2022 Deaths
The 2021 list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls084017267
The 2020 list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls093398488
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The 2020 list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls093398488
The 2019 list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls041507848
To see the newest additions to the list, go to the 'Sort by' section and choose 'Date added'.
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- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Julien began his career in New York's Off-Broadway circuit including Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. Moving westward, he landed co-starring roles with Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968) and Candice Bergen in Columbia's box-office hit, Getting Straight (1970).
In Uptight (1968), New York Times critic Judith Crist considered him a standout in a standout cast. The Santa Monica Evening Outlook's Raoul Gripenwaldt predicted that Julien's portrayal of Johnny Wells in Paramount's Uptight (1968) could well result in an Academy Award nomination. Julien was invited to Europe to discuss film possibilities. He went on to write the screenplay for and subsequently co-produce Warner Brothers' Cleopatra Jones (1973).
In a joint venture with Columbia Pictures, Julien wrote, produced, and starred in Thomasine & Bushrod (1974). Assuming responsibility for the final look of the film, he assisted in the direction, supervised the editing and created the design concept for the costumes. The New York Times declared it a western of considerable freshness. The film garnered him a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Writer of the year. He then took a sabbatical from film, landing on several other continents, exploring the political developments of their cultures and writing poetry. He completed a novel, Dark Clowns Kickin' Ass, and finished 13 pieces of sculpture exhibited in galleries throughout the United States including Los Angeles' prestigious Pacific Design Center. Julien was dubbed one of the most popular and important filmmakers in the United States (L.A. Times), and graced the covers of such magazines as Ebony and Jet.
A group of Nigerian businessmen commissioned Julien to do a feasibility study for the development of a West African Film Colony. He selected a crew from Europe, Australia and the United States, and for a two-month period trained local craftsmen in the art of filmmaking. As a tribute to his accomplishments and international profile, a year later he was invited to return to co-write and star in Bisi & The Sun God.
In the early 1990s, Julien wrote, directed and essayed the title role in the docudrama Sketches Of A Man/The Charles Drew Story, about the African-American doctor who invented blood plasma. The mid-1990s returned him to West Africa starring, writing, executive-producing and directing Sangu, The Silent One. Nigeria's Ibaden Tribune said "Max Julien's Sangu is a masterpiece, a must for every Third World human being; more appropriately, every spiritual, peace loving person on the globe. This gifted, connected thread (Julien) will do much to keep the continents from colliding." Nigeria's Daily Times echoed "The Silent One speaks loudly; Julien's wisdom has not tarnished, his eyes and his words address the inner feelings of the common man of color. He's a joy to look upon, he is to be cherished."
In the billion dollar consumer market of hip hop, Julien became a Brand Name in hot demand by Rap, R&B and Pop entertainers to write and deliver his uniquely lyrical expressions including: Do Or Die's CD featuring Kanye West and R. Kelly, and Houston blues singer Rue Davis's Legends Are Forever album in early 2007. Around the same time he was writing dialogue for a Warner Brothers video game based on Clint Eastwood's iconic "Dirty Harry" character that ended when the studio shelved the project. He was also a sought-after guest speaker.
On May 13, 2011, on Yahoo News, Nick Cannon was being interviewed for his upcoming Showtime comedy special Mr. Showbiz, which included poking fun at his then-wife, Mariah Carey. Earlier reviews indicate one of the most hilarious bits involved him accusing Mariah of pimping him like Julien ("Goldie" from The Mack (1973)).
Despite being notoriously reclusive, in 2012 Julien's popularity reached cult-like proportions. His face hangs in the lobby Walls of Fame in Magic Johnson's Theatres from L.A. to Atlanta to Harlem.
Stevie Wonder included Julien in the dedications on his classic album "Songs In The Key of Life". Dick Kleiner wrote a chapter about him in his book ESP & The Stars. In Miramax's book on 1970s films, What It Is & What It Was, Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson complimented the actor/filmmaker, saying "I always went to see whatever Max Julien was doing." In a February 2008 interview on Fadar-TV, mega Hip-hop star Rick Ross removed his t-shirt and revealed Julien's face tattooed on his body.
Ninety percent of the world's rappers have sampled his voice and the music from The Mack (1973) (Outkast, 50-Cents, Three 6 Mafia etc.) familiarizing him among the 75% male and female consumers between 15 and 25 years of age, who happen to be white.
Quentin Tarantino scripted a film, True Romance, that shows Julien in a clip while Christian Slater says "I know that film. It's The Mack (1973) starring Max Julien." Although he declined a writing credit, Julien co-wrote the script along with co-star Richard Pryor and director Michael Campus. He also made major contributions in designing the costumes. It remains one of the leading DVD rentals/sellers in the world, recently cited by Entertainment Weekly as the 20th top cult film of all times, on a list of 50.
Julien had a starring cameo and wrote his own role in Def Jam's comedy hit, "How To Be A Player", then wrote and performed the intro, 19 interludes and the final recording on the film's platinum selling soundtrack album. He wrote and performed on Rap-A-Lot artist Tela's Gold Now or Never CD; was highlighted throughout The Hughes Brothers' documentary "The American Pimp"; starred in Bradley Smith's award-winning film short film "Restore"; and featured in N.Y.'s 2002 Urban World Film Festival as well as on Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Channel.Died of cardiopulmonary arrest in Los Angeles, California.
1933-2022 (89 years old)
1 January- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Janusz Leski was born on 12 February 1930 in Radomsko, Lódzkie, Poland. He was a writer and director, known for Miasteczko (1960), Rodzina Lesniewskich (1983) and Janka (1989). He died on 1 January 2022 in Radomsko, Lódzkie, Poland.Died in Radomsko, Poland.
1930-2022 (91 years old)
1 January- Mikhail Bychkov was born on 21 June 1950 in Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, Yaroslavl Oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He was an actor, known for Dersu Uzala (1975), Bezbiletnaya passazhirka (1978) and Bereg (1984). He died on 1 January 2022.1950-2022 (71 years old)
1 January - Foulis Boudouroglou was an actor, known for Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (2004), Rozalia, Ena Bestseller (1993) and Ston asterismo tis gravatas (1993). He died on 2 January 2022 in Thessaloniki, Greece.Died in Thessaloniki, Greece.
?-2022 (age unknown)
2 January - Richard Leakey (19 December 1944 - 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan palaeoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. He held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conservation. He had been Director of the National Museum of Kenya, founded the NGO WildlifeDirect, and was the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service.Died in Nairobi, Kenya.
1944-2022 (77 years old)
2 January - Viktor Vrabec was born on 18 May 1941 in Vysoké Mýto, Protektorát Cechy a Morava [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for 'Babicky dobíjejte presne!' (1984), I, Olga Hepnarova (2016) and The Last Butterfly (1991). He died on 2 January 2022 in the Czech Republic.Died in the Czech Republic.
1941-2022 (80 years old)
2 January - Soundtrack
Jay Weaver was born in 1980. He was married to Emily. He died on 2 January 2022 in the USA.Died of covid-19 in USA.
1980-2022 (42 years old)
2 January- Sofia Mihopoulou was an actress, known for Prin ti nyhta (2004), The Bacchae (1986) and Theatro skion (1969). She died on 3 January 2022 in Greece.Died in Greece.
?-2022 (age unknown)
3 January - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Igor Bogdanoff was born on 29 August 1949 in Saint-Lary, Gers, France. He was an actor and writer, known for Steps to the Future (2010), Robo Story (1985) and Chassé-croisé (1982). He was married to Amélie de Bourbon Parme and Ludmilla d'Oultremont. He died on 3 January 2022 in Paris, France.Died of covid-19 in Paris, France.
1949-2022 (72 years old)
3 January- Joan Copeland, the sister of famed playwright Arthur Miller, is a renowned actress in her own right. She made her name on Broadway, debuting there in 1945 to begin a career that lasted more than 60 years. She also had a long career on television, where she appeared in a number of that medium's most popular soap operas. She played scheming villain Andrea Whiting in Search for Tomorrow (1951), and also appeared in Love of Life (1951) and The Edge of Night (1956), among others. She occasionally worked in films, but made fewer than 20 of them in her career, preferring the stage and television, where she made her debut in 1950.Died in Manhattan, New York.
1922-2022 (99 years old)
4 January - Actor
- Additional Crew
Chinu Rajput was an actor, known for Jugnu (1973), Samadhi (1972) and Azaad (1978). He died on 4 January 2022 in Mumbai.Died in Mumbai, India.
?-2022 (age unknown)
4 January- Actor
- Producer
David Veach was born on 29 September 1967 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Reno 911!: Miami (2007), The Lost Face (2001) and Douche Bros (2013). He died on 4 January 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Died in Los Angeles, California.
1967-2022 (54 years old)
4 January- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez was born on 7 June 1976 in the Philippines. He was a writer and actor, known for Tsardyer (2010), Ang gitaristang hindi marunong magskala (2014) and Huling biyahe (2012). He died on 4 January 2022 in Quezon City, Philippines.Died of an illness in Quezon City, Philippines.
1976-2022 (45 years old)
4 January- Anita Gutwell was born on 14 November 1931 in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria. She was an actress, known for Försterliesel (1956), Echo der Berge (1954) and Das alte Försterhaus (1956). She was married to Rudolf Nussgruber. She died on 4 January 2022 in Vienna, Austria.Died in Vienna, Austria.
1931-2022 (90 years old)
4 January - Kim Mi-Soo was born on 16 March 1992 in South Korea. She was an actress, known for Into the Ring (2020), Kiss Sixth Sense (2022) and Snowdrop (2021). She died on 5 January 2022.1992-2022 (29 years old)
5 January - Maria Klenskaja was born on 29 January 1951 in Tartu, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]. She was an actress, known for Varastatud kohtumine (1989), Doktor Stockmann (1989) and Keskea rõõmud (1987). She was married to Aarne Üksküla. She died on 6 January 2022 in Estonia.Died in Estonia.
1951-2022 (70 years old)
6 January - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Peter Bogdanovich was conceived in Europe but born in Kingston, New York. He is the son of immigrants fleeing the Nazis, Herma (Robinson) and Borislav Bogdanovich, a painter and pianist. His father was a Serbian Orthodox Christian, and his mother was from a wealthy Austrian Jewish family. Peter originally was an actor in the 1950s, studying his craft with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler and appearing on television and in summer stock. In the early 1960s he achieved notoriety for programming movies at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. An obsessive cinema-goer, sometimes seeing up to 400 movies a year in his youth, Bogdanovich prominently showcased the work of American directors such as John Ford, about whom he subsequently wrote a book based on the notes he had produced for the MOMA retrospective of the director, and the then-underappreciated Howard Hawks. Bogdanovich also brought attention to such forgotten pioneers of American cinema as Allan Dwan.
Bogdanovich was influenced by the French critics of the 1950s who wrote for Cahiers du Cinema, especially critic-turned-director François Truffaut. Before becoming a director himself, he built his reputation as a film writer with articles in Esquire Magazine. In 1968, following the example of Cahiers du Cinema critics Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Éric Rohmer who had created the Nouvelle Vague ("New Wave") by making their own films, Bogdanovich became a director. Working for low-budget schlock-meister Roger Corman, Bogdanovich directed the critically praised Targets (1968) and the not-so-critically praised Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), a film best forgotten.
Turning back to journalism, Bogdanovich struck up a lifelong friendship with the legendary Orson Welles while interviewing him on the set of Mike Nichols' film adaptation of Catch-22 (1970) from the novel by Joseph Heller. Subsequently, Bogdanovich has played a major role in elucidating Welles and his career with his writings on the great actor-director, most notably his book "This is Orson Welles" (1992). He has steadily produced invaluable books about the cinema, especially "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors," an indispensable tome that establishes Bogdanovich, along with Kevin Brownlow, as one of the premier English-language chroniclers of cinema.
The 32-year-old Bogdanovich was hailed by a critics as a Wellesian wunderkind when his most famous film, The Last Picture Show (1971) was released. The film received eight Academy Award nominations, including Bogdanovich as Best Director, and won two of them, for Cloris Leachman and "John Ford Stock Company" veteran Ben Johnson in the supporting acting categories. Bogdanovich, who had cast 19-year-old model Cybill Shepherd in a major role in the film, fell in love with the young beauty, an affair that eventually led to his divorce from the film's set designer Polly Platt, his longtime artistic collaborator and the mother of his two children.
Bogdanovich followed up The Last Picture Show (1971) with a major hit, What's Up, Doc? (1972), a screwball comedy heavily indebted to Hawks' Bringing Up Baby (1938) and His Girl Friday (1940), starring Barbra Streisand and 'Ryan O'Neal'. Despite his reliance on homage to bygone cinema, Bogdanovich had solidified his status as one of a new breed of A-list directors that included Academy Award winners Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin, with whom he formed The Directors Company. The Directors Company was a generous production deal with Paramount Pictures that essentially gave the directors carte blanche if they kept within strict budget limitations. It was through this entity that Bogdanovich's next big hit, the critically praised Paper Moon (1973), was produced.
Paper Moon (1973), a Depression-era comedy starring Ryan O'Neal that won his ten-year-old daughter Tatum O'Neal an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, proved to be the highwater mark of Bogdanovich's career. Forced to share the profits with his fellow directors, Bogdanovich became dissatisfied with the arrangement. The Directors Company subsequently produced only two more films, Francis Ford Coppola's critically acclaimed The Conversation (1974) which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture of 1974 and garnered Coppola an Oscar nod for Best Director, and Bogdanovich's Daisy Miller (1974), a film that had a quite different critical reception.
An adaptation of the Henry James novella, Daisy Miller (1974) spelled the beginning of the end of Bogdanovich's career as a popular, critically acclaimed director. The film, which starred Bogdanovich's lover Cybill Shepherd as the title character, was savaged by critics and was a flop at the box office. Bogdanovich's follow-up, At Long Last Love (1975), a filming of the Cole Porter musical starring Cybill Shepherd, was derided by some critics as one of the worst films ever made, noted as such in Harry Medved and Michael Medved's book "The Golden Turkey Awards: Nominees and Winners, the Worst Achievements in Hollywood History" (1980). The film also was a box office bomb despite featuring Burt Reynolds, a hotly burning star who would achieve super-nova status at the end of the 1970s.
Bogdanovich insisted on filming the musical numbers for At Long Last Love (1975) live, a process not used since the early days of the talkies, when sound engineer Douglas Shearer developed lip-synching at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The decision was widely ridiculed, as none of the leading actors were known for their singing abilities (Bogdanovich himself had produced a critically panned album of Cybill Shepherd singing Cole Porter songs in 1974). The public perception of Bogdanovich became that of an arrogant director hamstrung by his own hubris.
Trying to recapture the lightning in the bottle that was his early success, Bogdanovich once again turned to the past, his own and that of cinema, with Nickelodeon (1976). The film, a comedy recounting the earliest days of the motion picture industry, reunited Ryan O'Neal and 'Tatum O'Neal' from his last hit, Paper Moon (1973) with Burt Reynolds. Counseled not to use the unpopular (with both audiences and critics) Cybill Shepherd in the film, Bogdanovich instead used newcomer Jane Hitchcock as the film's ingénue. Unfortunately, the magic of Paper Moon (1973) was not be repeated and the film died at the box office. Jane Hitchcock, Bogdanovich's discovery, would make only one more film before calling it quits.
After a three-year hiatus, Bogdanovich returned with the critically and financially underwhelming Saint Jack (1979) for Hugh Hefner's Playboy Productions Inc. Bogdanovich's long affair with Cybill Shepherd had ended in 1978, but the production deal making Hugh Hefner the film's producer was part of the settlement of a lawsuit Shepherd had filed against Hefner for publishing nude photos of her pirated from a print of The Last Picture Show (1971) in Playboy Magazine. Bogdanovich then launched the film that would be his career Waterloo, They All Laughed (1981), a low-budget ensemble comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and the 1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Dorothy Stratten. During the filming of the picture, Bogdanovich fell in love with Stratten, who was married to an emotionally unstable hustler, Paul Snider, who relied on her financially. Stratten moved in with Bogdanovich, and when she told Snider she was leaving him, he shot and killed her, then committed suicide.
They All Laughed (1981) could not attract a distributor due to the negative publicity surrounding the Stratten murder, despite it being one of the few films made by the legendary Audrey Hepburn after her provisional retirement in 1967 (the film would prove to be Hepburn's last starring role in a theatrically released motion picture). The heartbroken Bogdanovich bought the rights to the negative so that it would be seen by the public, but the film had a limited release, garnered weak reviews and cost Bogdanovich millions of dollars, driving the emotionally devastated director into bankruptcy.
Bogdanovich turned back to his first avocation, writing, to pen a memoir of his dead love, "The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten (1960-1980)" that was published in 1984. The book was a riposte to Teresa Carpenter's "Death of a Playmate" article written for The Village Voice that had won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize. Carpenter had lambasted Bogdanovich and Hugh Hefner, claiming that Stratten was as much a victim of them as she was of Paul Snider. The article served as the basis of Bob Fosse's film Star 80 (1983), in which Bogdanovich was portrayed as the fictional director "Aram Nicholas".
Bogdanovich's career as a noted director was over, and though he achieved modest success with Mask (1985), his sequel to his greatest success The Last Picture Show (1971), Texasville (1990), was a critical and box office disappointment. He directed two more theatrical films in 1992 and 1993, but their failure kept him off the big screen until 2001's The Cat's Meow (2001). Returning once again to a reworking of the past, this time the alleged murder of director Thomas H. Ince by Welles' bete noir William Randolph Hearst, The Cat's Meow (2001) was a modest critical success but a flop at the box office. In addition to helming some television movies, Bogdanovich has returned to acting, with a recurring guest role on the cable television series The Sopranos (1999) as Dr. Jennifer Melfi's analyst.
Bogdanovich's personal reputation suffered from gossip about his 13-year marriage to Dorothy Stratten's 19-year-old-kid sister Louise Stratten, who was 29 years his junior. Some gossip held that Bogdanovich's behavior was akin to that of the James Stewart character in Alfred Hitchcock's necrophiliac masterpiece Vertigo (1958), with the director trying to remold Stratten into the image of her late sister. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001.
Now in his early eighties, Bogdanovich has arguably imitated his hero Orson Welles, but in an unintended fashion, as filmmaker who never regained the acclaim bestowed on their first major success. However, unlike the widely acclaimed master Welles, the orbit of Bogdanovich's reputation has never recovered from the apogee it reached briefly in the early 1970s.
There has been speculation that Peter Bogdanovich's ruin as a director was guaranteed when he ditched his wife and artistic collaborator Polly Platt for Cybill Shepherd. Platt had worked with Bogdanovich on all his early successes, and some critics believe that the controlling artistic consciousness on The Last Picture Show (1971) was Platt's. Parting company with Platt after Paper Moon (1973), Bogdanovich promptly slipped from the heights of a wunderkind to a has-been pursuing epic folly, as evidenced by Daisy Miller (1974) and At Long Last Love (1975).
In 1998 the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress named The Last Picture Show (1971) to the National Film Registry, an honor awarded only to the most culturally significant films.Died of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, California.
1939-2022 (82 years old)
6 January- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal education and at the age of 15 was sent to Miami to live with his brother, in order to forestall a growing tendency toward delinquency. In the U.S., he experienced the racial chasm that divides the country, a great shock to a boy coming from a society with a majority of African descent.
At 18, he went to New York, did menial jobs and slept in a bus terminal toilet. A brief stint in the Army as a worker at a veterans' hospital was followed by more menial jobs in Harlem. An impulsive audition at the American Negro Theatre was rejected so forcefully that Poitier dedicated the next six months to overcoming his accent and improving his performing skills. On his second try, he was accepted. Spotted in rehearsal by a casting agent, he won a bit part in the Broadway production of "Lysistrata", for which he earned good reviews. By the end of 1949, he was having to choose between leading roles on stage and an offer to work for Darryl F. Zanuck in the film No Way Out (1950). His performance as a doctor treating a white bigot got him plenty of notice and led to more roles. Nevertheless, the roles were still less interesting and prominent than those white actors routinely obtained. But seven years later, after turning down several projects he considered demeaning, Poitier got a number of roles that catapulted him into a category rarely if ever achieved by an African-American man of that time, that of leading man. One of these films, The Defiant Ones (1958), earned Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role.
He remained active on stage and screen as well as in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. His roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and To Sir, with Love (1967) were landmarks in helping to break down some social barriers between blacks and whites. Poitier's talent, conscience, integrity, and inherent likability placed him on equal footing with the white stars of the day. He took on directing and producing chores in the 1970s, achieving success in both arenas.Died of heart failure, dementia and prostate cancer in Los Angeles, California.
1927-2022 (94 years old)
6 January- Actor
- Production Designer
Raymond Cornelius Boyle, frequently credited as Dirk London, was an American small part character actor of the 1950s. Predominantly active on the small screen, he became best known for playing Morgan Earp (1851-1882) in fifteen episodes of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), starring Hugh O'Brian as the eponymous gunfighter. Boyle found steady work in a staple of early western and police shows, including some recurring appearances in Gang Busters (1952), Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (1955), Highway Patrol (1955) and Gunsmoke (1955). A rare higher profile role saw him cast as a gangster colluding with Martians in Republic's hilarious serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) (Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy -- then very much at the beginning of his career -- can be glimpsed as one of the zombies!).
After his retirement from acting, Boyle worked as production designer/art director on a couple of films in the 1970s. His second wife (from 1954) was the actress Jan Shepard.Died in North Hollywood, California.
1923-2022 (98 years old)
6 January- Actor
- Writer
Vitaliano Trevisan was born on 12 December 1960 in Sandrigo, Veneto, Italy. He was an actor and writer, known for Primo amore (2004), Still Life (2007) and Senza lasciare traccia (2016). He died on 7 January 2022 in Crespadoro, Veneto, Italy.Died of suicide by barbiturate overdose in Crespadoro, Italy.
1960-2022 (61 years old)
7 January- Actor and bodybuilder Mark Forest was born in Brooklyn as Lorenzo Luis Degni, a third generation Italian-American (his grandparents hailed from Naples). He began as a bodybuilder at the tender age of thirteen, found himself featured on the cover of magazines and soon operated his own gym on Long Island. He entered and won several bodybuilding competitions before finding his way into show business via Mae West's troupe of musclemen (who featured as ladies' eye candy in her touring act along with the singers and dancers). West's entourage variously included other luminaries of the muscular fraternity, such as Ed Fury, Gordon Mitchell and Reg Lewis.
Mark Forest came to international fame after being recruited to star in Italian peplum (sword and sandal) epics, becoming only the second American actor (after Steve Reeves) to find lucrative work and popularity in that medium. His success was greatly helped by the fact that he was already fluent in Italian. Forest's film career spanned a modest five years (1960-1965), in the course of which he starred in a dozen pictures. Most often, he portrayed either Hercules or the equally brawny hero Maciste, created by Gabriele D'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. In fact, Forest played Maciste seven times - more than any other actor.
At the end of his brief fling with the movies, Forest turned to his other passion and reinvented himself as an opera singer (tenor) in Europe. He became adept at the bel canto technique, trained by Giovanni Milillo, a composer and former tenor at the New York Opera and father of operatic soprano Aprile Millo. After his return to the U.S., Forest settled in California, latterly teaching vocal technique in Studio City.Died in Arleta, California.
1933-2022 (89 years old)
7 January - Producer
- Additional Crew
Michael Lang was born on 11 December 1944 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer, known for Bottle Rocket (1996), The Master and Margarita and A Bright Light: Karen and the Process (2018). He was married to Tamara Pajic and Jayne Ann Bell. He died on 8 January 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.Died of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in New York, New York.
1944-2022 (77 years old)
8 January- Vladimir Zaychuk was born on 4 November 1937. He was an actor, known for Posledniy gaiduk (1973), Sergey Lazo (1967) and Kogda uletayut aisty (1964). He died on 8 January 2022.1937-2022 (84 years old)
8 January - Stanislav Rudolf was born on 16 February 1932 in Jicín, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a writer, known for Kopretiny pro zámeckou paní (1981), Atomová katedrála (1985) and Operace me dcery (1986). He died on 8 January 2022 in Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic.Died in Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic.
1932-2022 (89 years old)
8 January - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Blond, boyishly handsome Dwayne Hickman, the younger brother of Darryl Hickman, followed in his sibling's tiny footsteps as a moppet film actor himself. Born Dwayne Bernard Hickman in Los Angeles on May 18, 1934, the brothers had a younger sister as well, Deidre (born 1940). He had minor roles in such films as Captain Eddie (1945) (Darryl had a major role in this), The Secret Heart (1946), The Boy with Green Hair (1948), Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Happy Years (1950) (again with Darryl in a major role), and topped his youthful film career as "Nip Worden" in the canine movie series "Rusty", which began with The Son of Rusty (1947) and ended with Rusty's Birthday (1949).
Graduating from Cathedral High School in 1952 (Darryl graduated from the same school in 1948), Dwayne enrolled at Loyola Marymount University. He returned to Hollywood following college studies and, unlike his brother, focused strongly on television work, making appearances on such series as Public Defender (1954), The Loretta Young Show (1953), The Lone Ranger (1949), and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952). He also appeared in the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward comedy film Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) playing the secondary teen couple with Tuesday Weld. He grabbed major comedy attention, especially from young female baby-boomers, as Chuck, the girl-crazy nephew, in The Bob Cummings Show (1955). (Cummings became his mentor.)
Hickman then played the titular lovesick title high school teen in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959), the role for which he is best known, and in which he was reunited with Tuesday Weld as the prime object of his attention, although Weld did not remain with the series for the entirety of its run. Laying low for a few years, Hickman returned to the screen, making a strong impression in the western film Cat Ballou (1965), and then began hanging out with the young beach crowd in several AIP movies including Ski Party (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), and a few slapstick comedies such as Sergeant Dead Head (1965) and Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! (1967). He guested on a mix of comedic and dramatic TV shows including Combat! (1962), Mod Squad (1968), Ellery Queen (1975), The Flying Nun (1967), and Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974).
In the 1970s, Hickman began working behind the scenes as a publicist, a Las Vegas entertainment director and, most successfully, as a programming executive for CBS. He would return only occasionally to acting. He revisited his Dobie Gillis character, albeit a fully grown-up version, in such made-for-television movies as Whatever Happened to Dobie Gillis? (1977) and Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988). In addition to guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991), he appeared in glorified cameos in High School U.S.A. (1983), had a recurring role on Clueless (1996), and was glimpsed in Cops n Roberts (1995), A Night at the Roxbury (1998), and Angels with Angles (2005). He began episodic directing chores in the 1980's, working on such episodes as "Charles in Charge", "Designing Women", "Head of the Class", "Harry and the Hendersons", and "Sister, Sister". In 1994, he published his biography, aptly titled 'Forever Dobie'.
Thrice wed, Hickman has two children -- one by his first wife, actress/model/beauty pageant winner Carol Christensen (1963-1972) who appeared a few times on "Dobie Gillis", and the other by his present wife, actress/voiceover artist Joan Roberts, to whom he has been married since 1983.Died of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, California.
1934-2022 (87 years old)
9 January- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Bob Saget was an American actor, stand-up comedian, and television host from Philadelphia. His best known role was playing pater familias Danny Tanner on the hit sitcom "Full House" (1987-1995). He played the character again in the sequel series "Fuller House" (2016-2020). Saget served as the original host of the long-running clip show "America's Funniest Home Videos" from 1989 to 1997. Saget voiced the narrator in the hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005-2014), depicted as an older version of main character Ted Mosby.
In 1956, Saget was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia. His parents were supermarket executive Benjamin Saget and hospital administrator Rosalyn "Dolly" Saget. The Saget family eventually moved to Norfolk, Virginia. Bob received his early religious education at Temple Israel, a synagogue of Norfolk which adhered to Conservative Judaism. He was reportedly a rebellious student.
Saget spend part of his high school years in Los Angeles, where he befriended veteran comedian Larry Fine (1902-1975). He attended a Philadelphia high school during his senior year. He was originally interested in a medical career but his English teacher Elaine Zimmerman convinced Saget to aspire to an acting or filmmaking career instead.
Saget received his college education at the "Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts", a college associated with the Temple University of Philadelphia. One of his student films won a merit award at the Student Academy Awards. He graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts in 1978. He had already started performing in comedy clubs during his college years.
In 1978, Saget intended to take graduate courses at the University of Southern California. He dropped out due to health-related problems. He almost died due to a gangrenous appendix, costing him a loss of confidence. He decided afterwards to lose some weight, in the belief that it would improve his health.
Following his graduation, Saget spend about a decade working mostly as a comedian. He appeared in minor acting roles in both films and television. In 1987, Saget was performing comedy bits for the short-lived non-fiction show "The Morning Program". The show offered a mix of "news, entertainment and comedy", but was canceled due to low ratings.
Saget's big break came when he was chosen to portray widowed father Danny Tanner in the sitcom "Full House" (1987-1995). The series depicted Danny's efforts to raise three young daughters, with the assistance of his best friends. The show suffered from poor viewership in its first season, but attracted a family audience due to its portrayal of the struggles associated with parenting. By its third season, it was ranked among Nielsen's Top 30 shows. Saget became a household name, and the series lasted for 8 seasons and 192 episodes. The series was eventually canceled due to its increasing production costs. Its rating had remained high until its final episode.
In 1989, Saget was chosen as the host of the clip show "America's Funniest Home Videos". The show featured humorous homemade videos which were submitted by its viewers, often highlighting physical comedy, pranks, or unusual behavior by children and pets. While the show was popular with viewers, Saget himself was increasingly frustrated with its repetitive format. When his contract for the show expired in 1997, Saget was not interested in negotiating for a renewal.
In 1996, Saget directed the dramatic television film "For Hope". The film depicted the struggles of a woman who is slowly dying due to being afflicted with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease with no known cure. Saget was reportedly inspired by the life and death of his sister Gay Saget, who had died due to scleroderma. The film received high ratings in its debut.
In 1998, Saget directed the comedy film "Dirty Work". It depicted two half-brothers who offer to perform revenge schemes for paying clients, but have a personal grudge against a man who reneged on a deal with them. The film under-performed at the box office, but gained a cult following due to its reputation as a "gag-fest".
From 2001 to 2002, Saget had the starring role of Matt Stewart in the sitcom "Raising Dad". The premise of the series was that widowed father Matt Stewart was trying to raise two daughter, while pursuing a teaching career at his eldest's daughter's high school. Despite the series having a similar concept to "Full House", it failed to find an audience. It lasted for a single season.
In 2005, Saget was cast as the narrator in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005-2014). The premise of the series was that middle-aged Ted Mosby narrates his life story (and the life stories of his best friends) to his son and daughter. The series repeatedly implied that Ted was an unreliable narrator, who either embellished or censored aspects of his various stories. The series was quite popular, lasting for 9 seasons and 208 episodes.
In 2007, Saget directed the direct-to-video parody film "Farce of the Penguins". The film was a full-length parody of the documentary film "March of the Penguins" (2005), featuring penguins conversing about their love lives. It featured the voices of several then-popular actors, including several of Saget's former co-stars from "Full House".
In 2009, Saget was cast in the main role of Steve Patterson in the sitcom "Surviving Suburbia". The premise of the series was that the members of a suburban family have problems in interacting both with each other, and with their new neighbors. The series only lasted a single season, and struggled with low ratings.
In 2014, Saget published his memoirs under the title "Dirty Daddy". In 2016, a sequel series to "Full House" was introduced under the title "Fuller House". It featured the lives of two of Danny Tanner's daughters, and Danny's grandchildren. Saget played the recurring role of Danny for 15 episodes. The sequel series lasted for 5 seasons. This was Saget's last major role in a sitcom. He continued, however, to regularly host television events.
In January 2022, Saget was in Florida for a stand-up tour. On January 9, Saget was discovered dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, located south of Orlando, Florida. He was 65-years-old. His autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt head trauma from an accidental blow to the back of his head, likely from a fall. He had died in his sleep. He was buried at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, next to the graves of his parents and his sister. Mourners honored Saget by offering donations to the charity "Scleroderma Research Foundation" (SRF), since Saget had long served in its board of directors. Saget is gone, but his popularity endures due to his acting and directing roles in several popular films and television shows.Died of head trauma in Orlando, Florida.
1956-2022 (65 years old)
9 January- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Dusan Klein was born on 27 June 1939 in Michalovce, Czechoslovakia. He was a director and writer, known for Jak svet prichází o básníky (1982), Konec básníku v Cechách (1993) and Prípad mrtvého muze (1975). He was married to Silvera Rasková. He died on 9 January 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic.Died of an illness in Prague, Czech Republic.
1939-2022 (82 years old)
9 January- Robert Durst was born on 12 April 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Debrah Lee Charatan and Kathie Durst. He died on 10 January 2022 in Stockton, California, USA.Died of cardiac arrest in Stockton, California.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
10 January - Actor
- Soundtrack
This balding, impeccably well-spoken London-born character actor made his name on the Shakespearean stage well before becoming a known quantity on television. Gary was the son of Austrian-Jewish émigrés Siegfried Waldhorn and his wife Liselotte (née Popper). As a youngster, he became enamoured with acting after seeing Richard Burton on stage as Henry V at the Old Vic. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama in 1967, Waldhorn made his theatrical debut as an extra in a National Theatre production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. For several years after, he served his apprenticeship as a small part supporting player. By the early 70s, Waldhorn had established himself as a serious actor, headlining as Milo Tindle in Sleuth (the part played by Michael Caine in the classic film version) at the West End. In 1972, he took the play on the road through Australia and New Zealand, along with Richard Todd, who essayed the role of mystery novelist Andrew Wyke. As a Shakespearean actor, Waldhorn later frequently performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Over the years, his roles have included Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, a highly acclaimed title role of Henry V (at the Old Vic, 1996-97) and the King of France in All's Well that Ends Well.
On screen from 1969, Waldhorn appeared in a variety of TV shows, his credits including perennial murder suspect William H. Druitt in the miniseries Jack the Ripper (1973), the diplomat and advisor Marquis de Caulaincourt in Napoleon and Love (1974), Conservative politician Henry 'Chips' Channon in Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978), as well as recurring roles in the comedies All at Number 20 (1986) and Brush Strokes (1986). He also guested (usually as establishment figures) in diverse genre series, ranging from Space: 1999 (1975) to Robin Hood (1984) and from Rumpole of the Bailey (1978) to Lovejoy (1986) and Heartbeat (1992). In the final analysis, Gary Waldhorn will be most fondly remembered as David Horton, the conservative, wealthy, often starchy chairman of the parish council in the ever-popular sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (1994).
From April 1967 until his passing on January 10 2022, Waldhorn was married to Christie Dickason, playwright, poet, theatre director/choreographer, librettist and author of (to date) nine novels.Died in the UK.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
10 January- Ivann Gomes was born on 17 April 1960 in Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, Brazil. He was an actor, known for Lucicreide Goes to Mars (2021), A Praça é Nossa (1987) and Velho Chico (2016). He died on 10 January 2022 in Pirituba, São Paulo, Brazil.Died of cardiac arrest in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
1960-2022 (61 years old)
10 January - Marion Brasch was born on 27 March 1931 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950), Man Against Crime (1949) and Search for Tomorrow (1951). She died on 10 January 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.Died in Manhattan, New York.
1931-2022 (90 years old)
10 January - Actor
- Writer
- Director
He grew up with his grandmother in the Bavarian Forest. When he graduated from high school in Cham in 1960, he was adopted by his biological father, to whom his mother, a swimming athlete, was never married. From then on he used the name Achternbusch. After briefly studying at the Munich-Pasing University of Education, Achternbusch moved to the Nuremberg Art Academy in 1961. Then he also studied at the Munich Art Academy. In 1962 Achternbusch married an art teacher. In the following years he made ends meet with odd jobs. He also painted a lot. The couple initially lived in Munich, then in Starnberg, Gauting and, from 1975, in Buchendorf. Achternbusch presented his first publications in the mid-1960s: they were poems and etchings. In 1969 his first book was published under the title "Hülle".
At the beginning of the 1970s, Achternbusch's artistic interest shifted to film. He started making small films. In the 1973/74 film "Overnight in Tirol" by Volker Schlöndorff he played the role of the teacher. In 1974 Achternbusch presented the script for his first film, which was released in cinemas under the title "The Andechser Feeling". The artist made this and the subsequent films himself as a screenwriter, director, leading actor and producer. Achternbusch's films are idiosyncratic works of a high artistic level. They are based on his bizarre prose texts, which he usually has amateur actors interpret in a comical way. The director's home region is discussed in a kind of love-hate relationship with Bavaria, with autobiographical themes also playing a role. Achternbusch gained national fame as a provocative director who liked to break social taboos.
In 1977 he rejected the Petrarch Prize that was intended for him. His films were sometimes subject to censorship measures when they were broadcast on television. The then Bavarian Federal Minister of the Interior refused funding for "The Ghost" (1982). The blasphemy accusations against the film caused a scandal in the Federal Republic of Germany's film world. In addition to his films, Achternbusch also produces plays that he directs himself.Died of natural causes in Munich, Germany.
1938-2022 (83 years old)
10 January- Actress
Rekha Kamat was born in 1932. She was an actress, known for Bhoot (2003), Simhasan (1979) and Pak Pak Pakaak (2005). She was married to G.R. Kamath. She died on 11 January 2022 in Mumbai.Died of a heart attack in Mumbai, India.
1932-2022 (90 years old)
11 January- Don Karnage died on 11 January 2022 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.Died in Montreal, Canada.
?-2022 (age unknown)
11 January - David Sassoli was born on 30 May 1956 in Florence, Italy. He was married to Alessandra Vittorini. He died on 11 January 2022 in Aviano, Pordenone, Italy.Died of immune system deficiencies in Aviano, Italy.
1956-2022 (65 years old)
11 January - Actor
- Writer
Stephen Churchett was born on 10 April 1947 in Bromley, London England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Secrets & Lies (1996), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Marple (2004). He died on 11 January 2022 in England, UK.1947-2022 (74 years old)
11 January- Producer
- Production Manager
- Editor
Jana Bennett was born on 6 November 1955 in Cooperstown, New York, USA. She was a producer and production manager, known for Vikings (2013), Knightfall (2017) and Horizon (1964). She was married to Richard Clemmow. She died on 11 January 2022 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.Died of a brain tumor in Oxfordshire, England.
1955-2022 (66 years old)
11 January- Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
Ronnie Spector is an American singer. Spector was the lead singer of the rock/pop vocal girl group The Ronettes, who had a string of hits during the early to mid-1960s such as "Be My Baby", "Baby, I Love You", and "The Best Part of Breakin' Up". Subsequently, Ronnie Spector launched her solo career and has since released five studio albums (Siren in 1980, Unfinished Business in 1987, Something's Gonna Happen in 2003, Last of the Rock Stars in 2006, English Heart in 2016) and one extended play (She Talks to Rainbows in 1999).
In 1986, Ronnie Spector experienced a career resurgence when she was featured on Eddie Money's Grammy nominated pop rock song "Take Me Home Tonight" which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. She has sung and collaborated with multiple other acts. In 2007, Ronnie and the Ronettes were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2018, Spector appeared in the music documentary; Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (2018), which is based on the late singer Amy Winehouse and her final studio album Back to Black (2006). The album was inspired by 60's girl groups Winehouse gathered inspiration from listening to, such as The Ronettes.Died of cancer in Danbury, Connecticut.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
12 January- Cinematographer
- Director
- Editor
Ismael Lotz was born in 1975. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Emily or Oscar (2022), Who Is Alice (2017) and Fokking Short (2015). He died on 12 January 2022 in Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.Died of cancer in Groningen, Netherlands.
1975-2022 (47 years old)
12 January- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
A rabid movie fan when he was young, Jean-Jacques Beineix first studied medicine before entering the movie business. During the seventies, he became an established assistant director, working with Claude Berri, René Clément, Claude Zidi and even Jerry Lewis. But, like many assistants, Beineix's ultimate dream was to direct. He had a pass at it in 1977 with the short Le chien de Monsieur Michel (1977). A promising debut, it won the first price at Trouville Festival and earned a César nomination for best short film (fiction).
In 1981, came his first long feature Diva (1981), a stylish thriller based on a book by Delacorta. When it came out, Diva was not supported by French critics and seemed at first well on its way to crash and burn. But slowly the film gained momentum due to good word of mouth and positive reactions in various festivals like Moscow and Toronto. Ultimately, the film became a great success internationally, winning four Césars along the way.
Next came the expensive The Moon in the Gutter (1983). An adaptation of a David Goodis novel, the film was even more radical than 'Diva' in its deliberate artificiality. Premiering in competition at the 36th Cannes Film Festival in 1983, the film was booed and most critics found it pretentious and boring. Only few voices rose up to defend the movie but it was not enough to save it. It flopped at the box office but manage to win one César for set design.
At that point, Beineix's career was in serious danger of biting the dust, but he came back in force in 1986 with Betty Blue (1986) (aka 'Betty Blue'), based on a 'Philippe Djian' novel. Despite mixed reviews, the film was another international hit, won the top price at Montréal festival, and was nominated for best foreign film at both the Oscars and Golden Globes, each time losing to Fons Rademakers' 'De Aanslag'. It also earned 9 César nominations including best film and best director ... but won only for best poster !
Beineix's next movie Roselyne and the Lions (1988), set in the circus world, came and went unnoticed. In 1992, IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992) got attention mostly for being Yves Montand's last role. Beineix then resurfaced where he was least expected with social documentaries. He did a film about children in Romania; Otaku (1994) was shot in Japan; Assigné à résidence (1997) was about locked-in syndrome victim Jean-Dominique Bauby.
In 2001, he came back to fiction with Mortal Transfer (2001), a psycho-thriller based on a Jean-Pierre Gattegno novel. Once again, critics were lukewarm and the film performed poorly at the box-office. In 2002, however, Beineix drew strong ratings with made for TV documentary Loft Paradoxe (2002), an attempt to analyse the success of reality show 'Loft Story'.
With his intense focus on the power of images, Beineix paved the way for directors like Luc Besson, Leos Carax and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. A self-proclaimed misanthropist who never hid his contempt for producers and was often deemed excessive and irascible, he will go down in the history books as a director who raised controversy not for the subjects he tackled but for his stylistic approach. Still, with Diva (1981) and Betty Blue (1986), he directed two of the few French films of the eighties that reached an international audience.Died of an illness in Paris, France.
1946-2022 (75 years old)
13 January- Viktor Strizhov was born on 12 August 1928 in Moscow, USSR. He was an actor, known for The Long Farewell (1971), Groznye nochi (1961) and Poezd v dalyokiy avgust (1971). He died on 13 January 2022.1928-2022 (93 years old)
13 January - Israel Dresner was born on 22 April 1929 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Toby Silverman. He died on 13 January 2022 in Wayne, New Jersey, USA.Died of cancer in Wayne, New Jersey.
1929-2022 (92 years old)
13 January - Anastasiya Voznesenskaya was a Russian actress, active in older films, and at the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).
She was born Anastasiya Valentinovna Voznesenskaya on July 27, 1943, in the Soviet Union (now Russia). From 1961 - 1965 she studied acting at the Acting School of Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), graduating in 1965 as an actress. From 1965 - 1977 she was member of the troupe at Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow. There, her stage partners were such actors as Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Stanislav Lyubshin, Viktor Sergachyov, Alla Pokrovskaya, Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Dal, Igor Kvasha, Valentin Gaft and other notable Russian actors. In 1967, she shot to fame with the leading role as Anya in the popular Soviet TV series 'Mayor Vikhr.'
In 1977, Anastasiya became a permanent member of the troupe at Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT). There, her stage partners were such renown Russian actors as Oleg Efremov, Evgeniy Evstigneev, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Yekaterina Vasilyeva, Tatyana Doronina, Oleg Tabakov, Aleksandr Kalyagin, Andrei Popov and other notable Russian actors. During the 1970s and 1980s Voznesenskaya gave memorable performances in classic plays by Anton Chekhov, such as Barabanova in 'Ivanov', and as Masha in 'Chaika' (aka.. The Seagull). She also shone as Maria in popular play 'Eldorado'. Later Voznesenskaya suffered through a severe emotional breakdown and had a slowdown in her acting career.
Since 1987, after the split of the troupe, she was a permanent member of MKhAT named after Chekhov. She made memorable stage appearances as retired ballerina Roza Pesochinskaya in the 2002 production of Aleksandr Galin's play 'Retro.'
Anastasiya Voznesenskaya was designated People's Actress of Russia (1986). She was married to actor Andrey Myagkov, until his death, and the couple lived in Moscow, Russia.Died of covid-19 in Moscow, Russia.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
14 January - Alexander Peleg was an actor, known for Ha-E (2007), A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015) and Masada (1981). He died on 14 January 2022 in Israel.Died in Israel.
?-2022 (age unknown)
14 January - Actress
- Soundtrack
Cute, bubbly, and adorable actress Carol Speed achieved a considerable amount of cult cinema popularity with her often lively and delightful contributions to a handful of enjoyably down'n'dirty 1970s blaxploitation features.
She was born Carolyn Stewart on March 14, 1945, in Bakersfield, California. She holds the distinction of being the first black homecoming queen in Santa Clara County and was one of the first black people to receive a scholarship for the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Carol got her start in show business as a back-up singer for Bobbie Gentry at Harrah's club in Reno, Nevada. She made her film debut as a hooker in The New Centurions (1972). Speed's most memorable movie roles include sassy prison inmate Mickie in Jack Hill's hilarious babes-behind-bars parody The Big Bird Cage (1972), pimp Max Julien's loyal prostitute girlfriend Lulu in the terrific The Mack (1973), sarcastic rock groupie Janyce in Bummer (1973), club owner Rockne Tarkington's sweet gal pal Leslie in the fun Black Samson (1974) and deaf-mute Sarah in Al Adamson's Dynamite Brothers (1974).
Carol gave an especially inspired and impressive performance as a minister's innocent wife who becomes possessed by the malevolent spirit of an evil demon in William Girdler's immensely entertaining horror flick Abby (1974). She had a recurring part on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1965) in the summer of 1970. Moreover, she made a guest appearance on an episode of Sanford and Son (1972), appeared in several TV commercials, and pops up in the made-for-TV films The Girls of Huntington House (1973), Love Hate Love (1971), Tenafly (1973), Getting Away from It All (1972), and The Psychiatrist (1970).
Outside of acting, Carol was also a successful writer (she's the author of the books "Inside Black Hollywood" and "The Georgette Harvey Story"), singer and songwriter (she sang her own compositions "I Can Make It" in "The Girls of Huntington House" and "My Soul Is A Witness" in "Abby"). After taking a regrettably lengthy hiatus from acting following Disco Godfather (1979) (she was slated to do a small role in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997), but backed out at the last minute), Speed made a welcome comeback with a supporting part in the independent thriller Village Vengeance (2006).
Carol Speed died at age 76 on January 14, 2022 in Muskogee, Oklahoma.Died in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
1945-2022 (76 years old)
14 January- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ralph Emery was born on 10 March 1933 in McEwen, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Nashville Rebel (1966), Girl from Tobacco Row (1966) and Dolly (1976). He was married to Joy Kott and Skeeter Davis. He died on 15 January 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.Died in Nashville, Tennessee.
1933-2022 (88 years old)
15 January- Michael Jackson was born on 16 April 1934 in London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988). He was married to Alana Ladd. He died on 15 January 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Died of Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, California.
1934-2022 (87 years old)
15 January - Director
- Script and Continuity Department
- Writer
Jean-Claude Lord was born on 6 June 1943. He was a director and writer, known for Éclair au chocolat (1979), Bingo (1974) and The Vindicator (1986). He was married to Lise Thouin. He died on 15 January 2022 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.Died of a stroke in Montreal, Canada.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
15 January- Aurora Del Mar was born on 3 July 1934 in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was an actress, known for Somos novios (1969), Me llaman Gorrión (1972) and La familia hippie (1971). She died on 15 January 2022 in Bernal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Died of natural causes in Bernal, Argentina.
1934-2022 (87 years old)
15 January - Actress, Jamie Auld, portrayed as Madonna in "Madonna and the Breakfast Club" on Hulu. She shared a striking resemblance to Madonna. She grew up in a small town in Pasadena, Maryland. She traveled to New York to pursue her acting career. She died from complications of an eating disorder. She was 26.Died in USA.
1996-2022 (26 years old)
15 January - Actress
- Director
Françoise Forton was born on 8 July 1957 in Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil. She was an actress and director, known for The Clone (2001), The Mutants: Ways of the Heart (2008) and Estúpido Cupido (1976). She was married to Eduardo Barata and Ênio Viotti. She died on 16 January 2022 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Died of cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1957-2022 (64 years old)
16 January- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carmela Corren was born Carmela Bizman in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her ambition was to become a dancer, but an injury prompted her to opt for a career as a popular singer instead. After completing her mandatory military service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Carmela made her public debut on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in New York in 1956. In 1961, she accompanied Cliff Richard on a tour of South Africa. Two years later, she was chosen by the broadcast network ORF to represent Austria in the 1963 Eurovision contest where her rendition of "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder" gained her a seventh placed finish. Until the late 70s, Carmela released several albums of ballads and chansons in German, English, French, Spanish and Greek under the Ariola, Vogue and Decca labels.
Carmela appeared in several films during the 1960s, including the spy thriller Voyage to Danger (1962) and the mountaineering drama Sein bester Freund (1962), starring opposite the legendary alpine ski racing champion Toni Sailer. She also acted in a few musicals and crooned popular songs in English clubs, and, with greater success, in Austrian and German TV variety specials. Between 1966 and 1970, she was married to the German music producer Horst Geiger with whom she had two children. In 1973, she resettled in Florida, having abandoned show business to raise her family.1938-2022 (83 years old)
16 January- Alekos Fasianos was born on 16 December 1935 in Athens, Greece. He was married to Mariza. He died on 16 January 2022 in Athens, Greece.Died in Athens, Greece.
1935-2022 (86 years old)
16 January - Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Steve Schapiro was born on 16 November 1934 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for The Dead Zone (1983), Taxi Driver (1976) and Cabo Blanco (1980). He was married to Maura Smith and ???. He died on 15 January 2022 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.Died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago, Illinois.
1934-2022 (88 years old)
16 January- Michel Subor was born Mischa Subotzki in Paris, France in 1935, to anti-Bolshevik parents from the Soviet Union who had immigrated a few years earlier. His father was an engineer in Moscow, and his mother was born in Azerbaijan. Michel's sister moved to the United States as an adult. His career started with small roles in Frou-Frou (Augusto Genina, 1955) with Dany Robin, and the comedy Un drôle de dimanche/A Strange Sunday (Marc Allégret, 1958), followed by playing Jean Richard's son in the comedy Mon pote le gitan/My buddy the Gypsy (François Gir, Guy Lionel, 1959). He had his first leading role as the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in the sexy comedy La Bride sur le Cou/Please, Not Now! (Roger Vadim, 1961). The year before Subor had completed his most important early role in Jean-Luc Godard's Le Petit Soldat/The Little Soldier (1960). The film was banned from release in France for three years because it refers to the use of torture on both the French and Algerian sides during the Algerian struggle for independence. Subor plays Bruno Forestier, a young, disillusioned man who becomes involved in politics, yet in spite of the fact that he stands up to torture and commits murder because of this involvement, he does not have deep political beliefs. Subor also provided the narrator's voice in another classic of the Nouvelle Vague, Jules and Jim (1962) (François Truffaut, 1962).Died in a car accident in France.
1935-2022 (86 years old)
17 January - Rasheed Naz was a Pakistani film and television actor. He started his television career in 1971 as an actor in Pashto television play and has worked in several Pashto, Hindko and Urdu language plays. His first Urdu play was Aik Tha Gaoon (1973). His first popular play was Namoos. He also worked in Pakistan's first private television play Dasht, telecast on N T M.
In 1988, he worked in his first Pashto film Zama Jang (in Urdu "Meri Jang"). His first Urdu film was Syed Noor's Dakait. He also worked in Shoaib Mansoor's film Khuda Ke Liye. Rasheed Naz also worked in a Shoaib Mansoor's video song "Ishq Mohabbat Apna Pan" with Iman Ali. Aside from that, Raheed Naz also starred in the Bollywood film Baby in 2015 alongside Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, and Madhurima Tuli.Died in Islamabad, Pakistan.
1948-2022 (73 years old)
17 January - Actor
- Soundtrack
Karim Ouellet was born on 8 December 1984 in Dakar, Senegal. He was an actor, known for Karim Ouellet: Catastrophe (2012), Karim Ouellet: Le Monstre (2011) and Karim Ouellet: Karim et le loup (2016). He died on 17 November 2021 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.Died in Quebec City, Canada.
1984-2022 (37 years old)
17 January- Additional Crew
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Birju Maharaj was born on 4 February 1938 in Handia, United Provinces, British India [now Handia, Madhya Pradesh, India]. He is known for Bajirao Mastani (2015), Vishwaroopam (2013) and Devdas (2002). He died on 16 January 2022 in New Delhi, India.Died of a heart attack in New Delhi, India.
1937-2022 (84 years old)
17 January- Björn Lindeblad was born on 16 August 1961 in Sweden. He was a writer, known for Sommar & Vinter i P1 (1959), Karlavagnen (1993) and Björn & Navid (2017). He was married to Elisabeth Lagerqvist. He died on 17 January 2022 in Halland, Sweden.Died of assisted suicide in Halland, Sweden.
1961-2022 (60 years old)
17 January - Actress
- Writer
- Producer
An intelligent, slender leading lady of the 1960s and 70s, Yvette Carmen Mimieux was born in Hollywood, California, to Maria (Montemayor) and René Mimieux, an occasional movie extra. Her father was born in England, of French and German descent, and her mother was Mexican. While she was first persuaded to go into acting by a Hollywood publicist, her discovery for the screen can be attributed to the director Vincente Minnelli who saw her perform in a play and decided to cast her in his melodrama Home from the Hill (1960). Though Yvette's small role ended up on the cutting room floor, MGM producers were sufficiently impressed with her looks to sign her under a long term contract. Her first role of note, Platinum High School (1960), won her a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. She was then properly 'launched' with the part of Weena, the naive Eloi cave girl, in George Pal's version of The Time Machine (1960). This turned out to be one of the studio's biggest box office winners of 1960. That same year, Mimieux also played a carefree collegian in Where the Boys Are (1960), a teen comedy (with serious undertones) dealing with adolescent sexuality. Both of her performances were well received by critics, but also set the trend for the actress to become typed either as fragile or insecure characters, or as sex kittens.
After a two year hiatus, Mimieux gave a genuinely compelling performance as Clara Johnson, a retarded girl who captures the affections of a young Italian in Light in the Piazza (1962). Though disliking the film, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther described Clara as "played with sunshine radiance and rapturous grace." Having essayed more conventional heroines in Diamond Head (1962) (sister of blustering land baron), The Reward (1965) (a fugitive's girlfriend) and Dark of the Sun (1968) (girl caught up with mercenaries in the Congo), Mimieux began to concentrate on TV movies which gave her the opportunity to further expand her dramatic range. Her contract killer in Hit Lady (1974) and the unhinged stalker in Obsessive Love (1984) were based, respectively, on her own screenplay and story. Probably her last role of note was as the victim of a harrowing chain of events in Jackson County Jail (1976), a downbeat exploitation drama produced by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. In 1985, Mimieux had a recurring role in Berrenger's (1985), a glossy soap opera set in a luxurious department store. The series lasted just one season before being canceled. Though ultimately nominated for three Golden Globes, Mimieux came to bemoan the fact that scriptwriters of the period tended to depict women as 'one-dimensional'.
In 1992, Mimieux left the acting profession to form a partnership with Sara Shane (another ex-MGM contract player) in a Los Angeles-based enterprise called "Partners in Paradise", selling embroidered tapestries, bedspreads and pillows based on Haitian designs. She subsequently went on to find even more lucrative opportunities in real estate. In her spare time, Mimieux traveled extensively, painted and studied archaeology. At the time of her death at the age of 80, she was married to Howard F. Ruby, founder and chairman of Oakwood Worldwide, a large global corporation providing furnished apartments.Died of natural causes in Bel Air, California.
1942-2022 (80 years old)
18 January- André Leon Talley was born on 16 October 1948 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was an actor, known for Sex and the City (2008), The September Issue (2009) and Empire (2015). He died on 18 January 2022 in White Plains, New York, USA.Died in White Plains, New York.
1948-2022 (73 years old)
18 January - Stephen Aintree was born on 14 January 1957 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Mike Bassett: Manager (2005), Heartburn Hotel (1998) and Life on Mars (2006). He was married to Lynn Robertson Hay. He died on 18 January 2022 in England, UK.1957-2022 (65 years old)
18 January - Child actor Peter Robbins was born on August 10, 1956, in Los Angeles, California. His mother was an immigrant from Hungary who died from cancer when Peter was 16 years old. He first began acting in various films and television shows in 1963. Robbins has the distinction of being the first person to provide the cute and endearing voice of hapless, yet lovable blockhead Charlie Brown in a handful of delightful TV specials that include the holiday classics, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966). Peter started doing the voice for "Charlie Brown" at age 9 and only stopped giving voice to this beloved and iconic character at age 13. Moreover, Robbins not only had a recurring role as "Alexander Bumstead" on the short-lived comedy program Blondie (1968), but also made guest appearances on episodes of such TV series as Rawhide (1959), The Munsters (1964), The Donna Reed Show (1958), F Troop (1965), Get Smart (1965), and My Three Sons (1960). In addition, he recorded a 45 single called "If I Knew Then (What I Know Now)" in 1968. Robbins quit acting in 1972 and worked, for a while, as a disc jockey in Palm Springs, California. He graduated from the University of California in San Diego in 1979 with degrees in psychology and communications. He later worked in real estate in Van Nuys, California, and lived in a condo in Oceanside, California with his dog, Snoopy. Robbins was a guest at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008.Died of suicide in Carlsbad, California.
1956-2022 (65 years old)
18 January - Additional Crew
Clifford Mahooty was born on 18 March 1944. He is known for A Greater Reality, White Buffalo: An American Prophecy (2021) and Ancient Aliens (2009). He died on 18 January 2022.1944-2022 (77 years old)
18 January- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gaspard Ulliel's dream had always been to direct a movie, and after completing his studies at the lycée (French high school), he majored in cinema at the University of Saint-Denis, and began his acting career.
He was born in Paris, to Christine, a stylist and runway show producer, and Serge Ulliel, a fashion designer. One of his first professional performances came when he was twelve, in the TV film Une femme en blanc (1997). During the following years, Ulliel continued working on television and was cast in short films such as Alias (1999). He played a young shepherd who was injured by The Beast in Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), and was then discovered by director Michel Blanc, who offered him a part in Summer Things (2002) which also starred veteran actress Charlotte Rampling. Ulliel then took summer stages at Les Cours Florent and was asked by director André Téchiné to star in Strayed (2003) as Emmanuelle Béart's over. His role as Manech opposite Audrey Tautou in A Very Long Engagement (2004) brought him to stardom. He was nominated thrice for Most Promising Male Newcomer at the César Awards (the equivalent of the Oscars in France) in 2003, 2004 and 2005; he won the last one. Ulliel's lead roles include The Last Day (2004), Jacquou le croquant (2007) and Hannibal Rising (2007), his first major English-language film.
He had a son with his former partner, model and singer Gaëlle Piétri, born in January 2016. They split up in 2020. Gaspard died on 19 January, 2022, in La Tronche, Isère, France, after a skiing accident.Died in a skiing accident in Grenoble, France.
1984-2022 (37 years old)
19 January- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Hardy Kruger was born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger in Wedding, Berlin, thee son of Auguste (Meier) and Max Krüger. At thirteen years, he became a member of the "Hitler Jugend" (Hitler Youth), as did all 13-year-old boys in Germany then. The purpose of the organization was to prepare the boys for military service. At age 15, Hardy made his film debut in a German picture (Junge Adler (1944)), but his acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the German army in 1944 at age 16 and posted to an infantry regiment.
Years later, Hardy related how he "hated that [Nazi] uniform." During the filming of A Bridge Too Far (1977) in which he portrayed a Nazi general, he wore a top-coat over his S.S. uniform between takes so as "not to remind myself of my childhood in Germany during W.W.II." It is said, that during his war years, Hardy was captured and taken prisoner by U.S. forces but attempted to escape thrice, the third time successfully.
After the war, Hardy returned to acting, and eight years later was "discovered" by foreign film distributor J. Arthur Rank who promptly cast him in three British pictures, practically filmed back-to-back: The One That Got Away (1957), Bachelor of Hearts (1958) and Chance Meeting (1959), in which he appeared simply as a foreigner and not a German, as was usually the case. Following the release of these films, Hardy's career took off. Despite anti-German sentiment that still prevailed in postwar Europe, Hardy, described as "ruggedly handsome" and a "blond heartthrob," became an international favorite, paving the way to his first American role as co-star with John Wayne in the Tanganyika-shot wildlife adventure Hatari! (1962).
Hardy was so taken aback by the beauty of the land, that he bought the film's location ("Momilla Farm") and built a small home for himself and a small bungalow hotel for tourists to see the animals. Hunting was forbidden on the property, and, later, a cattle farm was started with the meat being sold to local hotels. Hardy described his home there as "a sort of African Walden where I can get away from the world from time to time."
In 1979, due to the dissolution of the alliance of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika), the border with Kenya was closed and remained so for half a decade which caused a serious decline in tourism. The business aspects of his property were shut down for a period of time, but eventually things picked up and the place was transformed into a proper tourist hotel, known (fittingly) as Hatari Lodge.
Fluent in English, French and German, Hardy found himself in much demand by British, French, American and German producers and became more selective in his scripts. "I'd rather sit out a picture than take a role I don't think is right for me" he would later say. He died in January 2022, in Palm Springs, California, 11 years after his last film credit.Died in Palm Springs, California.
1928-2022 (93 years old)
19 January- Antonina Girycz was born on 20 February 1939 in Berdichev, Zhitomir Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for Interrogation (1989), Polowanie na muchy (1969) and Gracze (1995). She was married to Maciej Dzienisiewicz. She died on 19 January 2022 in Poland.Died in Poland.
1939-2022 (82 years old)
19 January - Director
- Writer
- Producer
Marcus Reichert, born in 1948, is an artist of various disciplines, inlcuding painting and film-making. His works are held in many important collections throughout the world and have been written about extensively. The first neo-noir, Reichert's film Union City (1980) was hailed by Lawrence O'Toole, film critic for Maclean's Magazine, as "an unqualified masterpiece." Reichert was given his first solo exhibition at the age of 21 at the legendary Gotham Book Mart and Art Gallery, New York, home to the Surrealists during WWII. In 1990 he was honored with a retrospective of his painting organized by the Hatton Gallery of the University of Newcastle, Great Britain which toured in various forms to Glasgow, London, Paris, and the United States. His Crucifixion paintings have been described by Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, as being among the most disturbing painted last century, while the American critic Donald Kuspit has written that both Picasso's and Bacon's pale in comparison. Reichert's film works are held in the Archive of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is also the author of three novels: Verdon Angster, Hoboken, and The Miracle of Fontana's Monkey.Died of a pulmonary embolism in St. Hippolyte-du-Fort, France.
1948-2022 (73 years old)
19 January- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Arun Verma is an Indian singer, songwriter and music composer associated with Punjabi, Bhangra, Indi-pop and Bollywood music. He was born in Rajasthan, india. He is known predominantly for the songs "O Ladi Shanta", "Ram Chandro Ri", "Sahiba Ri Bibiye" and "Tu Hi Meri Saansein H". Arun Verma is also an actor and cinematographer, known for Khakee (2004), Khal Nayak (1993) and PremGranth (1996).Died of an illness in Bhopal, India.
1960-2022 (62 years old)
20 January- Music Artist
- Actor
- Producer
Meat Loaf was born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, to Wilma Artie (Hukel), a teacher and gospel singer, and Orvis Wesley Aday, a police officer. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967 to play in local bands. In 1970, he moved to New York and appeared in the Broadway musicals "Hair", "Rockabye Hamlet" and "The Rocky Horror Show," and Off Broadway in "Rainbow", "More Than You Deserve", "National Lampoon Show" and the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "As You Like it;" as well as other productions at the famed New York Public Theatre. He made his film debut with a memorable role in the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
In 1977, he and lyricist Jim Steinman released an operatic rock album called "Bat Out Of Hell"; the record was huge and has sold 50,000,000 copies worldwide and is tied with AC/DC for the 2nd best selling record of all time. The tour and promoting the album took a toll on Meat Loaf's voice and left him unable to sing for 2 years, but with months of rehabilitation, he was able to get back in the studio and record the album "Dead Ringer". Meat Loaf stayed in the dark through the 1980s in the US, recording 4 records which got very little airplay or high chart positions in the US but continued to have major chart success in Europe and Australia. The 1981 Single "Dead Ringer for Love", a duet with Cher, was a top 10 single in many countries outside the US, but which American radio refused to play.
Meat Loaf had many film and TV roles, including the lead character Travis Redfish in Roadie (1980); a pilot in Out of Bounds (1986); in The Squeeze (1987) with Michael Keaton; and Fred in Focus (2001) (based on the Arthur Miller book by the same name), with Laura Dern and William H. Macy. When Meat Loaf and Steinman got back together in 1993, they delivered a powerful sequel, "Bat Out Of Hell II", which went to #1 in the US and UK and 26 other countries. Bat II sold over 22,000,000 copies.
He appeared in many films, including Crazy in Alabama (1999), Formula 51 (2001) (with Samuel L. Jackson), and Fight Club (1999) (with Brad Pitt). TV credits included guest starring roles as a soldier being held prisoner in Vietnam in Lightning Force (1991), a newspaper reporter in the hit series Glee (2009), a slick landlord of a restaurant who ends up on the menu in HBO series Tales from the Crypt (1989) a blacksmith on Showtime's Dead Man's Gun (1997), as fur trader Jake in Masters of Horror (2005) episode Pelts (2006), in House (2004) as caring husband Eddie, and, most recently, in the supporting role of Doug in the SYFY series Ghost Wars (2017). Hugh Laurie (star of "House") played piano on the song "If I Can't Have You" on Meat Loaf's album "Hang Cool Teddy Bear", which was produced by award-winning music producer Rob Cavallo. (Jack Black also sang on the album.)
Marvin Lee Aday died on January 20, 2022 in Austin, Texas from COVID-19 complications.Died of covid-19 in Austin, Texas.
1947-2022 (74 years old)
20 January- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Iconic comedian Louie Anderson, the three-time Emmy®-Award winner, was one of the country's most recognized and adored comics; named by Comedy Central as "One of 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time." His career spanned more than 30 years. He was a best-selling author, star of his own stand up specials and sitcoms, and toured, performing to standing-room only crowds worldwide.
Louis Perry Anderson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Ora Zella (Prouty) and Louis William Anderson, a trumpet player. He was of Swedish, Norwegian, and English descent. Sharing the ups and downs of his childhood experiences as one of eleven children, Louie crafted comedy routines that rang true for his early club audiences while reducing them to helpless fits of laughter, routines that led him from his career as a counselor to troubled children to the first-place trophy at the 1981 Midwest Comedy Competition. Henny Youngman, who hosted the competition, recognized the diamond-in-the-rough genius of the young comic and hired him as a writer, providing invaluable experience that soon put Louie in his own spotlight on comedy stages all over the country.
Johnny Carson, the comedy icon for generations of rising stars, invited Louie to make his national television debut on the "The Tonight Show" in 1984, and the rest is history. Leno, Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, "Comic Relief" and Showtime, HBO and CMT specials followed, including hosting the legendary game show, Family Feud, making Louie a household name and opening doors for him as an actor. He guest-starred in sitcoms like "Grace Under Fire" and dramas like "Touched by an Angel" and "Chicago Hope," and had memorable featured roles in film comedies like "Coming to America," opposite of Eddie Murphy, and the classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." In 2013, he took a dive on the ABC reality series, "Splash" where he conquered his own fears while becoming an inspiration of hope. His stand up Special, "Big Baby Boomer" premiered on CMT, in 2013. Also in that year, he competed and inspired on the ABC reality competition show, Splash.
In 1995 Louie put his creative energies to work on the Saturday morning animated series "Life with Louie." The long-running series based on Louie's own childhood and his life with his father won three Humanitas Prizes for writing on a children's' animated series, making him the only three-time recipient of this award. It also earned a Genesis Award for its depiction of the proper treatment of animals and, most significantly, two Emmy Awards.
His best selling books included Dear Dad - Letters From An Adult Child, a collection of alternately touching and outrageous letters from Louie to his late father, and Good-bye Jumbo...Hello Cruel World, self-help for those who struggle with self-esteem issues, and his latest installment on family, The F Word, How To Survive Your Family.
In 2016, Louie was cast to co-star along with Zach Galifianakis and Martha Kelly in the hit FX series, "Baskets." Anderson's extraordinary new role is Christine Baskets, the matriarch of the Baskets clan. The character is based on both his mother and his five sisters, who were a major presence in his life; "I'm not as nice in the character as my mom was as a person. It really is an extension of my mom, Anderson says, adding that he always aims to make his performance "as real as possible" without "affecting or cartooning it up. It felt like it was divine intervention when I got the call to be on the show, that somehow my mom, from the great beyond, was finally getting herself into show business where she truly belonged in the first place."
When not in production, Louie traveled the States doing what he loved to do, stand-up comedy, and again delivered to his fans his inimitable brand of humor and warmth. He died on January 21, 2022, in Las Vegas, of large B-cell lymphoma.Died of cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1953-2022 (68 years old)
21 January- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Mace Neufeld was born on 13 July 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), The Saint (1997) and No Way Out (1987). He was married to Helen Katz and Diane Conn. He died on 21 January 2022 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.Died in Beverly Hills, California.
1928-2022 (93 years old)
21 January- Actor
- Editor
Arnis Licitis was born on 8 January 1946 in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]. He was an actor and editor, known for Hard to Be a God (1989), The Prisoner of Castle If (1988) and Akvanavty (1980). He was married to Inga Aizbalte. He died on 21 January 2022 in Riga, Latvia.Died in Riga, Latvia.
1946-2022 (76 years old)
21 January- Clark Gillies was born on 7 April 1954 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was married to Pam Goettler. He died on 21 January 2022 in Greenlawn, Long Island, New York, USA.Died of cancer in Greenlawn, New York.
1954-2022 (67 years old)
21 January - Actress
- Soundtrack
Joyce Holden was born on 1 September 1930 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was an actress, known for The Milkman (1950), Private Eyes (1953) and The Werewolf (1956). She was married to David P. Mannhalter and Dok Stanford. She died on 21 January 2022 in Encinitas, California, USA.1930-2022 (91 years old)
21 January- Thich Nhát Hanh was born on 11 October 1926 in Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. He was an actor, known for Obsessive Becoming (1995), Dawn Breakers Film Festival Spotlights (2007) and Planting Seeds of Mindfulness Animated Movie (2016). He died on 22 January 2022 in Hue, Vietnam.Died in Hue, Vietnam.
1926-2022 (95 years old)
22 January - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Patrick Shai was born on 9 December 1956 in Sophiatown, South Africa. He was an actor and director, known for Hearts & Minds (1995), Cry, the Beloved Country (1995) and 7de Laan (2000). He was married to Mmasechaba Shai. He died on 22 January 2022 in Dobsonville, South Africa.Died of suicide by hanging in Dobsonville, South Africa.
1956-2022 (64)
22 January- Rasmi Dzhabrailov was born on 8 December 1932 in Kasumkent, Dagestan ASSR, RSFSR, USSR. He was an actor, known for Captain Blood: His Odyssey (1992), Vertikal (1966) and Prostodushnyy (1994). He died on 22 January 2022 in Moscow, Russia.Died of an illness in Moscow, Russia.
1932-2022 (89 years old)
22 January - Actor
- Additional Crew
Hartmut Becker was a German stage and film star. He had worked in the theatre since 1962, during which time he starred in dozens of plays and has been featured in many international and national film and television productions. His film debut he made in 1970 with the main role Clark in Michael Verhoeven's feature film "o.k". The film was the official German contribution at the Film Festival Berlin 1970 and it's hot political expressiveness was the sensation of Berlin and killed the festival. Hartmut's performing in this film earned several prices and a great praise in the German feature articles. After "o.k." Hartmut Becker was one of Germany's busiest actors in film and theatre (at the State Theatres of Munich and Berlin he performed leading characters in plays from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams). More important main parts in films followed like in Verhoeven's "Who lives in the Glass House" (Film Festival Berlin 1971), "Als Mutter streikte", "John Ralling" (tv), "Mitgift", "Audienz" (tv), "Sonntagskinder."
His first leading part in an English language production he performed in the BBC-film "Forgive Our Foolish Ways", where he played the role of an German prisoner of war next to Kate Nelligan. The television film became a very big success all over the world. Hartmut's following international film was the American-English production "Jenny's War" (Columbia Pictures) where he portrayed the main part of Karl Koenig, a character in the crucial test between love and war. His partners in this film were Dyan Cannon, Elke Sommer and Trevor Howard. In 1987 he was a supporting actor in the American production "Escape From Sobibor" (director: Jack Gold). In his next Festival-Film "Il Decimo Clandestino" (Festival International du Film Cannes 1989) Becker worked together with admirable director Lina Wertmueller. His female partner in this feature film was Dominique Sanda.
Several dream parts followed after the success of "Il Decimo Clandestine" (Portraits with Women) for example the characters Niels Jost in "A Silent Conspiracy" (also starring Joss Ackland), Rauscher in the American Film "Triumph of the Spirit" (with Willem Dafoe, Robert Loggia), Lutz in the English-French Television Film "Free Frenchmen" (also starring Derek de Lint, Agnes Soral), Moritz in the English-Austrian feature film "Gave Princip" by Peter Patzak, King Christian in "Young Catherine" (American TV with a.o. Julia Ormond, Venessa Redgrave, Marthe Keller,Maximilian Schell), Rusty in the Italian tv-movie "Requiem Per Voce e Pianoforte" and last not least Dieter Krause in the English TV-thriller "The Waiting Time" (ITV 1999). His last leading role in a German feature was Goran in "The Unforgotten" produced in 2005. In the Germany cinema "Verfehlung" (The Transgression) of 2015 he performed the part Kardinal Schoeller. 2018 brought the role of Lenz Senior in "Liebesfilm". From 2007 to 2012, Becker was a member in the committee of the German Academy of Film (Deutsche Filmakademie). He died in 2022.Died of cancer in Berlin, Germany.
1938-2022 (83 years old)
22 January- Janina Traczykówna was born on 16 May 1930 in Wlodawa, Lubelskie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Day of the Wacko (2002), Noce i dnie (1978) and Panic on the Train (1961). She was married to Witold Skaruch. She died on 22 January 2022.1930-2022 (91 years old)
22 January - Kathryn Kates was born on 29 January 1948 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Greetings from Sarajevo (2021), Shades of Blue (2016) and The Many Saints of Newark (2021). She was married to Joseph Pershes. She died on 22 January 2022 in Lake Worth, Florida, USA.Died of cancer in Florida.
1948-2022 (73 years old)
22 January - Johan Hultin was born on 7 October 1924 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was married to Eileen Barbara and Gunvor Sande. He died on 22 January 2022 in Walnut Creek, California, USA.Died in Walnut Creek, California.
1924-2022 (97 years old)
22 January - Editor
- Sound Department
- Editorial Department
Richard S. Brummer was born on 6 January 1924 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was an editor, known for Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), The Return (1980) and Angels Hard as They Come (1971). He was married to Louise Meliere Brummer. He died on 22 January 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Died in Los Angeles, California.
1924-2022 (98 years old)
22 January- Composer
- Soundtrack
Roger Wallis was born on 8 August 1941 in Rugby, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Loving Couples (1964), Amorosa (1986) and The Moon Is a Green Cheese (1977). He died on 22 January 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden.Died in Stockholm, Sweden.
1941-2022 (80 years old)
22 January- Barbara Krafftówna was born on 5 December 1928 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Jak byc kochana (1963), Ashes and Diamonds (1958) and Upal (1964). She was married to Michal Gazda and Arnold Seidner. She died on 23 January 2022 in Skolimów, Mazowieckie, Poland.Died in Skolimów, Poland.
1928-2022 (93 years old)
23 January - Production Designer
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Rolf Zehetbauer was born on 13 February 1929 in Munich, Germany. He was a production designer and art director, known for Cabaret (1972), The NeverEnding Story (1984) and Enemy Mine (1985). He died on 23 January 2022 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.Died in Munich, Germany.
1929-2022 (92 years old)
23 January- Director
- Editorial Department
- Actor
Peter began his feature film directing career in 2003 with the mob thriller "Gravity" which won Best Director award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. Subsequently, he helmed a romantic comedy titled "Sweet Good Fortune". After relocating to Los Angeles, he directed the Lionsgate-released supernatural thriller "Necessary Evil" starring Lance Henriksen and Danny Trejo.
Most recently, he completed the Sci-fi/faith-based feature, "Past Shadows" with Corbin Bernsen and Robert Shepherd, soon to be released through Bridgestone Media Group.
He divides his time between Los Angeles area and the Hampton Roads, Virginia region.Died in Norfolk, Virginia.
1958-2022 (63 years old)
23 January- Actor
- Soundtrack
Romano Vasquez was born on 31 October 1970 in the Philippines. He was an actor, known for Boy Praning: Utak pulbura (1992), Noel Juico, 16: Batang kriminal (1991) and NBI: Epimaco Velasco, the True Story (1994). He died on 23 January 2022 in Trece Martires City, Cavite, Philippines.Died in Trece Martires City, Philippines.
1970-2022 (51 years old)
23 January- Writer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Additional Crew
Ron Kivett was born on 12 July 1943 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. He was a writer, known for Zaat (1971) and Ancient Aliens (2009). He died on 23 January 2022 in St. Augustine, Florida, USA.Died in St. Augustine, Florida.
1943-2022 (78 years old)
23 January- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Hank Harrison was born on 17 June 1941 in Monterey, California, USA. He was a writer, known for LSD-25 (1967), Kurt & Courtney (1998) and One Life (2003). He was married to Linda Risi. He died on 23 January 2022 in Galt, California, USA.Died of heart failure in Galt, California.
1941-2022 (80 years old)
23 January- Actress
- Producer
- Art Director
Fatma Girik was born on 12 December 1942 in Istanbul, Turkey. She was an actress and producer, known for Ezo Gelin (1968), Sürtügün Kizi (1967) and Bos Besik (1969). She died on 24 January 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.Died of covid-19 in Istanbul, Turkey.
1942-2022 (79 years old)
24 January- Born in Mersin. He is a Turkish cinema and TV series actor. He spent his childhood and youth in Adana and Mersin. After completing his primary and secondary education in Adana and high school in Mersin, he graduated from Mersin University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Performing Arts, Department of Theater. Later, he started his acting career in Istanbul. He played the main roles in the television series Ihlamurlar Altinda, Yaprak Dökümü, Kurtlar Vadisi and Kesanli Ali Destani In 2010, the feature film Hair, in which he played the leading role, received awards at national and international film festivals. He was awarded the best supporting actor award at the 23rd Ankara International Film Festival for his performance in the movie Ask and Devrim, which was released in 2012. He announced on his social media account that he had lung cancer in October 2021. Famous actor Ayberk Pekcan, who had been treated for lung cancer for a while, was taken to the intensive care unit in his hometown Mersin last week. The 51-year-old actor passed away today.Died of lung cancer in Mersin, Turkey.
1970-2022 (51 years old)
24 January - Theresa Amayo was born on 13 July 1933 in Belém, Pará, Brazil. She was an actress, known for Capital Sin (1975), Na Corda Bamba (1958) and O Camelô da Rua Larga (1958). She was married to Mário Brasini. She died on 24 January 2022 in Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Died of cancer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1933-2022 (88 years old)
24 January - Vachik Mangassarian was born in May 1943 in Iran. He was an actor, known for The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008), Moving On (2022) and Remington Steele (1982). He died on 23 January 2022 in Burbank, California, USA.Died of covid-19 in Burbank, California.
1943-2022 (79 years old)
24 January - Giorgos Tromaras was born in 1947 in Agia Sofia, Greece. He was an actor, known for Ta katharmata (1984), Pagida stin Ellada (1982) and Thanasis in the Land of Slapping (1976). He died on 24 January 2022 in Athens, Greece.Died of a stroke in Athens, Greece.
1947-2022 (75 years old)
24 January - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Tadeusz Bradecki was born on 2 January 1955 in Zabrze, Slaskie, Poland. He was an actor and director, known for Television Theater (1953), Schindler's List (1993) and Camera Buff (1979). He died on 24 January 2022 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland.Died in Katowice, Poland.
1955-2022 (67 years old)
24 January- Jirí Plachý was born on 23 September 1946 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Lady on the Tracks (1966), The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night (1990) and Dábelské líbánky (1970). He died in January 2022 in the Czech Republic.Died in the Czech Republic.
1946-2022 (75 years old)
? January - Stalina Lyagoshnyak was an actress, known for I Work at the Cemetery (2021), Ulybka Boga, ili Chisto odesskaya istoriya (2008) and Pohrabuvannya po-ukrayinsky (2023). She died on 25 January 2022 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.Died in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
1939-2022 (82 years old)
25 January - Etchika Choureau was born on 12 November 1929 in Paris, France. She was an actress, known for Darby's Rangers (1958), Lafayette Escadrille (1958) and The Vanquished (1953). She was married to Philippe Rheims and Max Choureau. She died on 24 January 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.Died in France.
1929-2022 (92 years old)
25 January - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Morgan Stevens was born on 16 October 1951 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Fame (1982), Murder One (1995) and Bare Essence (1983). He died on 26 January 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Died in Los Angeles, California.
1951-2022 (70 year old)
26 January