Dec 30, 2014

RIP Classic Stars 2014

RIP Luise Rainer, 104
Once again it is that bittersweet time where we pay tribute to the classic stars and filmmakers who have left us in 2014. Each year as I compile this list, I'm always amazed by how many talented people have dedicated their time, from a few years to most of their lives, to entertaining the masses.


Jane "Poni" Adams, 95, American actress, House of Dracula (1945), Batman and Robin (1949) [serial]



Mary Anderson, 96, American actress, Gone With the Wind (1939), Lifeboat (1944)



Renée Asherson, 99, English actress, Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Henry V (1944)



Richard Attenborough, 90, English producer and director, Gandhi (1982), The Great Escape (1963)



Keiko Awaji,80, Japanese actress, Stray Dog (1949), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)



Lauren Bacall, 89, American actress, To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946)



Donatas Banionis, 90, Lithuanian actor, Solaris (1972), King Lear (1971)



Polly Bergen, 84, American singer and actress, Cape Fear (1962), The Caretakers (1963), Emmy Award winner (1958)



Jacques Bergerac, 87, French actor, The Hypnotic Eye (1960), Les Girls (1957), Gigi (1958), married to Ginger Rogers and Dorothy Malone



Noel Black, 77, American film and television director, writer and producer, Skaterdater (1966), Pretty Poison (1968)



Karlheinz Böhm, 86, Austrian actor, Peeping Tom (1960), The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)

George Bookasta, 96, American child actor, The Night Bird (1928), At the Circus (1939)



Ann Carter, 77, American child actress, The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)



Charles Champlin, 88, American film critic and writer, LA Times




Warren Clarke, 67, British actor, A Clockwork Orange (1971), Dalziel and Pascoe (TV, 1996-2007)



Ruby Dee, 91, A Raisin in the Sun (1961), Do the Right Thing (1989)



Ruth Duccini, 95, The Wizard of Oz (1939)



Claire Duhamel, 88, French actress, Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970)




Joanna Dunham, 78, English actress, The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The House That Dripped Blood (1971)





Mona Freeman, 87, American actress, Mother Wore Tights (1947), Black Beauty (1946), Angel Face (1952)



Arthur Gardner, 104, American actor and film producer, was the last surviving cast and crew member of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)




James Garner, 86, American actor, The Americanization of Emily (1964), The Thrill of it All (1963), Maverick (TV, 1957-62)



H. R. Giger, 74, Swiss Oscar-winning surrealist artist and designer, Alien (1979), Aliens (1986)



Geoffrey Holder, 84, Trinidadian actor, Live and Let Die (1973), Annie (1982), Doctor Dolittle (1967)


Philip Huric (l), Tommy Kelly (r)
Philip Hurlic, 86, American actor, Our Gang, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)



Brian G. Hutton, 79, American actor and director, Where Eagles Dare (1968), Kelly's Heroes (1970)



Martha Hyer, 89, Some Came Running (1958), Sabrina (1954)




Herb Jeffries, 100, American actor and singer, The Bronze Buckaroo (1939), Harlem Rides the Range (1939)



Russell Johnson, This Island Earth (1955), It Came From Outer Space (1953), Gilligan's Island (TV, 1964-67)



Christopher Jones, 72, American actor, Wild in the Streets (1968), Ryan's Daughter (1970)


Jackie Kelk (l), Dick Jones (r)
Dick Jones, 87, American actor, Pinocchio (1940), Buffalo Bill, Jr. (TV, 1955-56)



Don Keefer, 98, American actor, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone


Richard Kiel holding John Provost
Richard Kiel, 74, American actor, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Eegah (1962)



Barbara Knudson, 86, American actress, Meet Danny Wilson (1951), The Cry Baby Killer (1958)



Carla Laemmle, 104, The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Broadway Melody (1929), Dracula (1931)



Angus Lennie, 84, Scottish actor, The Great Escape (1963), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)



Virna Lisi, 78, Italian Actress, How to Murder Your Wife (1965), Anyone Can Play (1968)



Audrey Long, 92, American film actress, Tall in the Saddle (1944), Stagestruck (1948)



Joan Lorring, 88, British Hong Kong-born American actress, The Corn is Green (1945), Three Strangers (1946)



Sheila MacRae, 92, English-born American actress, Pretty Baby (1950), Caged (1950), Backfire (1950)



Frank Mankiewicz, 90, American journalist, political advisor, public relations executive, president of NPR, son of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, nephew of director Joseph Mankiewicz, father of TCM host Ben Mankiewicz



Sarah Marshall, 80, British actress, The Long, Hot Summer (1958), daughter of Herbert Marshall



Paul Mazursky, 84, American director, screenwriter and actor, Bob & Carol & Ted &Alice (1969), Alex in Wonderland (1970)



Andrew V. McLaglen, 94, British director, McClintock! (1963), 91 episodes of Gunsmoke



Denny Miller, 80, American actor, Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), Wagon Train (TV, 1961-64)



Lucilla Morlacchi, 78, Italian actress, The Leopard (1963)



Oswald Morris, 98, British cinematographer, Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Oliver! (1968)





Juanita Moore, 99, Imitation of Life (1959), Thomasine and Bushrod (1974)



Rosemary Murphy, 89, American actress, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Eleanor and Franklin (TV movie, 1976), Emmy winner (1976)



Mike Nichols, 83, German-born American director, The Graduate (1967), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Angels in America (2003), Oscar winner (1968)



Marc Platt, 100, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Oklahoma! (1955)



Lawrence J. Quirk, 91, American writer, Hollywood reporter and film historian


Luise Rainer, 104, German-born American actress, The Great Ziegfeld (1936), The Good Earth (1937), The Great Waltz (1938)



Alain Resnais, 91, French film director, Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Night and Fog (1955), Hiroshima mon amour (1959)



Alicia Rhett, 98, American actress and portrait painter, Gone With the Wind (1939)



Joan Rivers, 81, American comedienne, actress, television host, The Swimmer (1968), Spaceballs (1987)



Mickey Rooney, 93, American actor, Boys Town (1938), Babes in Arms (1939)



Stanley Rubin, 96, American screenwriter and producer, The Narrow Margin (1952), River of No Return (1954)




Richard Schaal, 86, American actor, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), Slaughterhouse Five (1972)



Maximillian Schell, 83, Austrian/Swiss actor, Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), The Man in the Glass Booth (1975)



Lorenzo Semple, Jr., 91, American screenwriter, Pretty Poison (1968), The Super Cops (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975)



James Shigeta, 85, American actor, Flower Drum Song (1961), Die Hard (1988)



Donald Sinden, British actor, writer , Mogambo (1953) An Alligator Named Daisy (1955), The Island at the Top of the World (1974)



Elaine Stritch, 89, American actress, Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965), 30 Rock (TV, 2007-12)




Hal Sutherland, 84, American animator, Sleeping Beauty (1959), Star Trek: The Animated Series, co-founder of Filmation



Ken Takakura, 83, Japanese actor, Shôwa zankyô-den (1965), The Yakuza (1974)




Jacqueline Taylor, 88, American actress and television personality, Our Gang




Shirley Temple, 85, American actress and diplomat, The Little Princess (1939), Heidi (1937), Ambassador to Ghana (1974–1976); Czechoslovakia (1989–1992), COPD



Ken Thorne, 90, British film/television score composer, Help! (1965), Head (1968)



Brigitta Valberg, 97, Swedish actress, The Virgin Spring (1960), Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)



Eli Wallach, 98, American actor, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Baby Doll (1956)



Ralph Waite, 85, American actor, political activist, Cool Hand Luke (1967), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Waltons (TV, 1972-1981)



Robin Williams, 63, American comedian and actor, The World According To Garp (1982), Aladdin (1992), Good Will Hunting (1997), Oscar winner (1998)



Gordon Willis, 82, American cinematographer, The Landlord (1970), The Godfather (1972)



Patrice Wymore, 87, American actress, Ocean's 11 (1960), I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) and philanthropist, Errol Flynn's final wife



Yoshiko Yamaguchi, 94, Chinese-born Japanese actress and singer, House of Bamboo (1955) member of the House of Councillors (1974–1992)



Shōji Yasui, 86, Japanese actor, The Burmese Harp (1956)



Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 95, American actor, The Chapman Report (1962), By Love Possessed (1961), 77 Sunset Strip (TV, 1958-1964)