R.I.P. 2012

As I reflect on the passing of these entertainers who have made their mark on classic movies, I'm grateful for the contributions they have made to my favorite period in film. Many of the people on this list were widely recognized and revered until the end of their lives. All were primarily actors unless otherwise noted.

Please let me know in the comments if I have missed anyone who you feel belongs on the list!

Peggy Ahern (Our Gang)

Turhan Bey (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Arabian Nights)

Ernest Borgnine (Marty, The Wild Bunch)

Ray Bradbury (Novelist, Fahrenheit 451)

Dave Brubeck (Musician, All Night Long)

Phyllis Diller (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!, Eight on the Lam)

Andy Griffith (A Face in the Crowd, The Andy Griffith Show)

Celeste Holm (All About Eve, Road House)

Mila Parély (La belle et la bête, Le plaisir)

Ben Gazzara (Anatomy of a Murder, The Strange One)

Larry Hagman (Fail-Safe, Dallas, I Dream of Jeannie)

Charles Higham (Hollywood Biographer)

Davy Jones (Musician, Head)

Elyse Knox (The Mummy's Tomb, Joe Palooka series)

Jeni Le Gon (Dancer, Hi-De-Ho, I Walked With A Zombie)

Herbert Lom (A Shot in the Dark, The Phantom of the Opera)

Susan Luckey (Carousel, The Music Man)

Tony Martin (Ziegfeld Girl, 'Till the Clouds Roll By)

Patricia Medina (Aladdin and His Lamp, Mr. Arkadin, married to Joseph Cotten, above)

Hideaki Nitani (Tokyo Drifter)

Frank Pierson (screenwriter, Cat Ballou, Cool Hand Luke)

Joyce Redman (Tom Jones, Othello)

Ann Rutherford (Gone With the Wind, The Andy Hardy series )

Ravi Shankar (Soundtrack, The Apu Trilogy)

Warren Stevens (Forbidden Planet, Barefoot Contessa)

Martha Stewart (In a Lonely Place)

Joan Taylor (Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, The Rifleman)

Phyllis Thaxter (Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Tenth Avenue Angel)

Keiko Tsushima (Seven Samurai)

William Windom (To Kill a Mockingbird, One Man's Way)

Jack Klugman (12 Angry Men, The Odd Couple, Quincy)

Harry Carey Jr. (Red River, Rio Grande)

All photos from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons

In Tribute to Gerald and Laszlo's on Lex

Today is the anniversary of the last post on Laszlo's on Lex, the beautifully quirky site of gentleman blogger Gerald, who moved on to the great theater in the sky in the summer of 2011.

I still miss Gerald. He had a unique voice and a beautiful perspective on film, people, travel and life in general. And he was so darn kind!

You can learn more about Gerald and check out links to other tribute posts written in honor of this fine writer, movie fan and Cunarder, in this post I wrote about him last year. We are fortunate that Gerald lives on in Laszlo's on Lex. Go check out his posts--even if you've already read them--they never get old.

R.I.P. 2011

It is always bittersweet to reflect on the people who have passed each year. I first learned of many of these people by reading their obituaries. It's sad to think of these artists passing on, but inspiring to reflect on their achievements and in some cases, get to know them better. Regardless of the size of their impact, each of these people made their mark on classic movies. Please let me know in the comments if I have missed anyone who you feel belongs on the list! 
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Ray Aghayan Costume designer, Doctor Dolittle (1967), Our Man Flint (1966)

Dev Anand Actor/Director, Jewel Thief (1967), Haré Raama Haré Krishna (1971)

James Arness Actor, The Thing From Another World (1951), Gunsmoke (1955-1975)

Doe Avedon Siegel Actress/Model, Deep in My Heart (1954), The High and the Mighty (1954)

William Campbell Actor, Lover Me Tender (1956), Man Without a Star (1955)

Linda Christian Actress, Athena (1954), The Devil’s Hand (1962)

Diane Cilento Actress, Tom Jones (1963), The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

Jackie Cooper Actor, The Champ (1931), Skippy (1931)

 Paulette Dubost Actress, Rules of the Game (1939)

 Annalisa Ericson Actress, Summer Interlude (1951)

Peter Falk Actor, Murder Inc. (1961), Pressure Point (1962)

Edith Fellows Actress, She Married Her Boss (1935), Pennies from Heaven (1936)

Margaret Field Actress, The Man From Planet X (1951), mother of Sally Field

Anne Francis Actress, Forbidden Planet (1956), The Blackboard Jungle (1955)

 Dolores Fuller Actress, Glen or Glenda (1953), Bride of the Monster (1955)

Betty Garrett Actress, On the Town (1949), Neptune’s Daughter (1949)

Susan Gordon Child Actress, Attack of the Puppet People (1958), The Five Pennies (1959)

Farley Granger Actor, Strangers on a Train (1951), Senso (1954)

 John Howard Davies Actor/Producer, Oliver Twist (1948)

 Michael Gough Actor, Batman (1989), The Man in the White Suit (1954)

 Jill Haworth Actress, Exodus (1960), In Harm’s Way (1965)

 Sybil Jason Child Actress, The Little Princess (1939), The Blue Bird (1940)

 Leonard Kastle Director, The Honeymoon Killers (1969)

Barbara Kent Actress, Lonesome (1928), Flesh and the Devil (1926)

 Arthur Laurents Screenwriter, Rope (1948), Anastasia (1956)

 Judy Lewis Actress/Therapist, daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young

Anna Massey Actress, Peeping Tom (1960), Frenzy (1972)

Cynthia Myers Actress, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Harry Morgan Actor, Moonrise (1948), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

 Mary Murphy Actress, The Wild One (1953)

 Charles Napier Actor, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970)

 Marilyn Nash Actress, Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

 David Nelson Actor, Peyton Place (1957), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966)

Paul Picerni Actor, House of Wax (1953), The Untouchables (1959-1963)

 Harry Redmond, Jr. Special Effects, King Kong (1933), The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Cliff Robertson Actor, Charley (1968), Picnic (1955)

Jane Russell Actress, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), His Kind of Woman (1951)

Tura Satana Actress, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), Irma La Douce (1963)

 Miriam Seeger Actress, When Knights Were Bold (1929), Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929)

Elaine Stewart Actress, The Adventures of Haji Baba (1954), Brigadoon (1954)

 Hideko Takamine Actress, Floating Clouds (1955), House of Many Pleasures (1955)

Elizabeth Taylor Actress, National Velvet (1944), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)

Yvette Vickers Actress, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

Googie Withers Actress, Night and the City (1950), The Gang’s All Here (1939)

Dana Wynter Actress, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Something of Value (1957)

Susannah York Actress, Tom Jones (1963), A Man for All Seasons (1966)




All images from Wikimedia Commons

Jackie Cooper, 1922-2011

IMDB

Seattle Times/NYT

BBC Obituary

My post about Jackie's autobiography

R.I.P. 2010

A diverse group of movie talents passed on this year, some of them among the biggest stars, others who had shorter careers, but who outlived many of their contemporaries. Regardless of the size of their impact, each of these people made their mark on classic movies. Please let me know in the comments if I have missed anyone who you feel belongs on the list!

Roy Ward Baker
Director, A Night to Remember (1958), The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Claude Chabrol
Director, Les cousins (1959), Les bonnes femmes (1960)

Cammie King Conlon
Child Actress, Gone With the Wind (1939), Bambi (1942)

Robert Culp
Actor, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Sunday in New York (1963)

Tony Curtis
Actor, Some Like it Hot (1959), The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Doris Eaton Travis
Dancer/Actress, The Broadway Peacock (1922), High Kickers (1923)

Blake Edwards
Director, The Pink Panther (1963), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

Eddie Fisher
Singer/Actor, BUtterfield 8 (196), Bundle of Joy (1956)

John Forsythe
Actor, The Trouble With Harry (1955), Kitten With a Whip (1964)

Peter Graves
Actor, Red Planet Mars (1952), Stalag 17 (1953)

Kathryn Grayson
Singer/Actress, Kiss Me Kate (1953), Showboat (1951)

June Havoc
Actress, Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), My Sister Eileen (1942)

Dennis Hopper
Actor, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Giant (1956)

Lena Horne
Singer/Actress, Cabin In the Sky (1943), Stormy Weather (1943)

Joyce Howard
Actress, Terror House (1942), They Met in the Dark (1943)

Dino de Laurentiis
Producer, La Strada (1954), Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Kevin McCarthy
Actor, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Death of a Salesman (1951)

James Mitchell
Actor, Stars in My Crown (1950), Border Incident (1949)

Mario Monicelli
Director, Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), The Girl With a Pistol (1968)

Helen Alice Myres (AKA Baby Marie Osborne)
Child Actress, The Maid of the Wild (1915), Captain Kiddo (1917)

Patricia Neal
Actress, Hud (1953), A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Ronald Neame
Cinematographer/Writer/Producer/Director, The Horse’s Mouth (1958), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

Leslie Nielsen
Actor, Forbidden Planet (1956), Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)

Fess Parker
Actor, Old Yeller (1957), Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)

Neva Patterson
Actress, An Affair to Remember (1957), Desk Set (1957)

Arthur Penn
Director, The Miracle Worker (1962), Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Ingrid Pitt
Actress, The Vampire Lovers (1970), Countess Dracula (1971)

Meinhardt Raabe
Actor, Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Lynn Redgrave
Actress, Georgy Girl (1966), Gods and Monsters (1998)

Jean Simmons
Actress, Hamlet (1948), Elmer Gantry (1960)

Gloria Stuart
Actress, The Invisible Man (1933), The Old Dark House (1932)