Passages

[Dr Amicus]

Sir Gerald Kaufman, long serving Labour MP (he was Father of the House), film fan and author of the BFI Film Classic on Meet Me In St Louis.

[fdm]

Horace Parlan, back on the 23rd.

[flyonthewall2983]

Gustav Metzger

Pete Townshend on him

[Lemmy Caution]

Horace Parlan, back on the 23rd.

Not sure why, but a heap of great Jazz pianists came from Pittsburgh:
Earl Fatha Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Errol Garner, Dodo Marmarosa, Ahmad Jamal, Horace Parlan, Sonny Clark, Billy Strayhorn.

[The Narrator Returns]

Robert Osbourne

[Feego]

Robert Osbourne

That's very sad. I believe it's been more than a year since he was last on TCM or made any public appearances, and there had been reports of poor health.

[dx23]

He brought a lot of great knowledge and gave TMC the gravitas that it needed to be successful.

[FrauBlucher]

That's sad news.

[movielocke]

a shepherd to classic film for so many

[ando]

R.I.P.

Osborne on his career.

[Minkin]

Robert Osbourne

Awful news. I had wondered if something was up - as it seems like Ben or special guests had taken over most of his hosting duties lately. They also hired a new host, so perhaps TCM knew time was limited.

Robert Osbourne was always so loving towards the movies being shown. I always found it hilarious when you'd get some subtle sense of annoyance that he had towards his guest's less than insightful comments (Drew Barrymore). Or imagining him erupting in anger "get out of my house!"

There was also the really poorly made "Robert Osborne's 20th Anniversary Tribute" that came out last year - where he sits in a directors chair (that makes him seem awkwardly small) and various family members trot out on stage while Alex Trebek tries to keep order with his MC duties - its delightfully chaotic.

Weird to think that Lucille Ball got him to focus on criticism rather than playing a redneck character in The Beverly Hillbillies!

He will be sadly missed, and no amount of Ben could ever replace him.

[hearthesilence]

Oscilloscope posted a nice tribute.

From the Variety obituary of Robert Osborne:
After a fan guessed that he would not know what turned out to be a familiar title, he responded,
“Well, do you want me to tell you who’s in it in order of their billing or would you rather I tell you what theater it played in New York and for how long?”

[ianthemovie]

I remember being so tickled by his cameo in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt a couple of years ago, in which he played himself and did a mock-TCM introduction to the fake gay musical Daddy's Boy.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Fred Weintraub, owner of Greenwich Village hotspot The Bitter End turned producer (Enter the Dragon, Black Belt Jones, Truck Turner, Gymkata, etc.)

[FrauBlucher]

TCM to honor Robert Osborne with special programming

[Polybius]

I can actually remember Robert Osborne from when he was doing similar duties on The Movie Channel. I was very happy to see him when I first got TCM in 1998.

I share everyone's high regard and affection for him and he will be sorely missed.

[colinr0380]

Robert James Waller, the author of The Bridges of Madison County (I hadn't realised until looking at imdb that there was apparently a mid-2000s TV film of a stage version with Mireille Darc and Alain Delon in the Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood roles!)

[hearthesilence]

The film gets knocked because of the source material, but Eastwood does some excellent work as a filmmaker in that movie - the climactic rainy car at the stoplight scene feels effortless and masterful on his part. (And of course Meryl Streep is terrific.)

[goalieboy82]

RIP Murray Ball
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment ... d=11816852" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

he brought a slice of heaven to us.

[antnield]

Jack H Harris

[Numero Trois]

Underground cartoonist Jay Lynch. And his NY Times obit.

[jbeall]

Nobel laureate Derek Walcott

[domino harvey]

Used to teach his poem "the Virgins" every year, RIP

[hearthesilence]

James Cotton, the legendary blues harmonica player

[ando]

Walcott? crushed