Obituaries
Entries from August 2010
Sad to
report that Ahna Capri was killed in a car accident over the weekend
in LA. She began as a child actress in the 50s and morphed into a sexy 60s
starlet who resembled a cross between Sandra Dee and Joey Heatherton. Using the name Anna Capri, she appeared in such films as Kisses for My
President and The Girls on the Beach (co-star Gail Gerber remembers
Anna as "such a lovely girl. I remember when first meeting her I couldn't
believe how beautiful she was.") She popped up all over TV in such series as The
Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, The Invaders, Run for Your Life, and It
Takes a Thief. In the 70s, a la Mariana Hill, she changed her
name also to
Ahna Capri (she remarked, "Too many people pronounce 'Anna' with a flat
'a' and it comes out as ugly 'Aaana.'") and began to show the world she
had more talent than previously being
given credit especially in the underrated Payday (1972) opposite Rip Torn as one bastard of a country-western singer. She
reached cult status with her appearance in Enter the Dragon (1973) with Bruce
Lee and as The Specialist (1975) a sexy assassin for hire. Ahna Capri retired from acting in 1979.- -Tom Lisanti/www.sixtiescinema.com
David L. Wolper, a legend among producers, has died at age 82. Wolper's legacy is an impressive one with a string of highly acclaimed TV documentaries ranging from the Jacques Cousteau specials to The Incredible World of James Bond. His greatest triumph was the 1977 TV mini series adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots, which kept American audiences transfixed for many nights in the era before home video was widespread. Wolper also occasionally produced theatrical films. They include his acclaimed nature documentary feature The Hellstrom Chronicle, the hit comedy If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium and the 1960s epic WWII films The Devil's Brigade and The Bridge At Remagen. Click here to read Huffington Post columnist Dale Olsen's tribute to Wolper's remarkable career.
By Lee Pfeiffer
Patricia Neal, the tough-but-sexy actress who won an Oscar for Hud, has died at age 84. During her lifetime, she lived through many dramatic episodes including being the lover of the married Gary Cooper. She also overcame a severe stroke that threatened to sideline her career permanently, but she made a stunning comeback. Neal's film credits include the sci-fi classic from director Robert Wise The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Subject Was Roses (another Oscar nomination), the Elia Kazan classic A Face in the Crowd, Otto Preminger's WWII epic In Harm's Way and many others. However, it was her performance as the world-weary woman working on an all-male cattle ranch in Martin Ritt's 1963 drama Hud that won her the Best Actress Oscar opposite Paul Newman. Neal's performance has been called one of the great acting achievements of 1960s cinema. She continued to be a mainstay in New York society, appearing at many events up until recently. For more click here For critic John Farr's tribute to Neal, click here
Robert F. Boyle, one of the film industry's most revered and honored art directors and production designers, died earlier this week at age 100. Boyle worked with many top directors of different generations including Alfred Hitchcock, Don Siegel, Norman Jewison and Joe Dante. Boyle was nominated for four Oscars for his work on North By Northwest, the Jewison films Gaily, Gaily and Fiddler on the Roof and Siegel's 1976 classic The Shootist. Although he never won a competitive Oscar, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Academy in 2008.He is also the subject of an acclaimed documentary film. For more about his remarkable career click here
American baby boomers are mourning the death of 79 year old actor Dan Resin, who is better known as the Ty-D-Bol Man in a series of vintage TV commercials for a toilet cleaner. In the absurd, but iconic spots, Resin portrayed a man who lived inside your toilet tank and dispensed information about the effectiveness of Ty-D-Bol in removing bothersome stains. Resin also appeared in feature films, most notably Caddyshack as Dr. Beeper. Despite his affiliation with Ty-D-Bol, he did not live in Flushing, New York! Click here for more (Click here to watch 1971 Ty-D-Bol ad)
By Lee Pfeiffer
Mitch Miller, who became a pop culture icon in the 1960s, has died at age 99. Miller was a record producer whose 1960s weekly TV show Sing Along With Mitch made him instantly recognizable throughout the world. The thin man with the Don Quixote look would conduct in a virtually immobile style as his all-male choir sang popular standards. A key novelty of the show was a bouncing ball that allowed audience members to sing along. The concept actually began with a series of records that included lyrics sheets. When transformed to TV, the show proved to be a hit, despite the fact that Miller was on the air when rock 'n roll was booming. Miller had some career mishaps including a notorious flop novelty record he produced for Frank Sinatra, one of the few embarrassments of the great singer's career. Yet, Miller remained a fixture in American pop culture long after his show left the air. Additionally, Miller also contributed to the classic 1962 war movie The Longest Day: his choir sang the title song, which was written by Paul Anka. For more click here
By Lee Pfeiffer
Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz has died after a battle with cancer. He was 68 years old. Mankiewicz came from a legendary Hollywood family of screenwriters, directors and producers. He was a screenwriting novice when he was tapped by producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to write the screenplay for the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. The film was especially important for the franchise because it marked Sean Connery's return to the series after a one-film absence. Although most critics attribute the injection of overt (some would say "over-the-top") humor to Roger Moore's assumption of the role in Live and Let Die (1973), this trait was actually introduced by Mankiewicz in Diamonds Are Forever and continued through his other two Bond scripts: Live and Let Die and The Man With the Golden Gun. Although Bond purists tend to be critical of the Mankiewicz trilogy because it brought the character of Bond into the realm of the absurd, there is no denying the films scored with the public and each proved to be a major financial success. Mankiewicz would later serve as Creative Consultant and uncredited screenwriter on the Superman series, where his flair for humor was more readily accepted by fans. Mankiewicz also wrote and directed the hit 1987 big screen comedy version of Dragnet. For an in-depth look at his career, click here to visit the MI6 web site.
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