Animated Views Celebrity Obituary Thread

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Post by Ben » September 30th, 2010, 3:28 pm

Judy! Judy! Judy!

Such a shame to hear about this earlier today. He was one of my favorites and it's now hard to think of any real old-school Hollywood royalty around anymore, save for his one-time co-star Kirk Douglas.

Of course he was a wonderful comic performer (Some Like It Hot is a cliche to reference, but it's still so funny, so much for "nobody's perfect"!), but he was a good straight actor as well, as Spartacus testifies.

I wasn't actually too blown away by his Oscar-nominated turn in The Defiant Ones, which I found too dated to be gripping, but if you ever get the chance to check out The Boston Strangler, that's an extremely good film in which he gives a brilliantly solid and quite terrifying performance.

The Great Race is another fave, along with the other road chase comedy he made later, a sequel to Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, called Those Daring Young Men In Their Jaunty Jalopies, also known as Monte Carlo Or Bust. I reviewed the DVD of that here:
http://animatedviews.com/2008/those-dar ... o-or-bust/


It was also a pleasure, when we hosted a tribute to Roger Moore back at the Elstree Studios where he'd made The Saint, to have been among those who heard an audio message from Curtis, with whom he had starred with over at Pinewood on The Persuaders. I can't even begin to repeat some of the hilariously colorful language that played out over the speaker to his old co-star and friend!

So long, Stoney!

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Barbara Billingsley Dies at age 94!

Post by ibrmacf » October 16th, 2010, 5:09 pm

June Cleaver, from "Leave it to Beaver" dies:

http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/16/barbara-b ... e-cleaver/

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Re: Barbara Billingsley Dies at age 94!

Post by GeorgeC » October 19th, 2010, 6:40 am

Her 'jive' scene justified this movie...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane!


I still get giggles when I watch this film.

Timeless classic!

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"Wheel of Fortune" Announcer, Charlie O'Donnell dies at 78!

Post by ibrmacf » November 1st, 2010, 8:57 pm


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Leslie Nielsen passes away at 84

Post by Dan » November 28th, 2010, 10:14 pm

One of the comedy greats passed away this morning at age 84. He was in Florida, hospitalized for pneumonia.

Details here:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-capt ... im-shirley

Nielsen started out as a dramatic actor early in his career, gaining success first in the sci-fi hit Forbidden Planet. Among his early roles included playing American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion in The Swamp Fox serials on The Wonderful World of Disney.

He was known backstage for his comedic antics, which led to the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams casting him as Dr. Rumack in Airplane!, a performance that would lead to a career renaissance through comedy. The trio would then cast him in his most famous role as Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad in the Police Squad! television series and then the Naked Gun movies.

He would appear in films such as Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Spy Hard, Scary Movie 3 and 4, and also played the title character in the live-action adaptation of Mr. Magoo.

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Post by Randall » November 28th, 2010, 10:51 pm

Well, at least at 84 he had a long and productive life.

Leslie was actually born just a half hour away from where I was born (and many decades earlier), and is seen as a local boy done good.

I have a Forbidden Planet poster on my wall, where Leslie actually looks just like me... at least enough that a friend of mine thought I had put myself into the poster!

He seemed like a decent guy, and it's sad to see him gone.

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Post by Baree » November 29th, 2010, 9:15 am

Yes, I read about this earlier. Bit of a shock, I enjoyed many of his movies.

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Post by Ben » November 29th, 2010, 10:15 am

Well, we don't really mention Scary Movie 3 and 4 or his 2001 parody (all pretty shocking and not at the high levels Leslie was known for), but he's a name and face that brought a lot of laughs to many people.

I saw this this morning and it was a shocker: only watching bits of Airplane! on Sunday and not a day goes by when we don't quote a line from that, Naked Gun or the excellent Police Squad! series. Really sad news.

He was a decent guy: met him briefly on a trip to London when he was promoting...um...must have been Naked Gun 3, and he had his fart machine with him. We weren't really with his crowd but he made us laugh by using it unexpected on the people we were with...very funny reactions!

But so sad to see him gone, and because of the grey hair had no idea he had hit 84! It always made me smile to see him turn up "seriously" in Forbidden Planet, and although his best films are mostly now nostalgic memories, surely his more recently prominent comedy parts will always be remembered.

I am serious. And stop calling me Shirley. ;)

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Post by GeorgeC » November 29th, 2010, 11:16 am

Heard about this, too.

Long life, he's made his legacy.

Funny thing that he's known more for post-1980 career than anything before it.

You just can't control your legacy sometimes and never know what you'll be best known for!

Airplane's held up... That would be a good film to be remembered for!

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Re: Leslie Nielsen passes away at 84

Post by droosan » November 29th, 2010, 11:37 am

:|
Last edited by droosan on December 8th, 2010, 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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RIP, Irvin Kershner, Master of The Empire (Strikes Back)!

Post by GeorgeC » November 29th, 2010, 11:43 am

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni5829592/

Just got from IMDB and more sad news...

He'd been sick for years, but reports are that Irvin Kershner ALSO passed away this weekend.

He was 87. Long-time director, best-known for being the only "actor's director" to direct a Star Wars movie.

"Empire" remains the best in the Star Wars series and Kershner's most famous film.

Good-bye, Kersh, and thanks for delivering a Star Wars film no fan should be ashamed of!



http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=29588

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/p ... 3-2010.php

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Post by Ben » November 29th, 2010, 1:48 pm

Also known as the only director to stand up to Lucas and say "no" when it was needed, hence also why Empire is such a strong film (and one that even non-SW fans can respect).

He also returned to Elstree Studios after that movie with the non-official Never Say Never Again...the sometimes unintentionally hilarious late-Connery Bond. That was actually a fair box-office hit, so its a wonder why he didn't make more blockbuster fare after those two experiences.

We also lost Hammer glamor star Ingrid Pitt last week, proving that bad things come in threes.

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Post by Ben » November 29th, 2010, 1:49 pm

Well.

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Post by GeorgeC » December 13th, 2010, 1:04 pm

This is animation-related because Leslie Nielsen was definitely a living cartoon in his post-1980 films!

(That and he played Mr. Magoo in an awful film. He definitely made a few bad films in his later career but they were more entertaining to me than Forbidden Planet.

(Yes, I said that. I occasionally find that I DON'T appreciate some classics as much as film critics. For every Forbidden Planet and Citizen Kane, I much prefer a good gangster film or action serial. Some things are strictly for stuffed shirts that teach film courses to impress their professorial colleagues! B-OOOOOORRRR-INNNGG!)

My favorite Nielsen character had to be Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad. Strait-laced and silly at the same time! The best Police Squad story was definitely the original Naked Gun film. (I've seen the original TV series in repeats and just didn't get into it. I prefer the original film. The sequels are more tedious and make the mistake of recycling too many jokes from the TV series.) That film still has parts in it that make me laugh in spite of the real-life double-murderer's presence. ( <== His name will not be uttered by me because of the miscarriage of justice of his criminal trial. That is my final word on the subject.)

Also, you can never get enough of Montalban playing a charismatic, devious villain after Star Trek II!

Man, I miss both Nielsen and Montalban... :cry:

Hollywood's Golden Age and some of its classsier acts are definitely fading away!

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Post by Randall » December 13th, 2010, 1:23 pm

Forbidden Planet is boring?

Sometimes I think George and I must be from different planets. ;)

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