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!
It's a very sad day here at Film Gab with the announcement of the death of writer/director Blake Edwards at age 88. It's impossible for this gabber to be subjective about Edwards. I was raised on The Pink Panther movies and had my first inklings of homosexuality while watching Victor Victoria. Later, as I began indulging in classic films, I came to appreciate his edgy drama The Days of Wine and Roses and of course his era-defining Breakfast at Tiffanys. Edwards' comedy came from an innate understanding of characters that were "fish out of water." Holly Golightly, Inspector Clouseau, Carole Todd and Peter Seller's hilarious lost Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi in The Party are all superb examples of characters who stayed true to themselves even in the midst of a normal, sometimes hostile world. It was life-altering to watch these films and realize that not being like everyone else could be funny instead of neurosis-inducing.
When Edwards was awarded an honorary Academy Award® in 2004, he rolled out onto the stage in an electric wheelchair. Hilariously, the chair malfunctioned and launched across the stage. Edwards grabbed his Oscar as he flew by the presenter and went through the wall on the opposite side of the stage. He couldn't even accept his Oscar® like everyone else- and we wouldn't want it any other way. Heaven- Cue Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme", please.
