Deaths: June 1
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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rocío Jurado was born on 18 September 1940 in Chipiona, Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain. She was an actress, known for La Lola se va a los puertos (1993), Proceso a una estrella (1966) and La querida (1976). She was married to José Ortega Cano and Pedro Carrasco. She died on 1 June 2006 in Madrid, Spain.- Music Department
Andrew Massey was born on 1 May 1946 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is known for Billy Elliot (2014) and The Final Curtain (2002). He was married to Sabra. He died on 1 June 2018 in Vermont, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ann B. Davis made her debut in show business at age 6 earning $2.00 in a puppet show. At the University of Michigan, Ann planned to study medicine but got the acting bug from her brother who was the lead dancer in the national company of "Oklahoma" for over a year. Ann then spent six years in little theaters, stock companies, touring musicals, and such until she got her break as "Schultzie", the secretary on "The Bob Cummings Show." Before Hollywood, Ann spent a summer at the Cain Park Theater and, during a year at the Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pennsylvania, she studied everything about show production and played dozens of roles ranging from teenagers to characters over 60. In 1949, she arrived at Porterville, California and spent three years at the Barn theater.
She then moved down the coast to Monterey, where she appeared at the Wharf theater. From there she decided to try Hollywood. Anne has also played many parts on stage including "The Women", "Twelfth Night", "Dark Of The Moon", and others. Her mother, Marguerite Scott Davis, appeared with professional stock companies for over thirty years.- Arlene Grayson was born on 2 March 1950 in New York, USA. She was a producer, known for The Torkelsons (1991), Boy Meets World (1993) and My Two Dads (1987). She died on 1 June 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Camille Billops started as a sculptor and painter, became a filmmaker, and amassed a treasure trove of books, documents, and photographs related to black culture.She was born in Los Angeles in 1933 and studied art at the University of Southern California there and later switched to childhood education, the field in which she got her degree in 1960, at California State University.Her putting up her daughter Christa for adoption two years later, because she did not want to be a mother, became a source of controversy, especially when Billops later made a documentary about their reunion.In this period and into the 197os, with a white scholar of black theater in New York City named James V. Hatch who would become her husband, she presided over a 4,000 square feet artistic loft in the Soho neighborhood of that city which served as a hub for collaborations, a salon for musicians and other performers.A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts allowed her and Hatch to record over 1,200 oral histories about black artists.These interviews and the other material she and her husband collected are now houses at Emory University.Billops died in Manhattan on June 1st of 2019.- Cris Miró was born on 16 September 1967 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for The Plague (1992), Videomatch (1990) and Dios los cría (1991). She died on 1 June 1999 in Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Actor
- Transportation Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
"Got a smoke?" Darwin Joston secured himself a permanent place in cult movie history with that particular laconically witty line as laid-back Death Row-bound convict Napoleon Wilson in John Carpenter's outstanding urban action thriller classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). Wilson was undoubtedly Joston's best role, and he played it with exceptional skill: mellow, low-key and disarmingly casual with a cool sense of dry ironic humor and a wickedly funny way with a sardonic wisecrack. Joston's terrific portrayal of the acidic and fatalistic Wilson should have led to bigger and better things. Alas, it did not.
He was born as Francis Darwin Solomon on December 9, 1937, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His parents were Mary Elizabeth Smith and Buford Odell Solomon. Joston attended Glenn High School in Kernersville, North Carolina, where he was considered a talented athlete. Following graduation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1960, Darwin moved to New York and began acting in stage plays and summer stock productions for about five years in the early to mid 1960s. He then moved to Los Angeles to continue his acting career.
Compared to his substantial starring role in "Assault on Precinct 13," most of Joston's other film parts were relatively small: he's an ill-fated soldier in the dreadful killer snake dud Rattlers (1976), a beleaguered pencil-factory clerk in Eraserhead (1977), a drunken truck driver in Coast to Coast (1980), a coroner in the splendidly spooky The Fog (1980) and a typically relaxed FBI agent in the entertainingly crummy science-fiction/horror hoot Time Walker (1982) (Joston was reunited with his fellow "Assault on Precinct 13" cast member Austin Stoker in this latter picture).
Joston also did guest spots on such TV shows as ALF (1986), Hill Street Blues (1981), Remington Steele (1982), Spenser: For Hire (1985), The Rookies (1972), McCloud (1970), Circle of Fear (1972), Ironside (1967), The Rat Patrol (1966), Lassie (1954) (in which he had a recurring role) and The Virginian (1962). In addition to his acting credits, Joston worked behind-the-scenes as either a driver or a transportation captain on such features as The American President (1995), Wild at Heart (1990), La Bamba (1987), Back to the Beach (1987), The Ladies Club (1985), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and The Buddy Holly Story (1978).
Darwin Joston died of leukemia on June 1, 1998. Although he's no longer with us, Joston nonetheless will forever live on in our hearts and memories as the supremely amiable, if notorious, killer criminal Napoleon Wilson. "Anybody got a smoke?"- Actor
- Soundtrack
The man most of us know by his unmistakable, calming yet disturbed raspy voice was born Davis Eli Ruffin on January 18, 1941, in Whynot, Mississippi. His father, Eli Ruffin, was a Baptist minister. Only months after his birth his mother Ophelia Ruffin died, and his father later remarried, to a schoolteacher.
David began singing and touring at a very young age with his father and siblings in a gospel group. Leaving home at 13 to pursue the ministry, it was David's select showmanship that caught the eyes of some in the secular music industry. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan, and was signed to Anna Records in 1960 and then Check-Mate Records in 1961. David didn't have hits with either label, but they were good showcases for his vocal ability and talent. In 1964 he joined The Temptations, who had yet to chart a hit, at Motown Records. The "Tempts"' hitless status changed in March of 1965 with the classic "My Girl", on which David sang lead. The song stayed at #1 for eight weeks, and the rest is history. The same showmanship that brought David into the R&B industry caught the attention of fans around the world. His stage performance was dynamic. His dramatic hand gestures and slipping out of chorus to fall to his knees wasn't all this tall, slender man wearing black-framed glasses could do. His voice proved to be powerful, as he went on to sing lead on Temptations hits that brought joy and happiness in the turbulent times of the 1960s. These times also proved to be turbulent for the group, however. Tensions arose when David asked for billing before the group, a practice common among vocal groups of the time. Not only did David not get his name above the group's, but he was dismissed from the group in 1968. He was Still under contract at Motown, though, and his solo career got off to a promising start with the ballad "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me"). Subsequent releases failed, however, as did duets with his brother Jimmy Ruffin. Few of the songs charted and he blamed Motown for not properly promoting his music. In 1979 he left the label and went to Warner Brothers, where his career unfortunately went into a complete decline.
He later rejoined The Temptations for a reunion tour, but after that he fell obscurity, and his personal life also took a downward spiral when it came to light that he was suffering from substance abuse and depression. He eventually reunited with former Temptations colleague Eddie Kendricks (who was now also a solo artist) in 1986, and they began touring and performing with 'Artists Against Apartheid', Live-Aid, and Hall & Oates. In 1989 Otis Williams was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and David and Eddie begin touring with ex-Temptation Dennis Edwards. Weeks after the tour ended, David was dropped off at a Philadelphia hospital and an hour later the man who sang the biographical tune "Statue Of a Fool" from every bit of his heart and soul was pronounced dead. While the official cause of death was ruled a cocaine overdose, his family has come to believe that foul play was involved. When the world lost David Ruffin, it lost a life too short-lived, a heavenly voice, and a whimsical, charismatic man. He had one of the most recognizable voices in music. The joy and sadness in his songs can be felt by all. David's voice will continue to bridge the generation gap just as it crossed the color lines in the sixties and seventies. Legends are never forgotten and David Ruffin IS a musical LEGEND.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
David Spielberg was born on 6 March 1939 in Weslaco, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Christine (1983), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and The American Girls (1978). He was married to Janie Glassman Tutelman and Barbara Gladstone. He died on 1 June 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Eddie Smith was born on 1 December 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Live and Let Die (1973), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Predator 2 (1990). He died on 1 June 2005 in San Diego, California, USA.- Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater was born on 10 January 1935 in Macon, Mississippi, USA. He was married to Earlean Harrington and Renee Greenman. He died on 1 June 2018 in Skokie, Illinois, USA.
- Egon Hoegen was born on 28 September 1928 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was an actor, known for Journal 1870/71 - Täglicher Telegraph (1970), Express (1968) and Ei verbibbsch - Das Comedy Kombinat (2004). He was married to Dorotea. He died on 1 June 2018 in Germany.
- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Spent her later years portraying Susan Lucci's much-beleaguered mother on the long-running daytime soap opera, All My Children. Susan Lucci loved her in real life and consequently portrayed the grief-stricken daughter quite convincingly when Frances Heflin's character died (upon the actual death of Ms. Heflin). Although she bore a slight resemblance to her more-famous brother Van, one would not realize this resemblance without knowing her last name.- Frank Birney was born on 10 September 1937 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Dave (1993), Mr. Mom (1983) and Critters 2: The Main Course (1988). He was married to Betty G. Birney. He died on 1 June 2021 in Studio City, California, USA.
- George Martin was born on 15 August 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990) and Léon: The Professional (1994). He was married to Katherine Helmond. He died on 1 June 2010 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
- Georgina Ward was born on 13 March 1941 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Pride and Prejudice (1967), The Man Who Finally Died (1963) and The Avengers (1961). She was married to Patrick Tritton and Alastair Forbes. She died in 2010 in Mexico.
- Helen Keller contracted a virulent childhood disease which resulted in complete loss of sight and hearing at nineteen months. Her parents futilely sought help for her, as did family friend Alexander Graham Bell. Finally, when Keller was seven, Annie Sullivan, a young teacher, was hired by the family. Through a system involving a constant physical contact with Sullivan, a touch alphabet "spelled" into Keller's hand, persistence, faith, and love - detailed in The Miracle Worker (1962) - Keller suddenly and amazingly understood; she quickly and efficiently learned language, and the world opened to her. She asked to be taught to speak at the age of ten. With Sullivan's important emotional and intellectual support, Keller's development took off. Keller graduated - cum laude - from Radcliffe College in 1904. Sullivan was her companion until her death in 1936. Helen Keller wrote prolifically, traveled widely, lectured on various personal, political, and academic topics, and was awarded numerous honorary degrees from universities around the world. She died in 1968, one of the most famous and widely-admired women of our time.
- Hugo Pimentel was born on 25 January 1919 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Una mujer sin importancia (1945), La mano que aprieta (1953) and Estefanía (1979). He was married to María Luisa Lamata. He died on 1 June 1984 in Caracas, Venezuela.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Janine Reiss was born on 23 November 1921 in Paris, France. She is known for Carmen (1984), Le voyage dans la lune (1986) and Nabucco, Opéra en quatre actes (1994). She died on 1 June 2020 in Saint-Arnoult, Calvados, France.- Writer
- Additional Crew
John Julius Norwich was born on 15 September 1929 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Spying on the Royals (2017), Spirit of the Age (1975) and Chronicle (1966). He was married to Mary Makins and Anne Frances May Clifford. He died on 1 June 2018 in the UK.- In 1958, at the age of just seventeen, the beautiful Jose' Greci was chosen by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to play the role of the Virgin Mary in "Ben-Hur" which was to be filmed at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, thus assuring her of a great deal of publicity in newsreels and magazines of the day. Although international stardom surprisingly eluded her, she remained busy throughout the 1960s starring in low-budget Italian sword n' sandal epics, spy and crime thrillers and Television work. (See filmography below). Also used the pseudonym Carolyn Davys.
- Ken Clark was born on 4 June 1927 in Neffs, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), Missione speciale Lady Chaplin (1966) and None But the Lonely Spy (1964). He was married to Bette Lola Eileen Kruger. He died on 1 June 2009 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
- Known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," Leyah "Leah" Lange Chase has fed Quincy Jones, Jesse Jackson, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall, James Baldwin, Ray Charles, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and countless others as Executive Chef of Dooky Chase's Restaurant - one of the best-known and most culturally significant restaurants in New Orleans. Leah Chase has more recently served as the inspiration for Princess Tiana in Disney's Princess and the Frog.
Born on January 6, 1923 in New Orleans, Chase was one of 14 children. She was raised in nearby Madisonville, LA. At the time, there were no catholic high schools for black girls in Madisonville, so after sixth grade, Chase moved to New Orleans to live with an aunt so that she could attend school. After high school, her favorite job was waiting tables in the French Quarter. It was here that she developed her love for food and feeding others.
In 1945, she met local musician Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr., whose father had opened a street corner stand selling lottery tickets and his wife's homemade po'boy sandwiches. The couple married in 1946 and eventually took over the business, which had become a sit-down restaurant and a favorite local gathering place.
In a town deeply divided by segregation, the Dooky Chase Restaurant was one of the only public places in New Orleans where mixed race groups could meet to discuss strategy for the local Civil Rights Movement. Such gatherings were illegal through most of the 1960s, but Dooky Chase's was so popular it would have caused a public uproar if local law enforcement had interrupted the meetings. Black voter registration campaign organizers, the NAACP, backdoor political meetings and countless others often found a home at Dooky Chase's, and Leah cooked for them all.
Chase is also a patron of art and her collection - displayed on the walls of her restaurant - was at one time considered New Orleans' best collection of African American art. She served on the board of the New Orleans Museum of Fine Arts until her death, and she has even testified before Congress to lobby for greater funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. She has participated in countless political campaigns and has used her culinary talents and celebrity status to raise money for a myriad of charities and services. Her cookbooks, including The Dooky Chase Cookbook, And Still I Cook, and Leah Chase: Listen, I Say Like This, are popular and have received great praise among her most famous colleagues.
Chase has received many awards, including multiple awards from the NAACP, the New Orleans Times-Picayune 1997 Loving Cup Award, the Weiss Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Outstanding Woman Award from the National Council of Negro Women. Chase was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. She was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2000. Chase received honorary degrees from Tulane University, Dillard University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Madonna College, Loyola University New Orleans, and Johnson & Wales University. She is also the recipient of the Francis Anthony Drexel Medal, the highest award presented to an individual by Xavier University of Louisiana. The medal is not presented annually. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana named a permanent gallery in Chase's honor in 2009. She also serves on many boards, including the Arts Council of New Orleans, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Urban League. She is member of the Women of The Storm and the International Women's Forum. She has four children, sixteen grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren.
Many were attracted to her warmth and mastery of culinary arts, that to this day still excite the minds of those she served. Ray Charles sang about her, and National and International Presidents have sought her out, but in all her ability to excite the palates of Leaders she has remained steadfast in her ministry to all. - Lee Grosscup was born on 27 December 1936 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), The NFL on CBS (1956) and AFL on ABC (1960). He died on 1 June 2020 in Alameda, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Leslie Howard Steiner was born in London to Lilian (Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" Steiner. His father was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and his English mother was of German Jewish and mostly English descent. Leslie went to Dulwich College, then worked as a bank clerk until the outbreak of World War I, when he went into the army. In 1917, diagnosed as shell-shocked, he was invalided out and advised to take up acting as therapy. In a few years, his name was famous on the stages of London and New York. He made his first movie in 1914: (The Heroine of Mons (1914)). He became known as the perfect Englishman (slim, tall, intellectual, and sensitive), a part that he played in many movies which set women to dreaming about him. His first sound movie came out in 1930: Outward Bound (1930), an adaptation of the stage play in which he starred. In Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931) and Smilin' Through (1932), he played the Englishman role to the hilt. His screen persona could perhaps best be summed up by his role as Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), a foppish society gentleman.
It was Howard who insisted that Humphrey Bogart get the role of Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role that Bogart had played in the stage production. As he became more successful, he also became quite picky about which roles he would do, and usually performed in only two films a year. In 1939, he played the character that will always be associated with him, that of Ashley Wilkes, the honor-bound, disillusioned intellectual Southern gentleman, in Gone with the Wind (1939).
However, war clouds were gathering over England, and he devoted all his energy on behalf of the war effort. He directed films, wrote articles and made radio broadcasts. He died in 1943, when the KLM plane he was in was shot down by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay.- Maria Martika was born on 15 May 1932 in Athens, Greece. She was an actress, known for The Children of the Swallow (1987), To theatro tis Defteras (1970) and Mia trelli... trelli oikogeneia (1965). She died on 1 June 2018 in Athens, Greece.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Meg Wynn Owen was born on 8 November 1939 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Gosford Park (2001), Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Scoop (2006). She was married to William Wright. She died on 16 July 2022 in Cardiff, Wales, UK.- Melanie Pillman was born on 23 September 1965. She was married to Brian Pillman and Steven Michael King. She died on 1 June 2022 in the USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Casting Director
Michael Fox first "trod the boards" in grade school plays in his hometown of Yonkers, New York. After toying with the idea of becoming a history teacher, Fox did "something as foreign to my nature as one could think of", becoming a "boomer" (a migratory railroad worker) and taking jobs as a brakeman with various lines. His interest in acting was rekindled in the mid-'40s and he appeared in several "little theater" plays in Los Angeles. An acting-directing stint in a Players Ring production of "Home of the Brave" caught the eye of Harry Sauber, an associate of exploitation mogul "Jungle Sam" Sam Katzman, and Fox landed his first film role (A Yank in Indo-China (1952)). He appeared in dozens of movies (and innumerable TV episodes) in the decades since; one of his regular TV roles was as the coroner in the courtroom drama Perry Mason (1957).- Michel Serres was born on 1 September 1930 in Agen, France. He was an actor and writer, known for L'enfant hors-taxes (1997), La légende des sciences (1997) and La grande allure (2e partie) (1985). He died on 1 June 2019 in Paris, France.
- Actor
- Producer
Mike Lane was born on 6 January 1933 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Harder They Fall (1956), Ulysses Against Hercules (1962) and Frankenstein 1970 (1958). He died on 1 June 2015 in Palmdale, California, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
Miroslav Skorik was born on 13 June 1938 in Lwów, Lwowskie, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was a composer, known for Taras. Homecoming (2019), Anton (2019) and Khlib i sil (1971). He died on 1 June 2020 in Kyiv, Ukraine.- Pat Dye was born on 6 November 1939 in Blythe, Georgia, USA. He died on 1 June 2020 in Auburn, Alabama, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Peg LaCentra, born in 1910, grew up in Boston. She very briefly attended the New England Conservatory of Music, studying piano. She also attended the Katharine Gibbs Finishing School and the Fenway Academy of Dramatic Art, as her early goal was to become an actress. Before moving to New York in 1931, she was an announcer at Boston radio station WNAC. Once she hit New York, she soon joined NBC as a singer and actress.
While singing with Dick McDonough's Orchestra on "The Mell-O-Roll Ice Cream Show," in 1936, Peg met Artie Shaw, then a sideman with McDonough. Shaw told her he was organizing his own orchestra and needed a singer. She joined Shaw in the summer of 1936, performing at the Lexington Hotel, the Paramount Theater in New York and on recordings. After Shaw's band broke up about a year later, she sang on radio with Benny Goodman. She and Goodman did not get along, and she quickly rejoined Artie Shaw when he formed another orchestra.
Although a good singer, Peg recorded very little; her recording output is confined to the 1930s. She recorded under her own name and, in addition to Shaw, with the orchestras of Victor Young and Johnny Green. In 1939, she was given her own program on NBC, "The Peg LaCentra Show."
She later appeared in a number of films and episodic TV, particularly dubbing non-singing actresses. The most famous of these are Susan Hayward in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) and Ida Lupino in The Man I Love (1946) and Escape Me Never (1947). She appeared (as herself) singing in the background of Joan Crawford's Humoresque (1946).
In 1939, Peg married radio actor Paul Stewart, an original member of Orson Welles' "Mercury Theater of the Air." They remained married until his death in 1986. She passed away of a heart attack on June 1, 1996, at her home in Los Angeles. She was 86.- Poldy Bird was a writer, known for Días de ilusión (1980), Juventud acumulada (2016) and Claudia y yo (1966). He died on 1 June 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Poldy Bird
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Before achieving his greatest fame in the 1950s as television's "Robin Hood", handsome Richard Greene had a significant if largely unremarkable film career, turning in several skillful leading man performances in the late 1930s before becoming type-cast in routine costume adventures. Like his friendly rival, Tyrone Power, Greene's good looks aided his entry into films but ultimately proved detrimental to his development as a film actor.
A descendant of four generations of actors, Richard Marius Joseph Greene seemed destined for a career as a movie actor. Born August 25, 1918 (Some sources list his birth-date as 1914) in the port city of Plymouth, Devonshire, England, Greene was educated at the Cardinal Vaughn School in Kensington. At an early age, he became determined to pursue the acting profession, making his stage debut in 1933 at the Old Vic as a spear carrier in a production of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". By this time, the formerly gawky teenager was rapidly maturing into an exceedingly good-looking young man with an athletic build, dark wavy hair, and a pleasant speaking voice. So handsome was he that in between acting gigs, he supplanted his income as a shirt and hat model.
After a small role in a 1934 revival of "Journey's End and a bit part in the British musical film, Sing As We Go! (1934), Greene joined the Brandon Thomas Repertory Company in 1936, travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles in a variety of productions. His first major break came in 1936 when he won accolades on the London stage as the juvenile lead in Terence Rattigan's "French Without Tears", which brought him to the attention of Alexander Korda and then Darryl F. Zanuck. Fox signed the youngster in January, 1938, brought him to America, and immediately cast him in his first film: as the youngest of four brothers in John Ford's Four Men and a Prayer (1938). His excellent reviews and camera-friendly physical appearance (which inspired mountains of fan mail from adoring feminine moviegoers) convinced Zanuck to rush Greene into a series of top-notch films which showed him to advantage, and might have been the springboard to more substantive roles and super-stardom had fate and World War II not intervened.
Greene gave several notable performances as a Fox contractor. He was a banker's son-turned-horse trainer in the popular horse-breeding epic, Kentucky (1938), a murdered baronet's son in the eerie "Sherlock Holmes" mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), a college student estranged from his alcoholic father in Here I Am a Stranger (1939), and steamboat inventor Robert Fulton in the fanciful historical drama, Little Old New York (1940). At the peak of his popularity, with a growing resume of critically acclaimed film work, and fan mail rivaling Fox's number one heartthrob, Tyrone Power, Greene abandoned his studio contract in 1940 and returned to his homeland to aid in the war effort: an admirable personal decision which would have negative professional consequences. Enlisting in the Royal Armoured Corps of the Twenty-Seventh Lancers, he distinguished himself throughout World War II, eventually becoming a captain. He was discharged in December, 1944. During the war, he was given three furloughs to appear in British propaganda features. After the conflict ended, Greene and his young bride, beautiful British actress, Patricia Medina (whom he married in 1941) remained in England for a time, where both appeared on stage and in British movies. Richard's films included the charming comedy, Don't Take It to Heart! (1944), and the disappointing biopic, Showtime (1946).
In 1946, the ambitious Greene (accompanied by his wife who'd been offered a Fox contract) returned to Hollywood hoping to take up where he'd left off. After his dreams of regaining his lost momentum did not materialize, he opted to take whatever film work he could find. After landing a solid supporting role in the wildly popular costumer, Forever Amber (1947), he found himself cast as a swashbuckling hero in a long series of films, the most memorable of which was The Black Castle (1952), in which the heroic Greene battled an evil one-eyed Bavarian count. By the 1950s, the increasingly restless actor turned away from filmmaking in favor of the stage and television. His TV credits of the period included memorable performances on several live drama series including Studio One (1948) and The United States Steel Hour (1953). In 1955, Yeoman Films of Great Britain approached the still-youthful-looking middle-aged star to play the legendary "Robin of Locksley" in a proposed series, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), aimed at the American market. The disillusioned, newly divorced (in 1951), financially strapped actor eagerly signed on. The result was one of the most memorable and successful series of the decade, lasting five years, consisting of 143 half-hour episodes which made Greene a major television star and a rich man.
After the series ended, the veteran actor purchased an Irish country estate and settled into a life of leisure with his new wife, Brazilian heiress, Beatriz Summers. Together, they pursued many of his hobbies including travelling, sailing, and breeding champion horses. By the 1960s and 1970s, Greene appeared less and less interested in his profession, only occasionally accepting acting work. His latter films were mostly forgettable action adventures and horrors. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1980. Two years later, he suffered serious injuries in a fall followed by a diagnosis of a brain tumor. In the autumn of 1982, he underwent brain surgery from which he never fully recovered. Richard Greene died in Norfolk, England on June 1, 1985, from cardiac arrest following a fall. He was survived by a daughter by his second marriage.
Although his movie career was ultimately a disappointment to him, he eventually came to accept, and even embrace his cinematic fate as a swashbuckling hero. "This swashbuckler stuff is a bit rough on the anatomy", he revealed in a 1950s interview, "but I find it more exhilarating than whispering mishmash into some ingénue's pink little ear". Of his most famous swashbuckling role, "Robin Hood", Greene expressed a special fondness and pride. "Kids love pageantry and costume plays. But the most important thing is: Robin can be identified with any American hero. He's the British Hopalong!".- Roberto De Vicenzo was born on 14 April 1923 in Villa Ballester, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was married to Delia. He died on 1 June 2017 in Ranelagh, Berazategui, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Rockin' Rebel is known for BWO Wrestling (2005) and POWW: Powerful Women of Wrestling (1987).
- Actor
- Writer
Roy Barraclough began his career as a draughtsman, taking time off to work as an entertainer in a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight. Combining his day job with local amateur theatre for several years, he was eventually offered a full-time acting contract by repertory theatre producer Nita Valerie with her company in Huddersfield. Barraclough regularly appeared on stage and at times played piano in the pit, including for comedian Hylda Baker.
Barraclough later joined the repertory company at Stoke (appearing alongside Ben Kingsley) and then Oldham in 1966, appearing alongside Barbara Knox and Anne Kirkbride, who later both became colleagues on Coronation Street (1960). Whilst at Oldham he made his first TV appearances for Granada Television, including Coronation Street in 1964.
In 1969, he was cast as Harry Everitt in Yorkshire Television's first soap opera Castle Haven with Kathy Staff as his on-screen wife. Although the soap only lasted a year, Barraclough became a regular guest actor on YTV shows. It was whilst having lunch in the canteen there that he was asked to stand in for a missing actor on the first series of The Les Dawson Show. It was the start of a working relationship which would last many years both at YTV and the BBC. Barraclough appeared in the Jack Rosenthal sitcom The Lovers (1970) playing a grumpy barman. He played a similar role in the Rising Damp episode ("Pink Carnations", 1978) and also appeared in ITV's sitcom George & Mildred (1976).
Throughout the 1970s, he formed a partnership with comedian Les Dawson. They played two grotesque old ladies '...of a certain age...', Dawson playing Ada Shufflebotham, Barraclough playing Cissie Braithwaite, the more 'refined' of the two. In 1972 he gained a legion of young fans in the memorable children's series Pardon My Genie (1972-73) as ironmonger Mr Cobbledick, Hal Adden was played by Ellis Jones.
Barraclough made occasional appearances in Coronation Street in 1972 and 1975, playing the rather sleazy Alec Gilroy, theatrical agent to night club singer Rita Littlewood. He returned permanently in 1986 and a marriage to Bet Lynch was included in his character's narrative. After several departures and comebacks, Barraclough finally left Coronation Street at the end of 1998.
Barraclough was later to appear in a sitcom, Mother's Ruin (1994), in which he played a bachelor dominated by his belligerent mother (Dora Bryan). He made a guest appearance in Last of the Summer Wine ("Has Anyone Seen A Peruvian Wart? 2005) playing opposite his friend Kathy Staff and appeared in a variety of TV shows including _Casualty_, Peak Practice (1994, 2001) and Funland (2005).
In 2009, he played the vicar in the BBC1 drama All the Small Things and from 2012 to 2013 he played Maurice in Last Tango in Halifax. In 2016 he played Mr Grainger in a reboot of Are You Being Served?. In 2001, he appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.
On stage, Barraclough appeared in everything from musicals (The Boy Friend and Gypsy) to high drama (Death of a Salesman and A Different Way Home) and Christmas shows and pantomimes. He created the role of Santa in the lavish stage musical Santa Claus, which he reprised for several Christmases.- Writer
- Producer
Silver Donald Cameron was born on 21 June 1937 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a writer and producer, known for Blood in the Water, Green Rights: The Human Right to a Healthy World (2016) and Theodore Tugboat (1993). He was married to Marie Louise (Lulu)Terrio, Marjorie Simmins and Catherine Ann. He died on 1 June 2020 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.- Proficient in Greek and Latin and self-taught in classic literature, Sonja Sutter was a captivating actress who achieved dramatic depths on both stage and screen during a career which commenced in 1951. A banker's daughter, she had completed a rudimentary education in her home town (Freiburg) where she also made her theatrical debut. She was 'discovered' for the screen by Luis Trenker during an audition for a Heimatfilm and passed along to the director Slatan Dudow who gave her a pivotal role in his post-war drama Frauenschicksale (1952). Affiliated with both East and West German cinema, Sutter then appeared in several prestige pictures, including Das Schweigen im Walde (1955) and Die Barrings (1955). Not until five years later did she get another opportunity to demonstrate her talent as the titular star of Lissy (1957), directed by Konrad Wolf. This anti-fascist drama, chronicling the lives of a working class family in 1930's Berlin under the Nazis, became one of Wolf's most famous films and was also the high point of Sutter's film career. Perhaps too closely identified with a particular type of character, she received fewer film offers from the West in the 60's. The creation of the Berlin Wall effectively ended her association with DEFA. Returning to the stage, Sutter became an ensemble member of the iconic Vienna Burgtheater in 1959. Her tenure with the company lasted four decades, with as many as seventy leading roles to her repertoire. She also regularly performed at the Salzburg Festival, her roles ranging from Strindberg's "Queen Christina" and Schiller's "Intrigue and Love" (Kabale und Liebe) to Gute Werke in Hugo von Hofmannsthal's medieval play "Everyman". Towards the end of her career, she concentrated increasingly on TV work, often guesting as genteel ladies in popular crime shows like Tatort (1970), Derrick (1974) and The Old Fox (1977).
- Ted Manson was born on 23 October 1926 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) and Runaway Jury (2003). He died on 1 June 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Ernest "Tito" Anthony Puente was the eldest son of Puerto Rican parents. His mother called him "Ernestito" which means "Little Ernest", which was later shortened to "Tito". His mother saw his musical potential and enrolled him in piano classes. Eventually he attended the Juilliard School of Music from 1945-47 on the GI bill. He would write a piece that would start off as jazz and then add a Latin beat to it. He recorded over 100 albums during his 60 years in the business and won 10 Grammy awards. He often joked that he was profiting off of Santana's hit recording of "Oye Como Va", which he had written. He said, "I get a nice royalty check." He appeared in several films, usually as himself.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tony Thompson is known for Down in the Delta (1998), Hi-Five: I Just Can't Handle It (1990) and Hi-Five: I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) (1991).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
In the early days of 1950s science-fiction, one of the first people to become identified with the genre was actor William Phipps. Aside from furnishing the voice of Prince Charming in Disney's cartoon classic Cinderella (1950), Phipps also hid his boyish face beneath a beard as the star of Arch Oboler's end-of-the-world melodrama Five (1951); made a token appearance in Oboler's The Twonky (1953); encountered Martians in both Invaders from Mars (1953) and The War of the Worlds (1953); and took on the Abominable Snowman as one of the leads in The Snow Creature (1954). Most notoriously, he even grappled with Moon maidens set on world conquest in the almost indescribable Cat-Women of the Moon (1953). Phipps was born in Vincennes, Indiana, and grew up in St. Francisville, Illinois; he knew from boyhood that he was destined to be an actor and appeared in several plays in grade school and at Eastern Illinois University. Hitchhiking to Hollywood in 1941, he worked on the stage and later in films, beginning with RKO's Crossfire (1947). Over the next 60 years he amassed a long list of film and TV credits; he also did commercials and voiceover work, including the narration for the special 190-minute TV version of David Lynch's Dune (1984).- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Saint Laurent was the son of senior insurance executive Charles Saint-Laurent and his wife Lucienne Mathieu. The grandparents of both families came from Alsace-Lorraine and fled to North Africa during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. When he was 17, Saint Laurent moved alone to Paris, where he trained as a fashion and stage designer at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture fashion school. Saint Laurent first gained recognition in 1954 when he won first prize from the International Wool Secretariat. Now the then editor-in-chief of "Vogue", Michel de Brunhoff, became aware of his work, and he published numerous designs in the French edition of the fashion magazine that same year.
The response was overwhelming and Saint Laurent got a job as a designer at Christian Dior, where he also received further training. Within a few months he rose to become the second key couturier, alongside Christian Dior as his protege, who was significantly involved in all the innovations. After a heart attack, Christian Dior died on October 24, 1957 and Saint Laurent became his successor as art director at Dior. In 1958 he created his first complete collection for Dior with great success, in which he continued Dior's typical "New Look line". In his 1959 collection, he broke the house's tradition and instead presented a completely new and avant-garde work with American influences, which he christened "Beat-Look". However, the House of Dior did not want to give up its traditional line, which is why Saint Laurent left the Dior company.
In 1960, after many years of exemption, Saint Laurent was drafted into military service. In 1962 he returned to Paris, where, with the help of his friend Pierre Bergé, he opened his own couture house under his own name. In the first year, Saint Laurent took part in the ready-to-wear show in Paris with the continuation of the "Beat Look" collection. He celebrated his international breakthrough as a fashion designer in 1963 with the so-called "Op Art fashion". Colorful costumes in the style of Piet Mondriaan followed in 1965 and the "Zhivago look" emerged in 1966 with the first transparent tops and trench coats. These models were sold within the newly founded "Rive Gauche" line, for which the first boutique was opened in Paris in 1966. Other popularizing impulses from the house of Yves Saint Laurent were a new "nostalgic look" at the end of the 1960s and the "noble farmer's wife look" in trendy colors in the mid-1970s.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Saint Laurent designed bolero and lift boy jackets and his fragrance "Opium" became the most internationally successful perfume alongside "No. 5" by Coco Chanel. He also attracted attention in the 1980s, as in 1967 for "Belle de Jour", with his design for numerous theater and ballet pieces. In 1983, works by Yves Saint Laurent were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He was the first living fashion designer to receive this honor. In 1985 he received the fashion world's highest award, the "Oscar de la mode", for his entire work and was elevated to the Legion of Honor by President François Mitterand. After further successful years in which Yves Saint Laurent was appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1995, he showed the last ready-to-wear collection for the "Rive Gauche" label in October 1998.
In 1999, the company, which over the years also designed men's fashion, furs, jewelry, perfumes and a range of accessories in its haute couture, was acquired by the Italian fashion house Gucci. In the following years, Gucci designer Tom Ford was also one of the leading creative staff at Yves Saint Laurent. He also stepped down as a consultant and designer in 2002.
Yves Saint Laurent died on June 1, 2008 in Paris.