Howard Keel of Movies and TV's Dallas

Howard Keel in 2002

[Monday, November 8, 2004] Howard Keel, who sang and danced to stardom in the heyday of MGM musicals, died yesterday of colon cancer at his home in Palm Desert, California. He was 85.

 Howard Keel, the barrel-chested baritone, starred in classic musicals from MGM's golden age, including "Annie Get Your Gun," "Showboat," "Kiss Me Kate," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Kismet."

Keel was married and then divorced twice: to actress Rosemary Cooper and dancer Helen Anderson, with whom he had three children. In 1970, he married former airline attendant Judy Magamoll. They had a daughter, Leslie.

Hawaii Five-O's Peggy Ryan

'Superman' Star Christopher Reeve Dies at 52

Reeve 2003 [ Click to Enlarge ]

[Monday, October 11, 2004] Actor Christopher Reeve, the star of the Superman movies who became even more famous as an advocate for the disabled after he was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1995 horseback riding accident, died yesterday at age 52.

Reeve recently had been being treated for a pressure wound, a common complication of paralysis, Combs said. The wound became infected and led to a systemic infection. Reeve was admitted to Northern Westchester Hospital on Saturday night and never regained consciousness. His family was at his side at the time of death.

Reeve 1994 [ Click to Enlarge ]

Reeve was a little-known actor on the soap opera (Love of Life) and one movie credit (in the submarine thriller Gray Lady Down) when he was picked to star as the Man of Steel in 1978's Superman. The movie shot him to instant stardom and spawned three sequels, but it also trapped him forever in the public's mind as Clark Kent, despite dozens of other film, stage, and TV roles -- notably, the time-traveling romantic in Somewhere in Time (1980), the scheming playwright in Deathtrap (1982), the lying reporter in Street Smart (1987), and the American diplomat-turned-English country gentleman in The Remains of the Day (1993).

An avid athlete, Reeve was rendered quadriplegic when he was thrown from a horse in 1995. Always insisting that one day he would walk again, he traveled the country as an ardent advocate of stem cell research (Sen. John Kerry cited him as a friend when discussing the issue in Friday's presidential debate) and continued to work as an actor and director on TV. He was nominated for an Emmy for his direction of 1998's In the Gloaming, a made-for-cable movie about an AIDS patient and his family, and he won a Screen Actors Guild award in 1999 for his starring role in a remake of Hitchcock's Rear Window, in which he updated the James Stewart role of a wheelchair-bound man who believes he's witnessed a murder from his apartment window. Coming full circle, he'd also appeared in a recurring role on Smallville, the WB drama about the pre-Superman Clark Kent. His most recent project was The Brooke Ellison Story, a TV biopic he directed about a young woman, paralyzed from the neck down in a childhood car accident, who completed her education and earned a degree at Harvard. It premieres on A&E on Oct. 25.  AP Video Clips  CNN Video Clips

Rodney Dangerfield Died at 82

AP Video Audio of Dangerfield's Show

Rodney Dangerfield 1980 [ Click to Enlarge ]

Rodney 2003 [ Click to Enlarge ]

[Wednesday, October 6, 2004] Rodney Dangerfield, the famously self-deprecating comedian, died yesterday at the age of 82.

He had been in a coma after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery in August. Dangerfield famous for making himself the butt of his jokes, with the tag line, "I don't get no respect.''

Born Jacob Cohen in Long Island, N.Y., he started writing jokes at the age of 15 and doing standup at the age of 20, at first under the stage name Jack Roy. He struggled with his career.  At 28 Dangerfield married Joyce Indig, a 23-year-old singer.  The couple had two children, Brian and Melanie, and Dangerfield made a decent living running an aluminum siding sales office in Englewood, N.J. But there were domestic problems. The couple divorced in 1962 and remarried a year later. They divorced again in 1970.

 But he eventually relaunched his act in the thriving 1960s nightclub milieu. The turning point came in 1967, when Dangerfield's agent arranged an audition for him with Ed Sullivan, whose Sunday night variety show was the premier television showcase for performers. Sullivan liked what he saw.

Dangerfield became a staple of variety shows with appearances on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," as well as repeated spots on the Dean Martin and Merv Griffin shows, followed. In 1969, wanting to get off the road and be home for his children, he opened his own Manhattan nightclub, Dangerfield's.

He may not have felt much respect, but he earned a second round of fame with a younger generation after appearing in the 1980 comedy film Caddyshack, co-starring Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. By then, his career was really cooking, especially with the younger generation. He had been invited to speak at Harvard and had come out first in a 1978 survey of college students' favorite comics. Although he was in his mid-50s, young audiences considered him one of their own.

The career revival worked wonders. In 1981, he won a Grammy Award for his comedy album No Respect. Newfound popularity brought on leading roles in money-making vehicles like Easy Money (1983) and Back to School (1986).

Dangerfield had a heart valve replaced August 25 at the UCLA Medical Center. He suffered a small stroke after the operation and developed infectious and abdominal complications. Sasaki's statement said Dangerfield had emerged from his coma in the past week. Dangerfield is survived by his wife, Joan whom he married in 1993,  and two children from a previous marriage.

Janet Leigh, Famous for a Shower, Made Over 40 TV Appearances

AP Video of Janet Leigh

Although she appeared in over 60 movies in her career, Janet Leigh will always be remembered for her part in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The fact that the star was killed off half way through the picture didn't stop her from making a lasting impression, as well as forever making us think twice about showers and isolated hotels. Leigh, offered the script by Hitchcock, was so convinced the role as embezzling office worker Marion Crane would establish her as a major dramatic actress that she agreed to work for one-quarter of her usual $100,000 fee. The gamble paid off.

In 1962 Leigh starred in the Cold War political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (remade this year with Denzel Washington in the Sinatra role) and then performing a lively dance routine in Bye Bye Birdie (1963).

From the late ‘60s, her career basically moved onto television — she did the obligatory Columbo — yet included the odd foray into moviedom — odd being the operative word to describe The Night Of The Lepus (1972) in which giant rabbits terrorized the South West.

Leigh decreased her acting over the decades, although she appeared in the CBS television movie In My Sister's Shadow in 1997 and with daughter Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1998 motion picture Halloween H20. Her final film was A Fate Totally Worse Than Death in 2000.

On TV, Leigh made over 40 guest appearances starting on panel shows like "What's My Line?" in the 1950's, then in roles on Bob Hope's Chrysler Theatre in the 1960's.  Later credits of the era include: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Fantasy Island, Matt Houston, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote and two appearances on TV with Howard Stern. 

In addition to her autobiography and the book about the making of "Psycho," Leigh published two novels, "House of Destiny" in 1995 and "The Dream Factory" in 2002.

Ignatius 'Iggie' Wolfington, 84; Theater, Film and TV Actor

[Wednesday, October 6, 2004] Ignatius "Iggie" Wolfington, musical comedy performer died Thursday at age 84 of natural causes.

The Philadelphia-born Wolfington, who grew up acting and studied at the Bessie V. Hicks School of Drama, first won critical acclaim on Broadway as Chef Ellsworth in the 1952 production of "Mrs. McThing," starring Helen Hayes.  He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1958 for his scene-stealing portrayal of Marcellus Washburn, Robert Preston's sidekick in the original Broadway production of "The Music Man." In 1976, Wolfington played Mayor Shim in the Broadway revival of the same musical, starring Dick Van Dyke in the title role.

He went on to appear in such TV staples as  Gunsmoke, Get Smart, The Andy Griffith Show, The Waltons, Mary Tyler Moore, Fantasy Island, The Rockford Files  and Amazing Stories.

His films included Steven Spielberg's 1979 comedy 1941 and such television movies as The Snoop Sisters and The Legend of Lizzie Borden.

But Wolfington was most revered among his colleagues for what he did offstage. A council member of Actors' Equity for many years, he fought for better working conditions and  served as the Actors' Fund's Western representative, handling some 10,000 cases.  In 1984, when he retired from the Actors' Fund post, Wolfington received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Actors' Equity Philip Loeb Humanitarian Award and a special tribute from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.

Wolfington is survived by his wife of 32 years, actress Lynn Wood.

William Pierson Played Three's Company's Dean Travers

The actor died at the Valley View Care Center in Newton, N.J., of respiratory problems, reports the AP.

Pierson first played Marko the Mailman, aka the "At Ease" guy, in the Broadway version of "Stalag 17." Besides delivering letters from home to the POWs in the titular German prison camp, Pierson's character also helped smuggle the radio to the men in Barracks 4, where most of the action takes place.

Later, director Billy Wilder had Pierson reprise the role for the 1953 big-screen version of the story.

Pierson's other stage credits include "High Button Shoes," "Make Mine Manhattan," "Reuben, Reuben" and "The Odd Couple."

During his brief film career, the actor only appeared in a few other films such as "Operation Madball" and "Fun With Dick and Jane," which is currently being remade.

He fared better in television, appearing in "Studio One," "Kraft Theatre," "Good Times," "All in the Family," "One Day at a Time," "Alice," "Diff'rent Strokes," "Harper Valley P.T.A." and "The Facts of Life." He also played Dean Travers in a recurring role in "Three's Company" from 1977 to 1981.

Pierson is survived by his brothers, Jeffrey and Howard.

Julia Child, TV Chef Taught Millions to Cook, Dies at 91

Julia Child, TV's French Chef. [ Click to Enlarge ]

[Friday, August 13, 2004] Julia Child, whose PBS TV show, "The French Chef,"  brought the intricacies of French cuisine to American home, died in her sleep three days before what would have been her 92nd birthday.   The statement said she died Thursday at her home in Santa Barbara, Calif. The cause of death was not given.

Born in Pasadena, Calif., Child once said she was raised on so-so cooking by hired cooks.  She was 51 when she made her television debut as "The French Chef." The series began in 1963 and continued for 206 episodes. Child won a Peabody award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966, and went on to star in several more series for Boston's WGBH-TV.  Child did not take a cooking lesson until she was in her 30s.

She graduated from Smith College in 1934 with a history degree and aspirations to be a novelist or a writer for the New Yorker magazine. Instead, she ended up in the publicity department of a New York City furniture and rug chain.

When World War II began, she joined the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA. She was sent off to do clerical chores in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she met Paul Child, a career diplomat who later became a photographer and painter. They married in 1946 and two years later were sent to Paris.

Child enrolled in the famed Cordon Bleu cooking school, motivated at least in part by a desire to cook for her epicure husband. She was considered a bit odd by her friends, who all had hired help in the kitchen.

In France, she also met Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she collaborated on "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which was nine years in the making and became mandatory for anyone who took cooking seriously.

It was published in 1961 and was followed by "The French Chef Cookbook"; "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. II," with Beck; "From Julia Child's Kitchen"; "Julia Child & Company"; "Julia Child & More Company"; and "The Way to Cook," in October 1989.

Russell Morash, Child's director from the beginning, recalled her as "spontaneous from the outset, a natural television talent – very relaxed but very professional."

"I happened to be the right woman at the right time," she said, noting that John F. Kennedy had a French chef at the White House and more Americans were traveling abroad.

Dan Aykroyd from the DVD Saturday Night Live 25

In a 1978 ''Saturday Night Live'' skit, comedian Dan Aykroyd pitched his voice up an octave, donned an apron and put his Julia Child caricature through a kitchen disaster while extolling the virtues of chicken livers even after having ''cut the dickens out of my finger.''

The gag was a favorite of Child's and it never failed to make her laugh.  In a 2001 interview Child said,  ''That was awfully funny.  We turned on the TV one night and there it was -- someone looking like me yelling, 'Save the liver!'''

Since the 1980s, she devoted attention to promoting the serious study of food and cooking. She co-founded the American Institute of Wine and Food in San Francisco in 1981 and co-founded the James Beard Foundation in New York City in 1986.

More recently, she teamed with fellow television chef Jacques Pepin for the 1994 PBS special, "Julia Child & Jacques Pepin: Cooking in Concert" and a 1996 sequel, "More Cooking in Concert."

Paul Child died in 1994, and in late 2001, Julia Child, a longtime resident of Cambridge, Mass., moved to Santa Barbara. Child ended each of her landmark public television lessons at a set table and with the wish, "Bon appetit."

'Joe' Bonaduce, 77; Sitcom Writer, Dad of 'Partridge' Child Star

Danny and his father Joseph Bonaduce in 1970.

[Thursday, August 12, 2004] Joseph "Joe" Bonaduce, 77, a writer of popular TV sitcoms died August 3 at the Bright Eyes Nursing Home in Northridge of complications from two strokes he suffered more than a decade ago. He was the father of "Partridge Family" child star Danny Bonaduce

He moved to Los Angeles in 1964, working for Dick Clark on "American Bandstand." Within a year, however, Bonaduce left that show and shifted to writing and providing story ideas for comedy series, beginning with "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Other credits included as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "That Girl," "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir," "The Doris Day Show," "Nanny and the Professor" and "One Day at a Time."

Although he worked mostly as a writer or story editor on sitcoms, Bonaduce also demonstrated a talent for drama, writing for "Bonanza," "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie."  Bonaduce also produced several programs, including the 1979 television series "California Fever."

Frank Maxwell, 87; 'General Hospital' Actor, Head of AFTRA

[Friday, August 10, 2004]

In a six-decade acting career, Maxwell was perhaps best known for his television work. His most noted role was as Dan Rooney in the ABC daytime series "General Hospital" on which he appeared from 1978 to 1990. He also had regular roles in the television series "Our Man Higgins," "The Second Hundred Years" and "Felony Squad."

At AFTRA in the 1950s, Maxwell led development of the first health and retirement benefits for actors, news broadcasters and recording artists. Earlier, as Actors' Equity vice president, he helped establish a pension fund for stage actors. Maxwell was also a key negotiator for decades in AFTRA contracts with networks and television and radio producers.

After graduating from the University of Michigan he moved to New York and got his first professional stage job three days later. He also found work on the radio series "Gangbusters."

Maxwell was blacklisted for a time during the McCarthy period and turned to summer stock to make a living.  By 1958, however, he was working steadily and came to Los Angeles for a role in the Dore Schary play "Miss Lonelyheart." He moved his wife, stage actress Maxine Stuart, and young daughter, Chris, to Los Angeles when he was offered a role in a "Playhouse 90" production directed by John Frankenheimer.

Over the years, he made more than 100 guest appearances on various television shows, including several on "The Twilight Zone." In addition to serving as AFTRA's president, Maxwell was a trustee of the AFTRA Health and Retirement Funds and was a member of AFTRA's board of directors.
 

'Mousie' Garner, 95; Slapstick Comedian Played One of Stooges

Mousie Garner, a vaudeville-to-TV comic is shown in this 1978 photo.

[Sunday, August 8 2004] Paul "Mousie" Garner, 95, a slapstick comedian believed to be the last survivor among several men who played one of comedy's Three Stooges over some 50 years, died today of natural causes at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

By 1930, Garner began filling in for Shemp Howard when he was unavailable, and in 1931, when the original stooges — Shemp, Moe Howard and Larry Fine — went on the road, Garner, Jack Wolf and Dick Hakins took their places for Stooge creator Ted Healy on Broadway. First billed as the Three Stooges, the three later called themselves the Gentlemaniacs.

Over the years, Garner worked with nine different men as the zany Stooges, the subject of a 2002 book — "The Three Stooges: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time" by Jeff and Tom Forrester — for which he wrote the introduction.

Born in Washington, D.C., Garner began his career as a boy in vaudeville in 1913, mimicking Al Jolson, and continued his brand of comedy until near death. He was Uncle Smackers in this year's Jerry Zucker film "The Onion Movie." The youngest of the Stooges to perform in film, stage, radio, television, comedy clubs and vaudeville, Garner recently worked on two documentaries: "Ted Healy and His Stooges" and "The Last Stooge," about Garner himself.

TV fans will recognize him from his notable appearances on : "Get Smart,"  "I Dream of Jeannie,"  "The Monkees,"  "Honey West,"  "Petticoat Junction," and "The Munsters" episode,  "Don't Bank on Herman"  where he played bank burglar "Fingers."

A decorated Army sergeant during World War II, Garner earned his nickname "Mousie" for the way he rapidly nibbled his food. He received the lifetime achievement award from the National Comedy Hall of Fame in 2002.
 

Actress Virginia Grey, 87

Virginia Grey [ Click to Enlarge ]

[Friday, July 31, 2004]

She was romantically linked with Clark Gable for much of the 1940s, after the actor's wife, Carole Lombard, died in a plane crash. Ms. Grey, who never married, is survived by a sister.

Actor Eugene Roche Played Archie's Pal

Actor Eugene Roche [Click to Enlarge]

[Friday, July 23, 2004] Eugene Roche, an actor, died Wednesday of complications from a heart attack at age 75.

Roche played the "Ajax Cleanser Man" in commercials, and Archie bunker's pal, Pinky Peterson, who went out on a date with transvestite Beverly LaSalle on "All in the Family."

One of his most memorable movie roles was in 1971's "Slaughterhouse-Five," based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Roche played a likable POW named Edgar Derby, who amid the scorched remains of a firebombed Dresden picks up an intact porcelain figurine as a souvenir and is promptly executed for looting by his German captors.

TV Land Honors Isabel Sanford

[Monday, July 12, 2004]

TV Land will honor the life and work of acclaimed television, theater and film actress Isabel Sanford with a six-episode presentation of "The Jeffersons" on Wednesday, July 14 beginning at 8:00PM.

"We are all deeply saddened by the passing of Isabel Sanford," explains Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "Isabel's portrayal of Louise Jefferson is just one of the many contributions that she made to the entertainment world, and we cherish the legacy she left behind."

TV Land has selected six of the most memorable episodes from "The Jeffersons" to showcase on Wednesday evening, ranging from the series' first episode, "A Friend in Need," to Sanford's favorite, in which Sammy Davis Jr. guest stars --  "What Makes Sammy Run?" Additionally, TV Land will begin airing a 30-second tribute spot to Sanford immediately.

Nominated for seven Emmys, Sanford won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on "The Jeffersons" in 1981, and was the first African American to win in that category in the history of the awards. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe five times. She received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2004.

Wednesday, July 14th:  The episodes in TV Land's Jeffersons marathon are as follows (all times ET/PT):

8:00PM. #1, "A Friend In Need" The Jeffersons, inspired by characters created on All in the Family, have left Bunkerville for midtown New York and their own series. The Jeffersons new affluence is creating marital mayhem between Louise and George, especially when George insists Louise hire a maid to take care of their new Manhattan high-rise apartment.  Not only does Louise reject the idea of having a maid, she's also upset by George's snobbish reasons for wanting one.

8:30PM. #55, "Louise vs. Jenny" The trouble with being a mother-in-law is that you start acting like one is the lesson Louise learns the hard way when she and Jenny start fighting over Lionel.

9:00PM. #56, The Marriage Counselors After learning that Tom and Helen are taking a course on how to improve their marriage, and seeing their results, Louise tries to get George to take the course with her. However, George refuses to consider the possibility that their marriage could use improvement.

9:30PM. #101, "Louise's Reunion" When Louise finds out about a new clause in George's will, she almost gives him cause to use it.

10:00PM. #148, "And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds" Louise learns her old home in Harlem is being torn down and takes odd for a late-night visit to the house and a poignant rendezvous with the memories it contains.  Louise sees herself as she was as a child, as a teenager (when she first knew George Jefferson) and as a bride-to-be.

10:30PM. #218, "What Makes Sammy Run" A star-struck Louise inadvertently becomes Sammy Davis, Jr.'s last line of defense in his battle to find some peace and relaxation away from fans and a hounding sleazy tabloid reporter.  Sammy Davis Jr. Makes a special guest star appearance as himself.  GS - Sammy Davis Jr. **(This was Isabel Sanford's favorite episode)**  

Recent Additions To Our News Archive

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