TCM does a great montage every year of the film folks we’ve lost. It never fails to make me want to rewatch a film or three. This year, we lost a couple actors particularly dear to my cinemania, David Warner and Angela Lansbury. They’ve gotten better about making sure their videos are on YouTube, so you can check out past editions, including the recent 2021, 2020, and 2019 — the last of which I find … Read more
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury has died at the age of 96. You can read obituaries and appreciations of her career in: The AV Club Collider Deadline NPR The New York Times Variety Vogue The Washington Post, and Disney (she was, of course, a “Disney Legend”) And if you want to celebrate her many parts singing memorable songs, Playbill has a wonderful video compilation. Amazing that she simply termed her voice “serviceable.” Indeed, if you find … Read more
The indefatigable actor David Warner has died at the age of 80. You can read remembrances, obituaries, and appreciations from: BBC (as always, they give a good overview of his career) The Guardian (which also has a really nice photo retrospective) Deadline Hollywood Reporter Radio Times iTV ComicBook.com CinemaBlend While plenty of the headlines mention The Omen and Titanic, many of my generation were first introduced to him as the scene-stealing Evil One in Time … Read more
The ferryman guided a special soul across the river earlier this week. Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, known to professionally as Vangelis, died this past Tuesday at the age of 79. You can read remembrances, appreciations, and obituaries from: Rolling Stone AP BBC NPR Variety The AV Club Many a cinephile will know Vangelis immediately, but for many of us, we came of age and found our love for both film and film music right when Vangelis … Read more
Once again, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) does an artful job of honoring the film artists lost in the past year. When you’re ready to be wistful, or perhaps outright verklempt, give it a watch. For those interested, here are the editions for 2020, 2019, and 2018.
As the New York Times obituary put it, a “Titan of the American Musical” has left the stage. Stephen Sondheim has died at the age of 91. The whole article is a long and excellent read — and I tend to agree with Mark Evanier in that there doesn’t seem to be much for me to individually add about my own personal connections to Sondheim’s work. However, one thing that has become evident to me … Read more
Generations of children may feel the world is a bit less colorful as children’s author and illustrator Eric Carle has died at the age of 91. There’s a great piece by Emily Langer in the Washington Post, where I got the delightfully succinct phrase “simply told and radiantly illustrated” from. There’s also a nice 2-minute piece by Neda Ulaby on NPR as well as a remembrance from the BBC. In these remembrances, you’ll get a … Read more
Author Beverly Cleary has died at the astounding age of 104. There are remembrances and obituaries all over including: Buzzfeed CNBC CNN NPR The New York Times While the comic creations of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Goscinny & Uderzo, Carl Barks, and Hergé loomed large in my childhood, I’m hard pressed to think of a single author whose chapter books I read more as a kid than Beverly Cleary. This fact was probably aided … Read more
An actor whose magnetic presence matched or exceeded his six foot, four frame, Yaphet Kotto has died at the age of 81. Remembrances can be found across the internet, including: Variety Hollywood Reporter Showbiz 411 The Guardian New York Times While it’s almost certain I first saw Kotto in Alien, the performance that will always stick with me was seeing him on stage as Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences. Through all the power, fragility, … Read more
When you talk with your filmmaking peers, it comes as no surprise they have always have a few filmmakers they follow closely, perhaps someone who isn’t necessarily a household name… or even necessarily an art house movie theater name. Michael Apted was one of those filmmakers for me. He died at the age of 79, earlier in January (I’m just getting to writing this post now). You can read obituaries and remembrances from the BBC, … Read more