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1-10 of 10
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Never a big name but always a reliable staple on TV crime shows during the 1960s and 1970s, Harold J. Stone usually was seen in a strong, unsympathetic vein -- an unyielding father or husband, corrupt businessman, menacing crime figure, etc. A sober-looking gent with a block jaw, Romanesque-styled nose and steely gray-black hair, he was also prone to playing ethnic types of varying origins.
Born Harold Jacob Hochstein in New York City on March 3, 1913, the scion of a Jewish acting family who established themselves in the Yiddish theater, Stone started on stage with his father as a child. He once entertained a career in medicine, attaining a BA degree at the University of Buffalo Medical School, but acting proved too strong a desire. After initially finding work in radio, Stone made his Broadway bow with "The World We Make" (1939), which led to other productions such as "Morning Star" (1940) and "A Bell for Adano" (1944). His early work in New York on stage and TV eventually paved the way to a modest character career in movies and a move to Hollywood.
In the 1950s Stone began to provide a minor, shady presence in such "A" films as Humphrey Bogart's The Harder They Fall (1956), Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956), the Rocky Graziano biopic Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), the ultimate gladiator spectacle Spartacus (1960) and the gangster epic The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) in which he played Chicago mobster Frank Nitti. He also played a no-nonsense foil to good friend Jerry Lewis in a few of his wacky 60s comedies. None of these, however, did much to improve his standing. Television, on the other hand, became a strong and steady medium for Stone, and he became a fixture in hundreds of police dramas including 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Naked City (1958), The Untouchables (1959), Mannix (1967), Mission: Impossible (1966), The Rockford Files (1974) and Kojak (1973). He was once Emmy-nominated for a dramatic guest role.
Left a widower by his first wife Joan in 1960, by whom he had two children, he continued to work primarily on episodic TV into the mid-1980s before retiring and settling down with his second wife Miriam (from 1962), who bore him another child. He died in Woodland Hills, California at age 92.- Born in Detroit and raised in New Orleans, Carolyn Kearney began studying at the Pasadena Playhouse in the mid-1950s, and was soon acting in stage productions, opposite veterans Stuart Erwin, Edward Everett Horton, Gladys Cooper, Leo G. Carroll and Cecil Kellaway. In addition to many TV appearances, her films included the horror thriller, The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958) and Damn Citizen (1958), the latter shot in her old stamping grounds of New Orleans, with Kearney as a drug addict. After two and a half years of addiction to Xanax, due to a physician's error, she kicked the habit in 1987, later writing one of the essays for the book "Prescription Drug Addiction" and helping to found "Benzodiazepine Anonymous", a 12-step program for recovering addicts. Her first husband was screenwriter Harold Jack Bloom; her second, advertising executive-writer Alan Hirshfeld.
- Actress
- Producer
Laura Hidalgo, whose real name was Pesea Faerman, was born in Romania in 1927. She arrived in Argentina when she was two years old. From 1945 she showed a remarkable ambition to become a movie star. She was rejected by some studios because of her weight and she lost more than a few pounds. Meanwhile she had began studying theater with Hedy Crilla and in 1949 she shot her first movie - even when she had bits as an extra. That flick was a cheap quickie called His Last Boxing Match - Su Ultima Pelea. She was learning her craft and after some B movies she got lots of publicity because she was a real beauty. Dark haired and with emerald eyes, a big studio like Argentina Sono Film manufactured her as a sort of Argentinian Hedy Lamarr. The film that made her was The Orchid in 1951. She worked only for that studio and her career was brief because it lasted only until 1957. Not a very keen worker she did not like the business but it meant fame and money for her. Despite some successful weepies she did not reach a solid status until Beyond Oblivion - a beautiful melodrama directed by Hugo del Carril. She had filmed two movies outside Argentine - in Mexico and Spain.
In 1957 she went to Mexico to shoot a second movie there, a cheap thriller and decided to stay in that country. According to some sources she had begun a relationship with a powerful professional whose surname was Rossen. They married and they had three children. At the beginning of the 80s they moved to La Jolla in California. Hidalgo returned to Argetina for some opportunities during the 60s, but thanks to concert pianist Bruno Gelberg, in 1987 she came back with a vengeance. She was promoting a poetry book - a good one - and she played the game very carefully. She had not been forgotten and she had recovered her old self, the one from the movies. It was the last time she visited Argentina. She was invited to the Nantes Festival in 1995 where they were showing Beyond Oblivion but did not show interest in going there.
However, Uruguayan literature critic Jorge Rufinelli - resident in California - persuaded her to visit some universities in the States where that movie directed by Hugo del Carill was shown to students. Her death came as a surprise to all her admirers - the young ones now in their 50s and the old ones now in their 70s. She was a true star but never believed in stardom. Her goals were to raise a family and to live comfortably. One of the verses of her poems says it all: "I'm a little Jew immigrant belonging to the world".- Actress
- Director
- Additional Crew
Birthe Backhausen was born on 20 January 1927 in Denmark. She was an actress and director, known for Matador (1978), Anthonsen (1984) and Unit One (2000). She was married to Helge Rungwald. She died on 18 November 2005 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Valeriu Popescu was born on 1st of December 1938 in Bucharest, Romania. He graduate from the Acting Faculty of the Institutul de Arta Teatrala si Cinematografica "Ion Luca Caragiale" (IATC), the "National University of Theatre and Movie" (UNATC) of today, Bucharest, in 1962, at prof. Ion Olteanu's class, assisted by Irina Rachiteanu-Sirianu... Till 1970 he played on different important stages of the country, as Targu Mures, Ploiesti and the "Small Theatre" ("Teatrul Mic") Bucharest, in leading parts, as he was a tall, a good looking, charismatic person, in plays such as "The twelfth Night" ("A douasprezecea Noapte") by William Shakespeare, "The Devil's Disciple" ("Discipolul Diavolului") by Bernard Shaw, "Orfeu Descending" ("Orfeu in Infern") by Tennessee Williams, "Romeo and Juliett" by William Shakespeare, "Two for the Seesaw" ("Doi pe un Balansoar") by William Gibson etc. In 1969 he defected Romania and the communist system, setting in Paris, France, where he changed his name to Valerio Popesco, adapting it to the country's language. He played diverse parts in different movies and at the television, as the part of the Stranger in the film of the Belgian director Andre Delvaux "Belle", in 1973, working also with famous French directors as: Jean-Luc Godard, Philippe Galardi, Roger Burkhardt...
He also directed himself "The Premiere" by John Cromwell, "Butterflies, Butterflies" by Aldo Nicolai, "Moments of Life" by William Saroyan. In 1984 he established the theatre company "Instants" in Lyon, for which he was artistic director till 1989, when the communist system fell. In 1995 he returned to Romania, where he played again more leading roles, at the "Nottara" Theatre (Starbuck in "The Rainmaker" by Richard Nash) and at the "National Theatre" Bucharest, where he was employed one year later. But the most important role he did in the last years of his life was that of Alfredo in "The Queen Mum" by Manlio Santanelli, next to Olga Tudorache, on the "Amfiteatre" stage. In the movies, he started with a part in "The Upheaval" ("Rascoala") by Mircea Muresan, "The jolly Quarter" directed by Manole Marcus, "Papparazzo", directed by Nicolae Margineanu and in Television productions as "The early Train doesn't stop here anymore" by Tennessee Williams, directed by Catalina Buzoianu, "Here, doesn't live anybody", script and direction by Malvina Ursianu, "A lost Lettre" ("O Scrisoare pierduta"), script and direction by Mircea Veroiu. He died on 18th of November 2005, at the age of nearly 67 years, he would have completed 12 days later, on 1st of Decembre. Valeriu Popescu is buried at Romania's most famous Cemetery "Bellu" in Bucharest, Romania. - Script and Continuity Department
- Actress
- Art Department
Betty Kerwin was born on 6 January 1932 in San Diego, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976), Flesh Feast (1970) and Adam Lost His Apple (1965). She died on 18 November 2005.- Production Designer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Art Director
Leif Hedager was born on 3 July 1927. He was a production designer and art director, known for Musikken var af ... (1968), Holder De af ... (1965) and Ret beset (1978). He died on 18 November 2005.- Libuse Geprtová was born on 21 December 1941 in Kolín, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Babicka (1971), Neco je ve vzduchu (1981) and Lady on the Tracks (1966). She died on 18 November 2005 in Prague, Czech Republic.
- Producer
- Writer
Berl Rotfeld was born on 3 October 1928. He was a producer and writer, known for Greatest Sports Legends (1972), War of the Stars (1987) and We Are Family (1983). He died on 18 November 2005.- Producer
- Director
- Editor
Klaus Volkenborn was born on 4 October 1945 in Aschau, Bavaria, Germany. He was a producer and director, known for Unversöhnliche Erinnerungen (1980), Balagan (1994) and Aufstehen und Widersetzen (1983). He died on 18 November 2005 in Berlin, Germany.