations (1994) and The Thing (1982). He died on 15 September 2018 in Encinitas, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Dreamy Tab Hunter stood out in film history as one of the hottest teen idols of the 1950s era. With blond, tanned, surfer-boy good looks, he was artificially groomed and nicknamed "The Sigh Guy" by the Hollywood studio system, yet managed to continue his career long after his "golden boy" prime.
Hunter was born Arthur Kelm on July 11, 1931 in New York City, to Gertrude (Gelien) and Charles Kelm. His father was Jewish and his mother was a German Catholic immigrant. Following his parents' divorce, Hunter grew up in California with his mother, older brother Walter, and maternal grandparents, Ida (Sonnenfleth) and John Henry Gelien. His mother changed her sons' surnames to her maiden name, Gelien. Leaving school and joining the Coast Guard at age fifteen (he lied about his age), he was eventually discharged when the age deception was revealed. Returning home, his life-long passion for horseback riding led to a job with a riding academy.
Hunter's fetching handsomeness and trim, athletic physique eventually steered the Californian toward the idea of acting. An introduction to famed agent Henry Willson had Tab signing on the dotted line and what emerged, along with a major career, was the stage moniker of "Tab Hunter." Willson was also responsible with pointing hopeful Roy Fitzgerald towards stardom under the pseudonym Rock Hudson. With no previous experience Tab made his first, albeit minor, film debut in the racially trenchant drama The Lawless (1950) starring Gail Russell and Macdonald Carey. His only line in the movie was eventually cut upon release. It didn't seem to make a difference for he co-starred in his very next film, the British-made Island of Desire (1952) opposite a somewhat older (by ten years) Linda Darnell, which was set during WWII on a deserted, tropical South Seas isle. His shirt remained off for a good portion of the film, which certainly did not go unnoticed by his ever-growing legion of female (and male) fans.
Signed by Warner Bros., stardom was clinched a few years later with another WWII epic Battle Cry (1955), based on the Leon Uris novel, in which he again played a boyish soldier sharing torrid scenes with an older woman (this time Dorothy Malone, playing a love-starved Navy wife). Thoroughly primed as one of Hollywood's top beefcake commodities, the tabloid magazines had a field day initiating an aggressive campaign to "out" Hunter as gay, which would have ruined him. To combat the destructive tactics, Tab was seen escorting a number of Hollywood's lovelies at premieres and parties. In the meantime, he was seldom out of his military fatigues on film, keeping his fans satisfied in such popular dramas as The Sea Chase (1955), The Burning Hills (1956) and The Girl He Left Behind (1956)--the last two opposite the equally popular Natalie Wood. At around this time, Hunter managed to parlay his boy-next-door film celebrity into a singing career. He topped the charts for over a month with the single "Young Love" in 1957 and produced other "top 40" singles as well.
Like other fortunate celebrity-based singers such as Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen, his musical reign was brief. Out of it, however, came the most notable success of his film career top-billing as baseball fan Joe Hardy in the classic Faustian musical Damn Yankees (1958) opposite Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston, who recreated their devil-making Broadway roles. Musically, Tab may have been overshadowed but he brought with him major star power and the film became a crowd pleaser. He continued on with the William A. Wellman-directed Lafayette Escadrille (1958) as, yet again, a wholesome soldier, this time in World War I. More spicy love scenes came with That Kind of Woman (1959), an adult comedy-drama which focused on soldier Hunter and va-va-voom mistress Sophia Loren demonstrating some sexual chemistry on a train.
Seldom a favorite with the film critics, the 1960s brought about a career change for Tab. He begged out of his restrictive contract with Warners and ultimately paid the price. With no studio to protect him, he was at the mercy of several trumped-up lawsuits. Worse yet, handsome Troy Donahue had replaced him as the new beefcake on the block. With no film offers coming his way, he starred in his own series The Tab Hunter Show (1960), a rather featherweight sitcom that centered around his swinging bachelor pad. The series last only one season. On the positive side he clocked in with over 200 TV programs over the long stretch and was nominated for an Emmy award for his outstanding performance opposite Geraldine Page in a Playhouse 90 episode. Following the sparkling film comedy The Pleasure of His Company (1961) opposite Debbie Reynolds, the quality of his films fell off drastically as he found himself top-lining such innocuous fare as Operation Bikini (1963), Ride the Wild Surf (1964) (1965), City in the Sea (1965) [aka War-Gods of the Deep], and Birds Do It (1966) both here and overseas.
As for stage, a brief chance to star on Broadway happened in 1964 alongside the highly volatile Tallulah Bankhead in Tennessee Williams's "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore." It lasted five performances. He then started to travel the dinner theater circuit. Enduring a severe lull, Tab bounced back in the 1980s and 1990s -- more mature, less wholesome, but ever the looker. He gamely spoofed his old clean-cut image by appearing in delightfully tasteless John Waters' films as a romantic dangling carrot to heavyset transvestite "actress" Divine. Polyester (1981) was the first mainstream hit for Waters and Tab went on to team up with Allan Glaser to co-produce and co-star a Waters-like western spoof Lust in the Dust (1984).
Co-starring with "Exorcist" star Linda Blair in the bizarre horror film Grotesque (1988), Tab's last on-camera appearance would be in a small role in the film Dark Horse (1992), which he produced. He preferred spending most of his time secluded on his ranch and breeding horses. In 2005, he returned to the limelight when he "came out" with a tell-all memoir on his Hollywood years. His long-time partner was film producer Allan Glaser.
Tab died on July 8, 2018, in Santa Barbara, California, three days shy of his 87th birthday.- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actress
Yvonne Blake was born on 17 April 1940 in Manchester, England, UK. She was a costume designer and actress, known for Superman (1978), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and Goya's Ghosts (2006). She was married to Gil Carretero. She died on 17 July 2018 in Madrid, Spain.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
- Cinematographer
When he made his directorial debut in 1970, Nicolas Roeg was already a 23-year veteran of the British film industry, starting out in 1947 as an editing apprentice and working his way up to cinematographer twelve years later. He first came to attention as part of the second unit on David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), with Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death (1964) two years later containing his first really distinctive solo work. He went on to photograph films for such distinguished directors as François Truffaut (Fahrenheit 451 (1966)), John Schlesinger (Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)) and Richard Lester (Petulia (1968)) before his sensational directorial debut in 1968. Co-directed with writer (and painter) Donald Cammell, Performance (1970) was intended to be a simple-minded star vehicle for Mick Jagger and Warner Bros were so horrified when they saw the final multi-layered kaleidoscope of sex, violence, and questions of identity that they delayed its release for two years. Roeg went to Australia for his solo debut as director (Walkabout (1971)), which was also his last film as cinematographer, and throughout the next decade he produced a world-class body of work (Don't Look Now (1973); The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976); Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)) that revealed his uniquely off-kilter view of the world, expressed through fragmented, dislocated images and a highly original yet strangely accessible approach to narrative. He married the star of Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980), the elegant Theresa Russell who would play the female lead in nearly all his subsequent films, though these have generally found less favor with critics and audiences, and the release of both Eureka (1983) and Cold Heaven (1991) was severely restricted due to problems with the films' distributors.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Veteran Broadway, TV and film actor James Karen was encouraged as a young man to take up an acting career by U.S. Congressman Daniel J. Flood, who was an amateur actor himself. In 1947 Karen made his Broadway debut in "A Streetcar Named Desire", which led to appearances in over 20 Broadway productions. His television work began in 1948 with the telecast of "A Christmas Carol", directed by pioneer television producer / director Fred Coe. Since then he has acted in over 100 television shows, including a stint as as Chief Justice Michael Bancroft on First Monday (2002) for CBS. In 1965 he began his film work in the low-budget sci-fi "epic" Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965) and now has an impressive resume of over 80 movies to his credit. He has also filmed a record-breaking 5,000+ television commercials, most while a spokesperson for the Pathmark Supermarket chain in the northeast US. He has been honored with the "Saturn Award" for Lifetime Achievement given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He has also been presented "The Buster Award", by The International Buster Keaton Society. This award is given to the person who has demonstrated professional excellence in the tradition of Buster Keaton.- Sound Department
Gregg Rudloff was born on 2 November 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is known for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Matrix (1999) and Green Lantern (2011). He was married to Sue. He died on 6 January 2019 in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
Gloria Katz was born on 25 October 1942 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for Howard the Duck (1986), American Graffiti (1973) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). She was married to Willard Huyck. She died on 25 November 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Cinematographer
Bruno Ganz was an acclaimed Swiss actor who was a prominent figure in German language film and television for over fifty years. He is internationally renowned for portraying Adolf Hitler in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall (2004).
Ganz was born in Zürich, to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university. He debuted at the theatre in 1961, and gained a reputation as a reflective, charismatic and technically brilliant stage actor. In 1970, he and Peter Stein founded the theatre company 'Schaubühne' in Berlin, Germany. On stage, Ganz portrayed Dr. Heinrich Faust in Peter Stein's staging of Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two in 2000.
In cinema, Ganz became one of the best-known and most acclaimed actors in the German language, collaborating with many of the most respected European actors and directors of his time. He also starred in international features that reached a global audience. His film debut was The Gentleman in the Black Derby (1960). He also starred in Unknown (2011), The Counselor (2013), and The Party (2017).
Ganz died from cancer on 16 February 2019 at his home in the village of Au, in Wädenswil, Switzerland.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Producer
Audrey Wells was born on 25 January 1960 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for The Hate U Give (2018), Guinevere (1999) and George of the Jungle (1997). She was married to Brian Lane Larky, John James Radzik, Jeffrey D Robinson and Mr Wells. She died on 4 October 2018 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The son of a Lancashire bookmaker, Albert Finney came to motion pictures via the theatre. In 1956, he won a scholarship to RADA where his fellow alumni included Peter O'Toole and Alan Bates. He joined the Birmingham Repertory where he excelled in plays by William Shakespeare. A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Finney understudied Laurence Olivier at Stratford-upon-Avon, eventually acquiring a reputation as 'the new Olivier'. He first came to critical attention by creating the title role in Keith Waterhouse's "Billy Liar" on the London stage. His film debut soon followed with The Entertainer (1960) by Tony Richardson with whom had earlier worked in the theatre. With the changing emphasis in 60s British cinema towards gritty realism and working-class milieus, Finney's typical screen personae became good-looking, often brooding proletarian types and rebellious anti-heroes as personified by his Arthur Seaton in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). His exuberant defining role, however, was in the bawdy period romp Tom Jones (1963) in which Finney revealed a substantial talent for comedy. In the same vein, he scored another hit opposite Audrey Hepburn in the charming marital comedy Two for the Road (1967).
By 1965, Finney had branched out into production, setting up Memorial Enterprises in conjunction with Michael Medwin. In 1968, he directed himself in Charlie Bubbles (1968) and three years later produced the Chandleresque homage Gumshoe (1971), in which he also starred as Eddie Ginley, a bingo-caller with delusions of becoming a private eye. From 1972 to 1975, Finney served as artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. His intermittent forays to the screen confirmed him as a versatile international actor of note, though not what one might describe as a mainstream star. His roles have ranged from Ebenezer Scrooge in the musical version of Scrooge (1970) to Daddy Warbucks in Annie (1982) and (in flamboyant over-the-top make-up) Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (1974). He appeared as Minister of Police Joseph Fouché in Ridley Scott's superb period drama The Duellists (1977) and as a grandiloquent Shakespearean actor in The Dresser (1983) for which he received an Oscar nomination. For the small screen Finney essayed Pope John Paul II (1984) and was a totally believable Winston Churchill in the acclaimed The Gathering Storm (2002). His final movie credit was in the James Bond thriller Skyfall (2012).
Finney was five-times nominated for Academy Awards in 1964, 1975, 1984, 1985 and 2001. He won two BAFTA Awards in 1961 and 2004. True to his working-class roots, he spurned a CBE in 1980 and a knighthood in 2000, later explaining his decision by stating that the 'Sir thing' "slightly perpetuates one of our diseases in England, which is snobbery". Albert Finney was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2011. He died on February 7 2019 at a London hospital from a chest infection at the age of 82. Upon his death, John Cleese described him as "the best" and "our greatest actor".