Category: Film – General

Noted screen actor Bruno Ganz, best known for his performance as an angel in Wings Of Desire, and as Hitler in Downfall, has passed away. Swiss-born Ganz devoted the majority of his career to the theatre, performing throughout Europe to widespread acclaim, including being named “actor of the year” in 1973, by German magazine Theatre heute. Ganz’ film career did not take off until 1976’s Sommergaste (aka Summer Guests), directed by Peter Stein and set in Tsarist Russia. From there, Ganz would work with noted New Wave Directors including Wim…

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Acclaimed British actor Albert Finney, best known for his roles as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, the title part in 1963’s Tom Jones, and as Julia Robert’s garrulous boss in Erin Brockovich, has passed away. A graduate of RADA, Albert Finney had a significant career in British theatre, radio and cinema,treading the boards during the 50’s and 60’s appearing in many Shakespeare productions as well as Charles Laughton’s The Party. His first film appearance came in 1960, in Laurence Olivier’s The Entertainer, while his performance in the same year’s Saturday Night…

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Legendary Hollywood character actor Dick Miller, whose most famous role came with Joe Dante’s mid-80’s hit Gremlins, has passed away. Mr Miller’s film career kicked off in the 1950’s, appearing in supporting roles in a string of Roger Corman productions, including Not Of This Earth (1957), A Bucket of Blood (1959) and 1963’s The Terror. He appeared for directors including Jonathan Kaplan (The Slams, Truck Turner), Jonathan Demme (Crazy Mama) and Martin Scorsese (New York, New York), and had an uncredited cameo in Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen, in 1967.…

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Three-time Academy Award-winning composer Michel Legrand, known for his scores to The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Yentl, has passed away. French-born Mr Legrand was a noted composed across almost all fields of music, including classical, songs, jazz (a heavy influence) and of course feature film, for which he received his first Academy Award nominations for Jaques Demy’s The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964), and later for 1967’s The Young Girls Of Rochefort. His first Oscar came for the theme song from The Thomas Crown Affair, “The Windmills Of Your Mind”,…

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Acclaimed star of stage and screen Carol Channing, a Broadway veteran and performing legend, has passed away. Ms Channing’s career started on Broadway, where she snagged a bunch of awards (including several Tony nominations) for her performances in (among others) Hello Dolly, The Vamp, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Lorelei, during the 1960’s and 70’s. Her feature film breakout role arrived in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), alongside Julie Andrews and John Gavin, and it was for this film she received an Oscar nomination in the Supporting Actress category. Although she would…

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Legendary Disney animator Don Lusk, known for his work on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Alice In Wonderland, has passed away.  Don Lusk was hired to work at Disney Animation in 1933, where he quickly became known for his prolific output. Initially working as an “inbetweener”, filling in frames between key poses for the main animators, for nearly thirty years Lusk worked on all forms of Disney’s animated projects, including countless shorts and multiple feature films. Lusk is known for working on Gepetto’s goldfish Cleo in Pinocchio, the dog chase in Bambi,…

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Hollywood actress and director Penny Marshall, best known as one half of Laverne & Shirley as well as the director of Big, Awakenings and A League of Their Own, has passed away. Ms Marshall was the sister of fellow Hollywood alumni Garry Marshall, and came to prominence early through her co-starring role on the Happy Days spin-off series Laverne & Shirley, playing Laverne DiFazio on the show between 1976 and 1983. She was recognised for her work with three Golden Globe nominations. Previous television work included a recurring guest role…

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Academy-Award nominated actress Sondra Locke, star of the 1970’s alongside former partner Clint Eastwood, has passed away. Born Sandra Anderson in 1944, the actress known as Sondra Locke landed her first role (following a talent contest to choose a performer) alongside Alan Arkin in The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, in 1968, a film which garnered both her and Arkin Oscar-nominations for their work. Supporting roles would follow in Cover Me Babe (1970), Willard (1971), and A Reflection of Fear (1972), and the lead role in The Second Coming Of…

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