In a sad irony, just a day after Cinema Retro posted Diana Blackwell's major article about the 1964 classic war film Zulu, comes word that one of the featured actors in the movie,
Ivor Emmanuel, who played Pte. Owen in the movie has passed away. The Welsh star of stage and screen was
largely unknown to American audiences - but fans of Zulu will recall his shining moment in the movie when he leads the outnumbered British garrison at Rorke's Drift in singing Men of Harlech to raise morale and drown out the chants of the Zulu warriors who are about to attack. Ellen Baker, widow of Zulu producer and star Stanley Baker said, "It is a terribly sad day. It was Ivor who held Zulu together - he was the lynchpin and I just adored him. He was the sweetest most gentle man." Ivor Emmanuel was 80 years old. Click here for the BBC report.