Phil Spector. This is another one of those where I don’t have much to say, really: everyone knows the story (and if you don’t, it is recapped in the obit).
Sylvain Sylvain, of the New York Dolls.
Peter Mark Richman, actor. He had a long list of credits, including soap operas and a long list of 70’s cop/detective shows…
…including “Mannix”. (“Walk With a Dead Man”, season 3, episode 15.)
This is a couple of days old, but I missed it until someone mentioned it to me: William Link.
Mr. Link and his partner, Richard Levinson, created a bunch of famous TV series: “Columbo”, “Murder She Wrote”, and, of course, “Mannix”.
Burning in Hell watch: Samuel Little.
Mr. Little had confessed to having committed 93 murders between 1970 and 2005, at least 50 of which have been verified by law enforcement officers, the F.B.I. said. He had been convicted of at least eight murders, some of which were solved using D.N.A. analysis.
Many of Mr. Little’s victims were marginalized, young Black women who were estranged from their families and struggling with poverty and addiction. In many cases, their deaths did not draw the same level of attention or outrage as other killings.
Here’s a little bit more Bell System history for you.
“Challenge of Change”, from 1961. I think this is noteworthy as a very early depiction of the first modem (among other things). That punch-card dialing system is pretty neat for 1961, too.
Bonus video #1: This goes out to all the radio people and “Mannix” fans out there: “Mobile Telephones”, or: what cell phone technology looked like in the late 1940s. Show this to your children.
Bonus video #2: “The Far Sound”, a Bell Labs history of the development of long distance service.
Harold Reid, leader of the Statler Brothers.
The Statlers imbued contemporary country and folk material with traditional gospel harmonies, helping to usher Southern gospel music into the cultural mainstream while paving the way for the arrival of crossover-minded blockbuster country vocal groups like the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama.
“We took gospel harmonies and put them over in country music,” Mr. Reid was quoted as saying in the Encyclopedia of Gospel Music.
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One of my favorite Statler Brothers songs:
Steve Dalkowski, minor league pitcher. This is actually one of those sad stories: he was famous for spending nine seasons in the minor leagues, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles’ teams. He apparently had an amazing fastball, but was also erratic as a pitcher. (“He walked batters almost as often as he struck them out..”) Supposedly, he inspired “Nuke LaLoosh”, the pitcher in “Bull Durham”.
He also had problems with alcohol. At the time of his death, he’d been in a nursing home with “alcohol-induced dementia” for 26 years.
Gene Dynarski. He was “Izzy Mandelbaum Jr.” on “Seinfeld”, appeared on two episodes of a minor SF series, and had guest shots on a lot of other TV, including multiple stints on “Banacek”…
…and, yes, “Mannix”. (“Fly, Little One”, season 3, episode 21. He’s credited as “Killer”.)
Bruce Allpress, New Zealand actor who was in “The Two Towers” and a few other things.
(Hat tip on the last two to Lawrence.)
Wow. Yesterday was a day.
In no particular order of importance (and I may be a day or three behind on some of these):
Julie Bennett. She was primarily known as a voice actress: she did a lot of animated stuff, including voicing “Cindy Bear” in the “Yogi Bear Show”. (And “Aunt May” in “Spider-Man: The Animated Series”.) She also did guest shots on a few of my favorite shows: “Adam-12”, “Dragnet 1967”, “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors”, and “Get Smart”.
James Drury. He was famous as the lead in “The Virginian”, but he had a solid body of work outside of that. (Lawrence pointed out that one of his early roles was “Crewman Strong” in “Forbidden Planet”.)
Bobby Mitchell. He played with the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins, and was a Hall of Fame player:
Fast, elusive and versatile, he scored 91 touchdowns, amassed more than 14,000 net yards, was named to the Pro Bowl four times and was voted to the N.F.L.’s all-decade team for the 1960s.
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“Bobby Mitchell was one of the greatest all-around ballplayers,” Lenny Moore of the Baltimore Colts, a contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer, was quoted as saying on the Redskins’ website. “Anybody who can transition himself and be one of the best in the business at both positions, that’s saying something.”
Forrest Compton. Another knock-around guy: he was most famous for playing “Mike Karr” on “The Edge of Night” soap, but he also was a semi-regular on “Gomer Pyle: USMC”, appeared multiple times in “Hogan’s’ Heros” and “The F.B.I”…
…and, yes, he did do a “Mannix”. (“One for the Lady”, season 4, episode 2. He was “Elgin Bonning”.)
Ed Biles, former coach of the Houston Oilers. He started out as a defensive coordinator:
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Shirley Douglas, who seems to be consistently described as a “Canadian actor and activist”. Among other roles, she was in the original “Lolita”, the pilot of “The Hat Squad” TV series, the “Flash Gordon” TV series, and “Dead Ringers”.
She was also married to Donald Sutherland: Kiefer Sutherland is her son by Donald. (She also had a daughter, Rachel, with Donald, and another child with her second husband Timothy Emil Sicks.)
Al Kaline, All-Star outfielder for the Detroit Tigers.
He became the youngest batting champion in major league history in 1955 when he hit .340 at age 20. He had 3,007 career hits, the 12th player to reach the No. 3,000 milestone, and he hit 399 home runs, a Tiger record.
Renowned for his powerful arm, Kaline won 10 Gold Glove awards for his play in right field and sometimes in center. He set an American League record for outfielders by playing in 242 consecutive games without an error. He played in 2,834 games from 1953 to 1974, the most of any Tiger, and only Ty Cobb equaled his 22 years with the team.
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Kaline had a .297 career batting average, with 1,583 runs batted in and 1,622 runs scored.
My brother sent out an obit watch for Clive “Raise the Titanic!” Cussler. I have not been able to find an obit to link to yet, but his passing seems to be confirmed by a post from his wife on his Facebook page. When I find actual obits, I’ll either update here or post another obit watch tomorrow.
Edited to add: Of course. Literally five minutes after I hit “Publish”, the paper of record posts their obit.
He began writing fiction at home in the late 60s, but his first two books, “Pacific Vortex” and “The Mediterranean Caper,” were repeatedly rejected. Unable even to get an agent, he staged a hoax. Using the letterhead of a fictitious writers’ agency, he wrote to the agent Peter Lampack, posing as an old colleague about to retire and overloaded with work. He enclosed copies of his manuscripts, citing their potential.
It worked. “Where can I sign Clive Cussler?” Mr. Lampack wrote back. In 1973, “The Mediterranean Caper” was published, followed by “Iceberg” (1975) and “Raise the Titanic!” (1976).
Despite an improbable plot and negative reviews, “Raise the Titanic!” sold 150,000 copies, was a Times best seller for six months and became a 1980 film starring Richard Jordan and Jason Robards Jr.
I actually kind of enjoyed the book “Raise the Titanic!”, but I was young at the time. I also paid actual money to see the movie in a theater, and that was a piece of s–t.
While searching for his obit, though, I stumbled across the THR one for Ben Cooper. He was in a fair number of Westerns: “Johnny Guitar”, “Support Your Local Gunfighter”, “The Fastest Guitar Alive”. He also did a lot of TV guest spots: “Gunsmoke”, “Bonanza”, “The Rifleman”, “Death Valley Days”, and had regular spots on “The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” and “The Fall Guy”…
…and yes, he was on “Mannix” twice. (“The Playground”, season 3, episode 4, the same one Robert Conrad was in. That’s the next one we’re watching, Lawrence. Also “To Cage a Seagull”, season 4, episode 10.)
Let’s get down to it.
Paul Farnes. He was 101, and the last surviving RAF ace from the Battle of Britain.
…for three months, through the end of October, the R.A.F. battled the Luftwaffe for supremacy in the skies over Britain. Flying a Hurricane fighter for the 501 Squadron, Mr. Farnes, a sergeant pilot, proved supremely adept at attacking German aircraft.
In August alone he shot down three Junkers Ju Stuka bombers, a Dornier 17 light bomber and a Messerschmitt 109E fighter.At the end of September, as Mr. Farnes maneuvered his malfunctioning Hurricane back to the R.A.F.’s Kenley base, he spotted a German bomber flying directly at him at about 1,500 feet.
“I thought, ‘Good God,’ so I whipped out and had to reposition myself and managed to get ’round behind him,” he said in an interview with the website History of War in 2017. “I gave him a couple of bursts, and he crashed at Gatwick just on the point between the airport and the racecourse.”
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Aerial warfare against the Germans meant breaking away from the squadron, finding something to shoot at, firing away, then breaking away to safety. But by Mr. Farnes’s account it was also enjoyable, because he was able to combine his love of flying with the mission to protect Britain.
“The C.O. would quite often pick the next members of the squadron that had to be at ‘readiness,’ and the two or three who weren’t picked would be pretty fed up,” he told History of War. “If you weren’t picked, you’d think, ‘Why can’t I go?’ I’m sure one or two must have felt, ‘Well, thank God I’m not going!’ But a lot of us were quite happy to go.”
I was a little young for “Wild Wild West” in first run; if it was syndicated in Houston when I was a kid, I don’t remember it. It could have been on the station we were never able to pick up (the same one OG “Star Trek” was on). And “Hawaiian Eye” was before my time. But if you’re my age or a little on either side of it, this was like candy for us:
He also appeared multiple times on “Mission: Impossible” and other series, either as the lead of some less than successful ones (“High Mountain Rangers”) or doing guest shots. He did do a “Mannix”. (“The Playground”, season 3, episode 4.) And I didn’t know this, but he played G. Gordon Liddy in the TV movie version of “Will”.
Orson Bean. Variety. THR. Interesting guy: I remember him from “Being John Malkovich” and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him on some of those old game shows on Buzzr. In the 1960s, he founded a progressive school in New York City.
Believing that America’s generals were planning an imminent coup d’état, Mr. Bean abandoned his thriving career and moved his family to Australia in 1970. He became a disciple of the Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich and wrote a book about his psychosexual theories, “Me and the Orgone.” (Orgone is a concept, originally proposed by Reich, of a universal life force.)
When the book appeared in 1971, Mr. Bean returned to America with his wife and four children. For years he led a nomadic life as an aging hippie and self-described househusband, casting off material possessions in a quest for self-realization.
In the 1980s, he settled down again and resumed acting. He was 91 years old when he died: he was hit by a car while walking, fell, and was run over by a second car (according to Variety).
After the jump, more obits.
She knocked around episodic television a lot:
She also played Blair’s mother on “The Facts of Life”, and Mrs. MacArthur in “MacArthur”. She also did guest shots on things like “Quincy, M.E.”, “Petrocelli”, “Cannon”, “Streets of San Francisco”, the good “Hawaii 5-0″…
…but she was perhaps most famous for playing “Kara”, the woman who steals Spock’s brain, in the “Spock’s Brain” episode of “Star Trek”…
…and yes, she appeared on “Mannix” twice. (“A Gathering of Ghosts”, season 4, episode 19, and “Mask for a Charade”, season 7, episode 21.)
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Wow. It got busy up in here all of the sudden.
Jim Lehrer. I feel like I should have more to say about this, but I was only an occasional “NewsHour” watcher. And I think the papers for the next day or so are going to be filled with eulogies that are probably better than I could write.
John Karlen, working actor. He was Willie Loomis on “Dark Shadows” and Lacey’s husband on “Cagney and Lacey”, among his 117 credits…
…which do include “Mannix”. (“Quartet for Blunt Instrument”, season 8, episode 19. He was “Hood #1”.)
Jack Kehoe, who never did “Mannix”, but was the “Erie Kid” in “The Sting”, the book keeper in “The Untouchables” (the DePalma one) and had roles in “Serpico”, “Melvin and Howard”, and a bunch of other films.
Jack Van Impe, televangelist.
Mr. Van Impe promoted a view of the end of the world known in evangelical circles as dispensational premillennialism, which teaches that Christians will be raptured, or taken up to heaven, before a period of tribulation, a final battle called Armageddon and the return and rule of Jesus on earth.
His sermons had titles like “The Coming War with Russia, According to the Bible. Where? When? Why?” (In that sermon he warned of a coming world dictator and a Russian invasion of Israel.) In his final broadcast, on Jan. 10, he discussed relations between the United States and Iran and predicted “the bloodiest war in the world,” saying it would result mostly in the deaths of “Muslim terrorists.”
Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, noted for “77 Sunset Strip”. NYT.
Broadcast on ABC from 1958 to 1964, “77 Sunset Strip” starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith as a pair of suave Los Angeles private eyes and Mr. Byrnes as the parking-lot attendant at the restaurant next door to their office.
As he ministered tenderly to the Thunderbird convertible driven by Mr. Zimbalist in the show, Kookie (né Gerald Lloyd Kookson III) ran his omnipresent pocket comb through his lush ducktailed pompadour, cracked his devil-may-care grin and spouted aphorisms that even at midcentury had all the gnomic obscurity of Zen koans:
“A dark seven” (a depressing week); “piling up the Z’s” (getting some sleep); “headache grapplers” (aspirin); “buzzed by germsville” (to become ill); and, most emblematically, “Baby, you’re the ginchiest!” — a phrase of the highest Kookian approbation.
His character evolved from parking attendant to junior partner in the detective agency, but he was pretty much typecast after that. Deadline suggests that he partially inspired the Rick Dalton character in “Once Upon a Time In Hollywood”. He did go on to play the dance host in “Grease” and did a fair number of guest shots on TV shows…
…yes, including “Mannix”. (“A Penny for the Peep Show”, season 3, episode 6.)
Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, Texas sculptor of giant objects.
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A few years after the boots were disassembled and moved to a mall in San Antonio on three flatbed trucks in 1980, Mr. Wade got a phone call from the mall’s manager. A homeless man had found his way into one of the boots and cooked his lunch there. The boot was on fire.
“It was the size of a small apartment, kind of a nice spot, and he was cooking lunch with cans of Sterno, and smoke was emerging from the top of the boots,” Mr. Wade said in “Too High, Too Wide and Too Long.”
He did a fair amount of other movie work, including “The Oscar” and “The Hindenburg”. He also did a lot of TV, including ‘The F.B.I”, “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”, “Mission: Impossible”, and, of course, “Mannix” (“A Chance at the Roses“).
Sid Haig. He was in Rob Zombie’s movies, but before those, he was a prolific character actor. He shows up in a couple of Tarrantino films, some blacksploitation stuff, “THX 1138”, and a lot of 70s TV: he was a regular on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”, “Get Smart”, “Mission: Impossible”, and, of course, “Mannix” (“Deja Vu“).
Cool story, bro:
An indie director friend hired Sid Haig to star in a small horror film. His producer quit halfway through filming.
Sid finished his scenes & stayed to produce & executive produce the movie. For free. https://t.co/yDQqkQ97Jm
— Brian Niemeier (@BrianNiemeier) September 23, 2019
The movie was apparently something called “High on the Hog“, which Lawrence pointed out also stars Robert Z’Dar and the legendary Joe Estevez.
We watched the original “Night Stalker” Saturday night.
(Hi, Pat!)
That KL Studio Classics blu-ray is pretty awesome: the remaster is sharp and amazingly vivid. (I didn’t see “Night Stalker” when it was originally aired: I was (mumble mumble) years old and my parents wouldn’t let me watch it. This is actually the first time I’ve seen it, but my basis for comparison is the DVD of the TV series and the MeTV rebroadcasts: both seem a little muddy. If KL does a remaster of the series, I am there, man. And I plan to pick up the “Night Strangler” sooner rather than later now.)
The blu-ray also includes some good extras, including an interview with the director, John Llewellyn Moxey (who passed away in April of this year, at 94. I don’t recall seeing his obit reported.)
Anyway, Mr. Moxey was a prolific TV director: his credits include ten episodes of “Mannix”…
…including “End Game“, one of several episodes involving an old Army buddy of Mannix that’s out to get him…(“End Game” is a pretty tense and solid episode: it seems to show up a lot on the top ten episode lists I’ve seen.)
…and “A Ticket to the Eclipse“, another episode featuring an old Army buddy of Mannix that’s out to get him…
…and this time, the old Army buddy is played by none other than Darren McGavin his own self.
Just one of those curious connections that pop up sometimes. (Mr. Moxey seems to imply in his interview that he and Mr. McGavin didn’t know each other well, but they (and their wives) became close friends during the “Night Stalker” filming. Which is odd, because “A Ticket to the Eclipse” aired September 19, 1970, while “Night Stalker” aired January 11, 1972. So “Ticket” was probably filmed at least a year before “Night Stalker”. But, you know, maybe it took filming on location in Las Vegas to make them friends.)
(Lawrence: “Everyone in this movie looks hot.”)
Carol Lynley, actress.
The paper of record seems rather dismissive of her acting career post 1967 or thereabouts (“..she was never directly in the public eye again”) but she did a lot of guest shots on various 1970s TV: “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors”, “Kojack”, “Quincy M.E”, “Police Woman”, “Hawaii 5-0”, multiple appearances on “Fantasy Island”, “Richie Brockelman, Private Eye”, and the list goes on…
…and she was Kolchak’s girlfriend in “The Night Stalker”…
…and, yes, she did do a “Mannix” (“Voice In the Dark”).
Katherine Helmond. Alzheimer’s got her at 89. THR. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
I didn’t watch “Who’s the Boss?” and my parents wouldn’t let me watch “Soap” first run. But:
Her TV credits go back to 1955, and include “Car 54, Where Are You?”, “Hec Ramsey”, “Harry O”, “Meeting of Minds” (she played Emily Dickinson)…
…and, believe it or not, two episodes of “Mannix”. (“A Fine Day for Dying” and “A Rage to Kill”.)
And she was in three Terry Gilliam movies: “Time Bandits”, “Brazil”, and “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas”.
She sounds like someone I would have enjoyed hanging out with, maybe over a cheeseburger and the amusing house red.
Stanley Donen, who I have seen described as “one of the last Golden Age directors”, and certainly one of the greats. THR.
“On the Town”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Charade”, “Funny Face”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Damn Yankees”, “Bedazzled”. What a life.
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Also by way of THR: Morgan Woodward. Interesting career: he did a lot of stuff. Oddly, not “Mannix”, but 19 episodes of “Gunsmoke”, “Hill Street Blues”, “Bonanza”, “Bearcats!”, two episodes of “Star Trek: Original Recipe” (“on which he was the first victim of Mr. Spock’s telepathic ‘Vulcan mind meld.'”), “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”…
…and “Boss Godfrey” (the guy with the mirrored sunglasses) in “Cool Hand Luke”.
Speaking of “Star Trek”, we caught the last three or so minutes of “The Naked Time” last night while waiting for “Kolchak”. Now, I’m not a big “Trek” fan, but for some reason, I got to wondering what John D.F. Black (who wrote that episode) was up to.
Turns out he passed away in late November without my noticing. Google does not turn up an obit in the NYT or any of the papers I usually frequent, though it looks like THR ran one that I (and everyone I know) missed.
I knew that he was one of the more highly regarded “Trek” writers. I did not know that he’d co-written the screenplay for the original “Shaft” with Ernest Tidyman. He also did TV work for, among other shows, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “Hawaii Five-O”…and, yes, he wrote an episode of “Mannix” (“A Day Filled with Shadows”: he shares the writing credit with Cliff Gould).