Passages

[hearthesilence]

Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winning physicist

[Lemmy Caution]

Charles Aznavour

When I was in Bulgaria last year, Aznavour sold out a stadium in nearby Belgrade, Serbia. Not bad for a nonagenarian Aznavourian.

Was just (re-)watching Egoyan's Ararat last night and Aznavour has a small recurring part which the film partly revolves around. I find it a frustrating film, which I'll finish tonight, but Aznavour has a presence and is very sympathetic.

[Feego]

Clay animator Will Vinton

Very sad. Vinton's work was ubiquitous in my childhood, from the California Raisins and Domino's Noid (that thing used to freak me out) to his horrifying visual effects in Return to Oz. I had no idea he was behind the CGI M&M's commercials.

[L.A.]

Montserrat Caballé

[dadaistnun]

Michael Panico, cofounder of the excellent independent jazz label Relative Pitch Records.

[MichaelB]

Ray Galton who, with his close friend and longterm writing partner Alan Simpson (who died early last year), made an incalculable contribution to British comedy.

(Even if they’d only written either Hancock’s Half Hour or Steptoe and Son they’d be giants, but creating both ranks them very high indeed amongst the most important contributors to the early evolution of the British sitcom. Indeed, in many ways they laid down ground rules that are still being scrupulously followed today.)

[Dylan]

Screenwriter and director Audrey Wells.

[dwk]

Scott Wilson

[domino harvey]

Always liked him as the sad dad in Junebug, but then again I like everyone in Junebug

[Polybius]

I loved his Justified guest spot, especially the wobbly old guy race at the airport between his character and Art.

[flyonthewall2983]

Arnold Kopelson

[Dylan]

Actress Celeste Yarnall, perhaps best remembered for her roles on television (including Star Trek and Bonanza) and in such films as Eve, The Velvet Vampire, and Live a Little, Love a Little. I always liked her.

[colinr0380]

Kirin Kiki just passed away.

EDIT: In the west, she is probably most famous for playing many mother/grandmother roles in Hirokazu Kore-eda's films.

I like her performance (and everyone else's of course) in Still Walking (which I've watched frequently). It's sad to know that we will not be seeing her in any more film.

And a lead role in Naomi Kawase's Sweet Bean.

Here's a nice tribute video to the actress from the Japan Society in New York

[Aunt Peg]

Milena Dravić, Serbian actress best known for The Battle of Neretva, Special Treatment (which won her a prize at Cannes) & W.R.: Mysteries of the Organsim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milena_Dravić

[mfunk9786]

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and owner of the Trail Blazers, Seahawks, and Sounders

[flyonthewall2983]

Dennis Hof

[flyonthewall2983]

"Dirty" Dick Slater

[colinr0380]

Film critic Vincent Canby

[hearthesilence]

Film critic Vincent Canby

I did a double take on this because I thought he was already dead, and he was indeed already dead - died back in 2000.

[Big Ben]

He came back to trash Heaven's Gate one more time.

[colinr0380]

Oh sorry, my mistake. I had been wondering when I saw that report why I'd not read anything by him recently!

[dwk]

Danny Leiner (director of Dude, Where's My Car? and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle)

[GaryC]

John D. Lamond.

[dadaistnun]

James Karen

His performance in Return of the Living Dead is both flat out hilarious and, in the end, sad. I had forgotten about his Beckett connection until watching Film for the first time earlier this year. Also loved his brief role as Naomi Watts's warm, supportive agent in Mulholland Drive

[colinr0380]

He's great as part of the trio of bumbling mortuary technicians in Return of the Living Dead, which is perhaps the only film in which people screaming at each other in escalating levels of panic sets the tone even more than the zombies do! (He's also in a memorable role in Tobe Hooper's remake of Invaders From Mars, another film that calls for larger than life feats of acting, as a rather gung ho military general!)