Werth here. I am heartbroken to announce that actress Karen Black has passed away after a long battle with cancer. Black came to prominence in the game-changing Easy Rider (1969) and her stardom seemed somehow linked to the new era in movies. She excelled at playing flawed characters, her unique looks masking deeper, more complicated psyches. She worked with some of the great directors, including Hitchcock (Family Plot (1976)) and Robert Altman (Nashville (1975)) and held her own opposite screen legends like Jack Nicholson (Five Easy Pieces (1970)), Robert Redford (The Great Gatsby (1974)), and Bette Davis (Burnt Offerings (1976)). As the wild era of the Seventies faded, so too did Black—almost as if this amazing creature could not breathe the stale air of corporate Eighties Hollywood. She was too complex to symbolize anything as broad as "The Seventies Woman," but for me, she will always represent the ecstatic possibilities that the Seventies brought to cinema.
Margaret Pellegrini, one of the last remaining Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz, passed away at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, yesterday. She was 89. At age 15 she left her home in Alabama to journey across the country to the magical land of Hollywood where she joined a troupe of 124 little people who were enduring the rigors of dance rehearsals and costume fittings to portray the colorful denizens of Oz. Pellegrini, being so young and full of personality, was well used by the production team, popping up all over Munchkinland, sometimes in multiple costumes, but always with a big smile. Her time at the film colony was short, and she soon returned to an ordinary civilian life, but in the 1980's she became a beloved guest at many of Oz festivals
around the country. Along with her fellow cast mates, she happily reminisced about the making of the picture and about her enduring respect for the talent of Judy Garland. When the Munchkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007, she was on of the thrilled recipients at the ceremony. Not simply an extra, Pelelgrini became an ambassador to a beloved movie classic, making that magical, faraway place seem close at hand. She will be missed tremendously by her family, friends and fans.
We here at Film Gab are sad to announce that the wonderful character actress Eileen Brennan has passed. The wide-eyed, quirky Brennan got her start in television, but quickly made a name for herself in her first screen outing, The Last Picture Show (1971). She would go on to appear in such memorable films as The Sting (1973), Murder By Death (1976), Clue (1985) and would earn an Oscar nom for her portrayal of tough-as-balls Captain Lewis in Private Benjamin (1981). She was able to accomplish the great feat of creating memorable, funny characters without stealing focus from her co-stars. Today, our focus is on her long and versatile career.
Film Gab has just learned that famed photographer Bert Stern passed away Tuesday. Stern was an innovative photographer well-known for his advertising photography and portrait work with Hollywood stars. In a 1963 issue of Life Magazine, Stern posed actors of the wattage of Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and others as stars from the early days of Hollywood.
Stern's most famous sitting was with Marilyn Monroe mere months before her death, revealing the skin and the soul of the actress at a time when she was attempting to re-invent herself. Like many photographers, Stern lived in the shadows of his more famous subjects, but we here at Film Gab tip our hats to a man who excelled at making the gods and goddesses of Hollywood immortal.
Film Gab is saddened to learn of the death of MGM's aquatic superstar Esther Williams. Born to a working class family in Los Angeles, she learned to swim at an early age and nurtured Olympic dreams until they were dashed by the onset of World War II and the cancellation of the games. Instead, she found herself with a contract at MGM testing out her audience appeal as one of Mickey Rooney's endless string of girlfriends in Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942). Audiences went wild and for nearly two decades she starred in a parade of musicals featuring her talent (and long legs) in a series of increasingly elaborate water ballets. The studio excavated a huge pool for her and deployed Busby Berkeley to marshal the corps de piscine into his signature kaleidoscopic effects. Her best known film is perhaps Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), but she had some success outside of the pool as the owner of a ball team in Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) alongside Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. Whatever the role, Williams infused all her work with athleticism, cheerfulness and grace.
Today Film Gab sadly marks the passing of special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen's work with stop motion animation in such films as The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Jason and the Argonauts (1963) not only set the standard for motion picture special effects, but also thrilled a generation of moviegoers who pre-dated the CGI revolution. Whether it was a giant dinosaur, a group of grinning, fighting skeletons, or the terrifying, snake-headed Medusa from Harryhausen's swan song, Clash of the Titans (1981), Harryhausen's creations lept from the screen straight into our imaginations.
It is with a heavy heart that Film Gab announces that one of the most visible film critics that we grew up with has passed. Roger Ebert was so much more than just half of the popular Siskel & Ebert movie reviewing duo. He won a Pullitzer Prize in 1974, was the author of over 15 books, and even scripted one of Hollywood's most notorious sequels, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970.) Through it all Ebert was a film critic who passionately defended and derided the films he reviewed, giving the art of critcism a recognizable character. Ebert in his trademark round glasses introduced many of us to the movies, and how we could discuss them, and for that we are forever grateful. Thumbs up to you Mr. Ebert.
The joy of the holiday season has been diminished here at Film Gab with the loss of two classic actors on the same day. Both Jack Klugman and Charles Durning passed away on Monday 12/24/12. The New York Times saluted both of these talented actors and so shall we.
Klugman is most-remembered for his television work on The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E., but this classic everyman also made some memorable appearances on the silver screen. Klugman was the last surviving juror from the 1957 courtroom masterpiece, 12 Angry Men; played Jack Lemmon's AA sponsor in Blake Edward's Days of Wine and Roses (1962); and even wrangled Judy in her near bio-pic I Could Go On Singing (1963).
No less an everyman, Durning had a long career as a character actor in such films as The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), and as an unconventional love interest for Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982). You haven't lived until you've seen Durning slide-dance as the Governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Both of these actors proved that a good everyman is hard to find.
Dear Film Gabbers, it is with a heavy heart that we here at Film Gab bid adieu to someone very near and dear to us. Football player and character actor Alex Karras has passed away at the age of 77. While many might think of him as Webster's dad from the diminutive 80's television hit, or the horse-punching cretin Mongo from Blazing Saddles (1974), he was especially memorable to many of us 80's gays as the burly Chicago bodyguard Squash Bernstein who dares to be himself and come out of the closet in the beloved gender-bending comedy Victor Victoria (1982).
Although built like a bear, Karras' characters always wound up exposing their lovable side, making him one of those unexpected joys to watch. Here's to you and Toddy sharing some champagne in Heaven!
Film Gab is saddened to hear of the death of film critic extraordinaire Judith Crist. One of the most influential reviewers of the second half of the twentieth century, she was also the first woman to serve full-time as critic for a major daily paper (The New York Herald Tribune). For twenty-two years she wrote reviews for TV Guide, reaching twenty million readers each week, and logged a decade at The Today Show where she became a major voice during some of the most tumultuous years in Hollywood.
Never one to mince words when a film failed to meet her approval, she famously called The Sound of Music "Icky-sticky" and suggested that the film's audiences weren't "up to the stinging sophistication and biting wit of Mary Poppins."
Still, Crist was never one to incite the wrath of her fellow critics, preferring to address her readers rather than engage in the bloviations that could distract from the movies themselves. Her voice was always sharp, her insights actually insightful, and her legacy lives on among all of us who gab about film.
Oscar-winning composer and sometimes actor Marvin Hamlisch has passed away in Los Angeles. Hamlisch was best known for writing themes that seeped into the public consciousness—whether we wanted to admit it or not. Starting out in television in th early '60's, Hamlisch quickly showed his ability to grab pop melodies that stuck in your head with the stickily-sweet "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" from the film Ski Party (1965). But Hamlisch would soon enter the big leagues by working on music for Woody Allen in Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971).
He would earn his first Oscar nom for the film Kotch in 1971 and in 1973 earned three Oscars for his work on The Sting and The Way We Were. It was impossible that year not to have "The Entertainer" (written by Scott Joplin) or "The Way We Were" reverberating through your head. Eight Oscar noms followed as well as the Broadway insider classic A Chorus Line (1985). Love his music or hate it, Hamlisch achieved a level of success in film by composing songs that struck a chord and ingrained themselves in the pop culture. I wonder if Saint Peter will request to hear the Ice Castles Theme...
One of Hollywood's most regal actresses has passed away today. Celeste Holm is probably best remembered as the best friend of Broadway diva Margot Channing in All About Eve (1950), but Holm had a long and memorable career starring in the original stage production of Oklahoma! before going to Hollywood to earn an Oscar in Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and roles in classics like The Tender Trap (1955) and High Society (1956). She transitioned to television with appearances throughout the '50's and '60's including a stint on her own show, Honestly Celeste! (1954). Through it all, Holm was the personification of class—when Holm greeted Bette Davis for the first time on the set of All About Eve with "Good Morning," Davis said, "Oh shit. Good manners." Film Gab bids a fond farewell to one heck of a lady.
Film Gab is sad to report that producer and all-around hollywood mover and shaker Richard Zanuck has passed away. Behind such great films as The Sound of Music (1965), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), M*A*S*H (1972), The Sting (1973), Jaws (1975), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), and Big Fish (2003), Zanuck admirably emerged from the shadow of his legendary studio chief father Darryl Zanuck to carve his own name in the Hollywood history books. Saint Peter, you're going to need a bigger boat.
We here at Film Gab take off our hats to a legendary Film Gabber who helped shape film criticism and in some ways, the way we watch films. Film critic Andrew Sarris passed away this morning from complications from an infection. In a lifetime of film criticism Sarris was able to help create the canon of great American Films and their Filmmakers, often crossing swords with other critics—most notably with the equally opinionated Pauline Kael. In a world where everyone is a film critic (ahem) Sarris was a symbol of the heights film criticism could attain. He may not be welcomed by everyone he meets at the Pearly Gates, but he will most certainly be respected.
Film Gab is saddened to learn of the death of Ann Rutherford who played both Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister Careen in Gone with the Wind (1939) and the devoted girlfriend of Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy series. She was never an icon of the silver screen, but she was often an accomplice to greatness, shining in smaller roles and making the most of whatever screen time she got. In the early 1940's, she left the cocoon of MGM to seek out more challenging parts and eventually secured a plum comedic spot opposite Danny Kaye in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947). Largely retiring from the screen in 1950, she did return for a few guest spots on The Bob Newhart Show playing Suzanne Pleshette's mother and was offered the role of old Rose in Titanic (1997) before it went to Gloria Stuart. In later years, she became a fixture at events celebrating GWTW, sharing stories about her part in that film and about her connections to the old studio system. In some ways, retirement was Rutherford's greatest role because it allowed her to star as an ambassador to the dreamland of Hollywood's past.
Klugman is most-remembered for his television work on The Odd Couple and Quincy M.E., but this classic everyman also made some memorable appearances on the silver screen. Klugman was the last surviving juror from the 1957 courtroom masterpiece, 12 Angry Men; played Jack Lemmon's AA sponsor in Blake Edward's Days of Wine and Roses (1962); and even wrangled Judy in her near bio-pic I Could Go On Singing (1963). 
No less an everyman, Durning had a long career as a character actor in such films as The Sting (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), The Muppet Movie (1979), and as an unconventional love interest for Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1982). You haven't lived until you've seen Durning slide-dance as the Governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Both of these actors proved that a good everyman is hard to find.
