Actress Yvette Mimieux passed away on Tuesday from natural causes. She was 80 years old. Mimieux rose to fame starring opposite Rod Taylor in George Pal's 1960 screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine". Prominent roles in major films soon followed and she won acclaim for her abilities primarily in dramas, although the1960 film "Where the Boys Are" combined comedy with tragedy and Mimieux's star rose further when the movie became a boxoffice hit with teenagers. In 1962, she teamed again with George Pal for his Cinerama classic "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm". Other major films in which she starred included "The Light in the Piazza", "Toys in the Attic", "Diamond Head", "The Reward" and the Disney hit "Monkeys Go Home!". In 1968, she reunited with Rod Taylor for "Dark of the Sun" (aka "The Mercenaries"), a brutal but well-made adventure film centering on social unrest and revolution in the Congo.
Many of her films from this era were less-than-stellar, however, but she did score a major hit in 1972 starring opposite Charlton Heston in "Skyjacked". In 1976, she starred in the exploitation/sexploitation crime drama "Jackson County Jail", which has become a cult favorite from the era. Her last role in a major film was in Disney's 1979 sci-fi movie "The Black Hole". She had been active in television since 1959 and continued to appear in the medium while simultaneously starring in feature films. Her last screen credit was the TV movie "Lady Boss" in 1992, after which she retired from acting. She had been married three times including a 13 year union with director Stanley Donen. She had no children. The web site Deadline reports that no memorial services are planned, keeping true to her penchant for privacy in her personal life. For more, click here.
Sidney Poitier, a man who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the biggest boxoffice stars in Hollywood history, has passed away at age 94. He grew up in poverty in the Bahamas and had to quit school at age 13 to do manual labor. As a young man, he immigrated to America with the hope of pursuing a career in acting. He auditioned for the American Negro Theater in New York but was initially rejected. Relegated to washing dishes in a restaurant, Poitier befriended an older Jewish man who taught him to read properly. Poitier attributed that training to his ultimately joining the theater company and launching his career on stage and screen. He first gained attention with a prominent supporting role in the 1955 film "Blackboard Jungle" in which he played one of a group of delinquent students who defy high school teacher Glenn Ford. From that point, he was launched into starring roles in films with racial overtones such as "No Way Out", "Edge of the City" and the 1958 classic "The Defiant Ones" in which he and Tony Curtis played escaped convicts who are handcuffed together, with Curtis portraying a racist. Poitier was nominated for Best Actor, breaking racial barriers. In 1961, he had the starring role in the film version of "A Raisin in the Sun", giving a magnificent performance as an earnest but flawed young man determined to get his family out of poverty by any means necessary. Poitier had earned a Tony nomination for his performance in the 1959 Broadway production. A few years later he would defy the odds and win the Best Actor Oscar over favorite Paul Newman for "Hud", based on his performance in the low-budget, but highly popular comedy "Lilies of the Field" in which he played a drifter in the desert who helps German nuns build a small chapel. He became the first Black male actor to win an Academy Award.
Poiter's fame skyrocketed just as the civil rights movement was heading into high gear in America. He found himself in the uncomfortable position of being a reluctant symbol of his race, much as Jackie Robinson had been when baseball had been desegregated. Nevertheless, he was more than symbol. Stated simply, he made good movies. White audiences flocked to his films and in 1967 he was arguably the top boxoffice star in the world. In that pivotal year, a career highlight for Poitier, he starred in three massive hits: "In the Heat of the Night", "To Sir, With Love" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". In director Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the Night", Poitier introduced the character of Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia police detective who is assigned against his will to help a racist sheriff solve a murder case in the deep South. Rod Steiger won an Oscar for his performance as a the sheriff but Poitier was not nominated for any of the three key roles he played in 1967. This probably had less to do with racial prejudices than the fact that he likely canceled himself out by splitting the votes of Academy members who wished to nominate him for different films.
Poitier found himself the unlikely target of criticism from activists and academics in the Black community who accused him of playing "Uncle Tom"-like roles in order to appeal to white audiences. Poitier bristled at the accusations and reminded his critics that he was carrying an unwanted burden. He also said that he had never- and would never- play a role that was demeaning to his race. Indeed, for a number of years, Poitier was the only bankable Black star in Hollywood. Football legend Jim Brown joined the ranks by the mid-1960s and many other actors would break down the barriers, but Poitier was largely on his own until audiences became more receptive to Black actors in leading roles.
Poitier continued to diversify his career by becoming a director, mostly of comedy films. He directed nine films including such hits as "Uptown Saturday Night", "Let's Do It Again" and "A Piece of the Action" in which he also co-starred with Bill Cosby, and "Stir Crazy", which teamed Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In later years, Poitier seemed to lose interest in starring in films. He occasionally appeared onscreen in largely unmemorable films. He rejected starring roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Driving Miss Daisy". His self-imposed retirement didn't diminish his popularity or reputation. In 1974, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary Oscar to commemorate his entire career and in 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. For more about his remarkable life and career, click here.
Bogdanovich directing Ben Gazzara in "Saint Jack" (1979).
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Noted director and film historian Peter Bogdanovich has passed away from natural causes at age 82. Bogdanovich grew up idolizing the legendary actors and directors of his youth and would later enter the film industry working for Roger Corman on the 1966 hit "The Wild Angels". Corman saw potential in him and allowed him to direct a "B" movie titled "Targets" in 1968, which Bogdanovich and his wife Polly wrote very quickly. The atmospheric film was widely praised and it provided a fictional interpretation of a notorious mass shooting in 1966 that had horrified the nation. Bogdanovich also managed to logically intermingle a parallel story relating to a once-legendary horror actor played by Boris Karloff in his last great role. Bogdanovich next gained acclaimed with his 1971 B&W drama "The Last Picture Show" which received international honors. He seemed to be on a non-stop juggernaut towards success, as more hits followed: "What's Up, Doc?" and "Paper Moon". However, after Bogdanovich began an affair with Cybill Shepherd, who had appeared in "The Last Picture Show", his personal life became increasingly chaotic. His marriage ended and his next film, "Daisy Miller" starring Shepherd was a notorious bomb. This was followed by another starring vehicle for Shepherd that paired her with Burt Reynolds, "At Long Last Love", a tribute to musicals of the 1930s. When that film proved to be an expensive failure, Bogdanovich's reputation as a "Golden Boy" was diminished.
Over the years, he was in the news, not because of his film achievements, but because of his love life. After he and Cybill Shepherd broke up (but stayed on amicable terms), Bogdanovich became obsessed with Playboy Playmate of the Year, Dorothy Stratten, who was married. On the evening she was going to tell her husband she was leaving him for Bogdanovich, he brutally murdered her in a jealous rage and then committed suicide. (Bob Fosse would later make a film about Stratton, "Star 80", that recounted her love affair with Bogdanovich.) Bogdanovich remained haunted by the tragedy for the rest of his life and would he would later marry Stratten's 20 year-old sister Louise. He was 49 at the time. The marriage didn't last but Bogdanovich continued to live with Louise and her mother.
Professionally, Bogdanovich would continue to make films occasionally. He received critical acclaim for the 1979 arthouse film "Saint Jack" starring Ben Gazzara but his much-anticipated 1981 comedy "They All Laughed" in which Dorothy Stratton had a major role, proved to be a boxoffice bomb when it was released shortly after her death. Bogdanovich didn't like the studio's marketing campaign for the movie and bought back the rights at a cost of most of his assets. He believed he could distribute the film himself but reviews were tepid and he could find few theaters that would play the movie. He rebounded and a modest boxoffice success in 1985 with "Mask" starring Cher.
In later years, Bogdanovich was often sought-out for his first-hand knowledge of old Hollywood. As a young man, he had the foresight to interview prominent actors and directors and used the original tapes to launch his own podcast. Bogdanovich had befriended his idol Orson Welles in the 1960s and Welles served as his adviser and mentor. However, Welles was often the victim of his own ego and excesses and fell out of favor in Hollywood. At one point, he was living in Bogdanovich's house as he tried to raise funds for his final film "The Other Side of the Wind". Welles worked on the project for many years but died before finishing it. Bogdanovich, with support from Netflix, finished the movie using Welles's own scripts and notes. Bogdanovich would also occasionally accept roles as an actor and proved be quite effective. He had a recurring role on "The Sopranos" and appeared in supporting roles in many feature films.
In 2021, he consented to participate in Turner Classic Movie's podcast "The Plot Thickens" and afforded a series of remarkably insightful and brutally honest interviews that didn't reflect well on the decisions he made as a much younger man. In the podcast, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, Bogdanovich comes across as a man who is proud of his successes but regretful about many aspects of his personal life and how it adversely affected his career.