Some Folks We've Lost Jan-June 2011 (Part 1)

YVETTE VICKERS

STARRING MICHAEL GOUGH

                           

Soon to be remade by Quentin Tarantino...

^Dolores Fuller and Ed Wood in GLEN OR GLENDA

We said goodbye to so many great talents in 2011 I decided to wait until the end of the year to do my usual obituary, in two parts, and even then it was hard to narrow the list down of the famous, the not-so-famous, and the cult icons in our industry.  I also decided to start doing this as a real blog, which I shall continue to keep you all reminded of this year's "It Came From Dallas:  The Magnificent Seventh!", which happens Thursday, February 23rd at the Dallas Studio Movie Grill (that's 10 months before the Mayan Curse kicks in, so you have no excuse.)  We postponed it from last October to do some retooling on the show.  Be there or be square!  Now on to the list, and Part 2 is coming next week.

-Gordon K. Smith

 FOLKS WE LOST IN 2011, PART ONE! (thru June)


1. PETER YATES (1/9, age 81)
British director who started on the old "Secret Agent" series in the early '60s, went on to score a big hit with his first US film, 1968's BULLITT, which redefined how car chases and action films in general are shot, directed and edited. He was Oscar-nominated for BREAKING AWAY and THE DRESSER.

2. JOHN BARRY (1/30, age 77)
If you went home from almost any 007 thriller up through VIEW TO A KILL humming the score, Barry was the man to thank. (to this day I can't get the music from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE out of my head). He was probably second only to John Williams for rich, orchestral scores; try to imagine OUT OF AFRICA or DANCES WITH WOLVES without his Oscar-winning soundtracks. He also won Academy Awards for BORN FREE and THE LION IN WINTER.

3. TURA SATANA (2/4, age age 72)
Model, stripper and martial artist forever etched in cult movie stone as the star of Russ Meyer's unforgettably titled FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL! (1965). She also appeared in IRMA LA DOUCE and  minor drive-in classic ASTRO ZOMBIES, among others. Did a lot of convention shows.

4. BETTY GARRETT (2/12, age 91)
Broadway and film actress, singer and dancer, outstanding in ON THE TOWN and TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME (both '49).  Then her career was derailed by the House Un-American Activities Committee,  which was gunning for her husband, Larry Parks, a former Communist.  They were blacklisted for years and worked in small live venues.  Betty re-emerged as a TV star in the '70s; you might remember her as a semi-regular on "All In The Family" and as Edna on "Laverne and Shirley".

5. JANE RUSSELL (2/28, age 89)
If you saw Scorsese's THE AVIATOR, you know something of the sensation Howard Hughes created when he cast Russell, a former dental assistant, in his scandalous 1942 western THE OUTLAW (Cleavage! Hay-romping! And that poster! OMG!) Hughes held up the release for 2 years to build up the PR, and it was still banned in places. Russell survived by becoming a hugely popular pin-up during the war and a talented singer, dancer and actress in her own right, even when she was the object of endless jokes and winking film titles (e.g. DOUBLE DYNAMITE). After the '60s she mostly turned to live performing and Playtex commercials; in her final years she was a popular right-wing activist. Her best work is SON OF PALEFACE, HIS KIND OF WOMAN and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. I did the official video for her final public appearance (weeks before her death) in Ft. Lauderdale.

6. MICHAEL GOUGH (3/17, age 94)
Many only knew him as Alfred The Butler in the Tim Burton-produced BATMAN flicks, but this veteran Brit actor was also a major horror star in his own right from the late '50s into the '70s, perhaps most famously for HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM ("In Hypno-Vista!!!")  A Tony Award winner, he was also in OUT OF AFRICA, AGE OF INNOCENCE and Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW and ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

7.  ELIZABETH TAYLOR (3/23, age 79)
The last great star from the "studio system" and one of the 20th Century's most beautiful women was born in London to American parents who moved back to the US in 1939 to escape the war.  She made her debut at age 10 in THERE'S ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE ('42), and was quickly picked up by MGM where hit stardom with NATIONAL VELVET ('47) and A PLACE IN THE SUN ('51) and remained under contract for many years.  She was Oscar-nominated 4 years in a row, starting in '57 with RAINTREE COUNTY,  then CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER and BUTTERFIELD 8, for which she won largely on a sympathy vote (she'd recently had a life-saving emergency tracheotomy).  With CLEOPATRA ('63) Liz became the first actress to get $1 million for a role, and won another Oscar 3 years later for WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?  Her costar was Richard Burton, who was 2 of her 8 husbands (married twice).  They made 11 films together.   Liz's lifelong health problems made her uninsurable later, so she gave up acting to sell perfume and raise money to fight AIDS. Her last big-screen role was as Wilma's mother in THE FLINTSTONES ('94).  Taylor's immortal contribution to Texas cinema was as Leslie Benedict in GIANT ('56, Marfa).  She was 23 when she made it, and ages 25 years in the film.

8. KEVIN JARRE (4/3, age 56)
Screenwriter, he wrote only five major features, but that includes TOMBSTONE ('93, which he also started directing but was replaced) and GLORY ('89), for which he should have been Oscar nominated (he also played the doubting Union soldier who yells "Give'em hell, 54th!" at the climax).  Others include THE MUMMY ('99) and THE DEVIL'S OWN.  His stepfather was Maurice Jarre, the composer of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.  Had a heart attack. "If this man should fall, who will lift up the flag and carry on?"

9. FARLEY GRANGER (3/27, age 85)
Granger was a star of the '40s and '50s, most famously in Hitchcock's ROPE and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and the influential noir THEY LIVE BY NIGHT.   By the '60s he was doing a lot of TV (including soaps) and obscure B movies, plus returned to Broadway.  In his memoirs he described himself as a bisexual who dallied with many famous Hollywood men and women.

10. SIDNEY LUMET (4/9, age 86)
Prolific director whose output was hit and miss, but the hits included TWELVE ANGRY MEN, FAIL-SAFE, THE PAWNBROKER, SERPICO, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK, and THE VERDICT -- not a bad record.  He mostly worked out of New York, but came to Texas in '74 to make LOVIN' MOLLY in Bastrop.  After five nominations Lumet got an Honorary Oscar in 2005.  Lena Horne was his mother-in-law for many years (he cast her in THE WIZ).   "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

11. MICHAEL SARRAZIN (4/17, age 70)
Canadian actor had a good run in Hollywood in the '60s - '70s in THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?,  SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, FOR PETE'S SAKE,  and the cult TV movie "Frankenstein the True Story".   He very nearly played Joe Buck in MIDNIGHT COWBOY.   Sarrazin went back to Canada for the last part of his career.  Had cancer.

12. TIM HETHERINGTON (4/20, age 40)
An award-winning British photojournalist/filmmaker, who was killed in battle in Libya.  He was Oscar-nominated last year for the Afghanistan war documentary RESTREPO.  Tim came to Dallas in summer 2010 to talk about making that extraordinary film.  I was one of many local writers to interview him, and he was a most impressive and heroic man.

13. HUBERT SCHAFLY (4/20, age 91)
Electrical engineer who invented the teleprompter in 1950, for live TV.  Lucy & Desi and soap opera actors were the first to use it.  The computerized version came along in 1982.  Where would we be without it?    And what would politicians do without it?  (ask Rick Perry...)

14. YVETTE VICKERS (4/27, age 81 or 82)
Late '50s early Playboy Centerfold and B-movie starlet who starred in ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN ('58, not as Her Highness but as the "other woman") and ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES ('59).  She also had a small part in the Texas classic HUD ('63).   Her mummified body was found in her home by a neighbor, she'd been dead a year.  Giant leeches were questioned but released by LAPD.  

15. OSAMA BIN LADEN (5/2, age 54)
Middle Eastern upstart who made annoying sporadic broadcasts.  No truth to the rumor that, shortly before dying from a sudden attack of lead poisoning, he was seen reaching into his pocket and saying, "Okay guys, what's it gonna take to make this go away?"

16. JACKIE COOPER (5/3, age 88)
A movie/TV star from early childhood, he teamed with Wallace Beery in THE CHAMP (1933) and TREASURE ISLAND  and was Perry White in the Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN flicks among many others.   He was also a highly decorated lifetime Navy man and WWII vet. Series: "Hennesey".

17. DANA WYNTER (5/5, age 79)
Gorgeous German-born British actress who would have given Liz Taylor a run for her money if she'd gotten better roles.  Despite years as a contract player for Fox, she'll be always remembered for her lead in a B-movie, sci-fi-noir classic:  1956's INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (recently remade as INVASION with Nicole Kidman).  Her final scene with costar Kevin McCarthy (who died in 2010 at age 96) is one of the greatest shock endings ever.   Also in AIRPORT, THE CRIMSON PIRATE, SINK THE BISMARK! and a lot of '60s and '70s TV.

18. DOLORES FULLER (5/9, age 88)
Longtime girlfriend of cinematic genius Ed Wood, she appeared in GLEN OR GLENDA? ('52), JAIL BAIT ('54) and BRIDE OF THE MONSTER ('55).   She gave up on "acting" and became a prolific songwriter and music producer, writing many tunes for Elvis Presley including "Rockahula Baby".  Sarah Jessica Parker played her in ED WOOD ('94).

19.  JAMES ARNESS (6/3, age 88)
In 1955, the creators of the very long running (20 yrs) TV western "Gunsmoke" consulted John Wayne for an actor to play Marshall Dillon.  He recommended  his pal Arness, who'd acted with Duke several times (HONDO, THE SEA CHASE, BIG JIM McCLAIN et. al).   Wayne introduced Arness on the premiere of "Gunsmoke", and the 6'6" Minnesotan went on to do 635 episodes, a record for one role (Kelsey Grammar ties him for the number of years).  Afterward, Arness did a brief cop series ("McClain's Law", '84), the rest was TV westerns, including several "Gunsmoke" TV movies and 1987's Bracketville-filmed "ALAMO: THIRTEEN DAYS TO GLORY" (as Jim Bowie, alongside Alec Baldwin as Travis).  Sci-fi geeks revere him as cinema's first rampaging alien veggie in the original THE THING ('51) and fighting giant ants in L.A. as the hero of THEM! ('54).  Arness' kid brother Peter Graves died last year.

20. PETER FALK (6/23, age 83)
The whole world knew him as absent-minded Inspector Columbo, a role he played from 1968 (starting with the TVM "Prescription Murder") to 2003 (4 Emmys).  But the New York actor was highly acclaimed long before that, and early on won back-to-back Oscar noms,  for MURDER INC. ('60) and POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES ('61).  He was also known for his many collaborations with actor/director John Cassavetes, especially A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE ('74).  Film debut: WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES ('58); others included IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, THE GREAT RACE, CASTLE KEEP,  WINGS OF DESIRE and THE PRINCESS BRIDE.  Falk had an tumorous eye removed at age 3.   "Oh, excuse me... but there's just one more thing..."


TO BE CONTINUED!!!