Passages

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Librarians everywhere are freaking out.

[colinr0380]

I saw him as Frank-n-Furter in a stage revival of The Rocky Horror Show, where quite a bit of the heckling was coffee-related.

Head did have quite a surprisingly musical career as presumably the musical episode of Buffy, Once More WIth Feeling, proved that the cast could sing and he went on to play the "Repo Man" in Repo! The Genetic Opera, which Darren Lynn Bousman parlayed his clout after his run of Saw films to make (I have often wondered if Repo! The Genetic Opera was influenced by the Battle Angel: Alita manga at all. At very least they would play as an interesting double bill together!)

Plus he is in that interesting Jazz Age set Stephen Poliakoff mini-series Dancing on the Edge, with Chiwetel Ejiofor.

One of his more notable recent roles was the even worse than the recording studio invaders sleazy boss in Feedback. Which I had some issues with but Head is probably the best thing about it in his brief bookending appearances.

[hearthesilence]

Actor James Handy, murdered by his girlfriend's son who appears to be severely mentally ill.

A veteran character actor, the part I remember most is probably in The Verdict where he plays Kevin Doneghy, husband to the sister of the victim of criminal negligence.

Obituary that dives into his past as a Vietnam veteran, where he was involved in a lot of horrific combat and returned as a pacifist.

[jbeall]

Anthony Head, best known for playing Giles in the Buffy The Vampire TV series, but if you are into your TV commercials he was also one half of the Gold Blend couple, who had a developing coffee-focused love affair across a series of adverts.

He had quite the career playing characters named Rupert. In addition to playing Rupert Giles, he also played the villanous Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso.

[DimitriL]

Head did have quite a surprisingly musical career as presumably the musical episode of Buffy, Once More WIth Feeling, proved that the cast could sing and he went on to play the "Repo Man" in Repo! The Genetic Opera, which Darren Lynn Bousman parlayed his clout after his run of Saw films to make (I have often wondered if Repo! The Genetic Opera was influenced by the Battle Angel: Alita manga at all. At very least they would play as an interesting double bill together!)

I was surprised that he had such a different voice from his brother Murray, yet just as distinctive.

[The Curious Sofa]

I never realised they were related. I suppose Murray was a musician first, with a more rock 'n' roll voice, whereas the classically trained actor Anthony, had more of more musical theatre singing style, which is where he started out.

[MichaelB]

There was a hefty age gap, so their careers weren’t in sync, a gap exaggerated by the fact that Murray Head became famous much faster. By the time he co-starred in Sunday Bloody Sunday Anthony was still in his teens, and wouldn’t become a household name until well into the 1980s.

[jbeall]

That reminds me, what's going on with Jafar Panahi? I know he was planning to return to Iran after the Oscars were over (i.e. after he fulfilled his promotional obligations to Neon), but I imagine he's still somewhere in the U.S. or Europe until the war ends. Once that happens though, I fear what will happen to him - he's facing a prison sentence that's been appealed, but the change in leadership (thanks to this moronic war) will stack the odds against him even more.

His prison sentence has been upheld in court, though he can still appeal.

[hearthesilence]

Terrible news, but at least his options haven't run out.

The great guitarist James Blood Ulmer at 86, here's an official statement from his family. His album Odyssey, one of the greatest and most innovative jazz albums of the 1980s, is highly recommended.

[fdm]

Back on May 18 Gunter Hampel passed at 88.

[beamish14]

Terrible news, but at least his options haven't run out.

The great guitarist James Blood Ulmer at 86, here's an official statement from his family. His album Odyssey, one of the greatest and most innovative jazz albums of the 1980s, is highly recommended.

I had never heard of him until I read the late Village Voice critic Greg Tate’s Flyboy in the Buttermilk, which is coincidentally just being reissued in a few weeks and even having an audiobook recording after fetching prices for hundreds of dollars

[hearthesilence]

That's a great book - really fortunate for all of us that it's being reissued. Nate Chinen's obituary for NPR (probably the best one I've seen on Ulmer in a mainstream publication) actually cites Tate's piece much more extensively than the family's announcement.

[GaryC]

Australian producer Sue Seeary, aged 64. Much of her work was on television, but for the cinema she produced The Crossing (1990) and was associate producer on The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994).

[MichaelB]

David Hockney, star of the 1974 mockumentary A Bigger Splash.

I believe he also dabbled in painting here and there.

[Aunt Peg]

Aside from being insanely talented David Hockney was an endlessly fascinating man. RIP.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Another one of those legendary figures who smoked his entire life and lived long in spite of it.

A couple weeks ago, I went into a wormhole about the Quantel Paintbox, an early graphics computer for photo manipulation and paint before Photoshop. I had never heard of it and found several interviews of folk who used it including important graphic designers, artists, and even David Fincher, who recalls it being the first computer he saw being used to digital manipulate film and video. Saw this BBC television show with an episode on Hockney using it. I knew he did iPad drawings, but had no clue about these. Apparently a few have been archived on 35mm slides, the only way to properly duplicate these images at the time.