Archive for the ‘OBITS by Harris Lentz, III’ Category
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 22nd, 2010
Helene Zollo Lentz, accordionist, toe dancer, businesswoman, film fan, and my mother, died of pneumonia and complications from surgery at a Memphis, Tennessee hospital on June 7, 2010 at age 86.
Helene was born in Memphis on August 7, 1923, the daughter of Dominic and Mary Zollo. She studied dance and accordion as a child, and performed frequently on the local stage and radio in the 1930s. She was a graduate of St. Agnes Academy in Memphis in 1940. Helene worked at her family’s Diamond Ice Cream Company during World War II while her husband Harris Lentz, Jr. served as a paratrooper in Europe. After the war, she and her husband continued to operate the ice cream company and raise a family.
Helene was very active in civic and charitable organizations and was an early supporter of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She was frequently involved in political campaigns, working for candidates on both sides of the political divide. She even ran for alderman in her hometown of Bartlett, Tennessee at the age of 78. Helene began working as a bookkeeper with The Fred P. Gattas Company following the death of her husband and sale of the ice cream factory in 1974. She continued to work with the Gattas family, serving as an accountant and office manager with James Gattas Jewelry until her death.
She was an elegant and wonderful lady who never met a stranger, and could make a trek to the post office or the grocery store a festive event. She reveled in watching old films and television shows (which weren’t so old when she first saw them). She was an avid attendee of the Memphis Film Festival and the MidSouthCon for over 20 years, where she delighted in hobnobbing with old cowboy stars and Klingons alike. She left an indelible impression on the film stars and fellow fans she met. On several occasions, while taking a rare moment to rest in a convenient chair, she would look up to see a small line forming around her, with fans thumbing through 8×10s and wondering which of the stars she was. When I first began writing for the original Famous Monsters of Filmland in the 1970s, Forry Ackerman would frequently call to discuss a story. Most of the time, his call would come when I wasn’t home, and he and my mother would have long conversations. I came to believe Forry was intentionally calling when I wasn’t there so he could talk to my mom. I largely owe whatever success I have achieved as a writer and a human being to her guidance, inspiration, and support, and can never hope to repay that debt.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 22nd, 2010
Robert Gary worked in films and television as a script supervisor from the 1950s onward. He worked on most of the Star Trek television series during his career, including the original series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.
Gary was born in Illinois in 1920. He was an aspiring actor before taking a job as a script supervisor on John Ford’s 1956 western classic The Searchers. He also served as script supervisor for the films The Magic Sword (1962), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Strangler (1964), Hush… Hush… Sweet Charlotte (1964), and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965). He also worked frequently in television on such shows as Perry Mason, The Outer Limits, and Highway to Heaven.
Gary died in Los Angeles on May 3, 2010 at age 90.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 22nd, 2010
Japanese actor Kei Sato was best known for his roles as screen villains. He starred in Kaneto Shindo’s 1964 horror film Onibaba, and was a ghost samurai in the supernatural thriller Kwaidan (1964). He was also featured as Chief Editor Gondo in Godzilla 1985 (1984).
Sato was born in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan, on December 21, 1928. He worked as a municipal government official in Fukushima before moving to Tokyo to study acting in 1950. He trained at the Haiyuza Theater and made his film debut in Masaki Kobayashi’s 1959 epic The Human Condition. He worked frequently with New Wave director Nagisa Oshima from the early 1960s, appearing in such films as Cruel Story of Youth (1960) and Night and Fog in Japan (1960).
His many screen credits also include Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai (1963), Zatoichi #13: Zatoichi’s Vengeance (1966), The Sword of Doom (1966), Irezumi (1966), Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968), Yotsuya Kaidan – Oiwa no Borei (a.k.a. The Ghost of Yotsuya) (1969), Evil Spirits of Japan (1970), Live Today, Die Tomorrow! (1970), A Japanese Demon (1973), Oniwaban (a.k.a. Demon Spies) (1974), The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (1979), The Beast to Die (1980), The Strange Tale of Oyuki (1992), and The Whispering of the Gods (2005).
Sato died of pneumonia in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan on May 2, 2010 at age 81.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 22nd, 2010
Actress Rue McClanahan was best known for her role as lusty Southern belle Blanche Devereaux on the television sitcom The Golden Girls. She had a successful career on stage, film and television for over fifty years.
She was born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Oklahoma on February 21, 1934. She studied theater at the University of Tulsa and made her professional stage debut at the Erie Playhouse in Pennsylvania in 1957. Soon after, she was performing in off-Broadway plays in New York.
McClanahan began acting in films in the early 1960s, appearing in the low-budget thriller Five Minutes to Live (aka Door-to-Door Maniac) (1961) starring Johnny Cash. She continued her career in such features as the Sherlock Holmsian fantasy They Might Be Giants (1971) with George C. Scott, and the western slasher film Blade (1973).
She starred as Vivian Cavender Harmon, Bea Arthur’s title character’s best friend, in the sitcom Maude from 1972 to 1978. She starred as Ginger-Nell Hollyhock in the short-lived comedy series Apple Pie in 1978, and guest-starred in episodes of Supertrain, Darkroom, Fantasy Island, and Small & Frye. She was also featured in the supernatural comedy tele-film Topper in 1979.
She had a recurring role in the sitcom Mama’s Family from 1983 to 1984 as Aunt Fran Crowley. She rejoined Bea Arthur in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls in 1985, which also starred Betty White and Estelle Getty as a quartet of senior citizens sharing a home in Miami. McClanahan earned several Emmy nominations and won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her performance as Blanche Devereaux in 1987. The series continued through 1992, and she guest-starred as Blanche in episodes of Nurses and Empty Nest. She also reprised the role in the short-lived spin-off Golden Palace from 1992 to 1993.
McClanahan was also seen in the tele-films The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1989) on Nightmare Classics, The Man in the Brown Suit (1989), The Wickedest Witch (1989), The Dreamer of Oz (1990) as L. Frank Baum’s mother-in-law. Her other television credits include episodes of the animated Spider-Man, Touched by an Angel, and Wonderfalls.
McClanahan also continued to appear on films later in her career, with roles in Biosphere 2 (1991), the animated Christmas classic Annabelle’s Wish (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), and Wit’s End (2005). She returned to Broadway in April of 2005, taking over the role of Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked for the remainder of the year.
McClanahan had been in poor health for several years and died of complications from a stroke and a brain hemorrhage in a New York City hospital on June 3, 2010 at age 76.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Actress Phyllis Douglas began her career in films as a child, making her screen debut as the young Bonnie Blue Butler, daughter of Rhett and Scarlett, in the classic Gone with the Wind in 1939. She was featured onscreen atop a horse in a scene with Clark Gable. She returned to the screen as an adult, appearing as Yeoman Mears in the 1967 Star Trek episode The Galileo Seven. She also appeared in a small role on the 1969 episode The Way to Eden.
She was born Phyllis Callow in Hollywood on July 24, 1936, the daughter of leading second unit director Ridgeway Callow and Ziegfeld showgirl Margaret Watts.
She was featured in a small role in the 1961 film Atlantis, the Lost Continent, and was Josie Miller in a 1967 episode of Batman with Cesar Romero as the Joker.
Douglas died in Palm Springs, California on May 12, 2010 at age 73.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Actor Steve Drexel appeared in a handful of films in the 1960s and 1970s, starring as David in the 1963 horror film Terrified and as Dr. Oscar Roscoe in the 1966 cult classic Movie Star, American Style or; LSD, I Hate You.
He was born Ernest Joseph Caringi in Mechanicville, New York on December 23, 1931, and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He and his parents owned and operated the Hollywood supper club Panzas Lazy Susan in the 1950s and 1960s. He began appearing in films and television in the late 1950s as Steve Drexel, and was featured in such films as the Lon Chaney bio-pic Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). His other films include The Tarnished Angels (1958), Hot Rod Gang (1958), Swamp Girl (1971), and Superchick (1973). He also appeared on television in episodes of World of Giants, Assignment: Underwater, and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Drexel died of lung and bone cancer in Quartz Hill, Lancaster, California on April 17, 2010 at age 78.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Eddie Barth was a veteran character actor who was a familiar face on television from the early 1960s, guest-starring in episodes of such series as The Twilight Zone, The Invaders, The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Whiz Kids, Mike Hammer, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
Barth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1931. He co-starred as Lt. Al Rossi in the short-lived 1973 television version of Shaft starring Richard Roundtree, and appeared in the recurring role of Myron Fowler, a rival private detective, in the series Simon & Simon from 1981 to 1988. He was also seen in the tele-films The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979) and The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (1984), and the feature films The Amityville Horror (1979) and Killing Obsession (1994).
He was also noted as a voice actor in such films as Rover Dangerfield (1991), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), and Osmosis Jones (2001), and in the animated television series Challenge of the GoBots, James Bond Jr., Biker Mice from Mars, Superman, and Men in Black: The Series.
Barth died of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on May 28, 2010 at age 78.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
William A. Fraker was a leading cinematographer in films from the late 1960s, photographing such films as Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and the 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. He earned six Academy Award nominations during his career for his work on Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), the fantasy classic Heaven Can Wait (1978) starring Warren Beatty, Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), WarGames (1983), and Murphy’s Romance (1985).
Fraker was born in Los Angeles on September 29, 1923 and served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He studied at the USC School of Cinema and worked as a photographer’s assistant. He began working as a camera operator for television in the early 1960s. He served as a cinematographer for the obscure television production The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (a.k.a. The Haunted) (1964) for director Joseph Stefano, and for Leslie Steven’s off-beat, Esperanto-language horror film Incubus (1965) starring William Shatner. He was director of photography for the psychological thriller Games (1967) and the satire The President’s Analyst (1967), starring James Coburn.
Fraker also directed several films, including the western Monte Walsh (1970) with Lee Marvin, the psychological horror film A Reflection of Fear (1973) starring Robert Shaw, and 1981’s The Legend of the Lone Ranger. He also helmed episodes of such television series as J.J. Starbuck, Unsub, and The Flash.
He continued to work primarily as a cinematographer, shooting such films as The Day of the Dolphin (1973), The Killer Inside Me (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Hollywood Knights (1980), SpaceCamp (1986), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).
Fraker died of cancer in a Los Angeles hospital on May 31, 2010 at age 86.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Peter Keefe adapted the Japanese anime series Go Lion and Dierugger for American audiences as the popular syndicated series Voltron in the mid-1980s. He also wrote an episode of the television horror anthology series Tales from the Darkside in 1987, and created the French-U.S. animated co-production Denver, the Last Dinosaur in 1988. He teamed with Brian Lacey to form Zodiac Entertainment in 1989, and created and produced such animated series as Widget, the World Watcher, The Mr. Bogus Show, and Twinkle, the Dream Being. He also produced the 2005 animated holiday special Nine Dog Christmas. He was developing the animated action series Z-Force (Zodiac Force) at the time of his death.
Keefe died of throat cancer in Rochester, New York on May 27, 2010 at age 57.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Dennis Hopper’s long film career began with the 1955 teen angst classic Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, and he helped usher in Hollywood’s New Wave as director and star of the counterculture anthem Easy Rider in 1969. He later became a respected character actor, specializing in such off-beat villains as the drug-addicted, obscenity-spouting Frank Black in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), crazed bomber Howard Payne in the 1994 action-thriller Speed with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and Deacon in Kevin Costner’s soggy post-apocalyptic saga Waterworld (1995).
Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas on May 17, 1936. He moved to San Diego, California with his family in the late 1940s, and began studying at the local Old Globe Theater while attending high school. He soon signed with Warner Brothers and was featured in a small role in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause. He was later featured as Jordan Benedict III, the son of Rock Hudson’s wealthy rancher character, in 1956’s Giant; outlaw Billy Clanton in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); and Napoleon Bonaparte in The Story of Mankind that same year. Hopper also starred as Johnny Drake in Curtis Harrington’s 1961 cult psychological horror film Night Tide.
He appeared frequently on television in the 1950s, with roles in such series as Medic, Conflict, The Twilight Zone, and The Time Tunnel. He co-starred in the 1966 sci-fi/horror film Queen of Blood (1966), and was featured in Roger Corman’s cult drug classic The Trip with Peter Fonda in 1967. He also appeared in Hang ‘Em High (1968) with Clint Eastwood, and True Grit (1969) with John Wayne, before helming Easy Rider in 1969. He shared an Academy Award nomination for co-writing the screenplay. His next project was 1971’s The Last Movie, a hallucinogenic epic shot with a band of hippies in Peru about the making of a film. It was panned by critics and proved a box-office flop. Hopper’s own increasing drug use made it difficult for him to find work in Hollywood.
He returned to prominence as a manic photojournalist in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War magnum opus Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando. He went on to appear in such films as the fantasy thriller Reborn (1981), Neil Young’s Human Highway (1982), Sam Peckinpah’s The Osterman Weekend (1983), Jungle Warriors (1984), My Science Project (1985), and Riders of the Storm (1986). He starred as Lt. Lefty Enright in 1986’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. He earned acclaim for his performance as a drug dealer in the 1986 slacker crime drama River’s Edge, and as a violent criminal in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as alcoholic, small-town, former basketball star Wilbur ‘Shooter’ Flatch in 1986’s Hoosiers. Hopper continued to appear in on screen in character roles in such films as Straight to Hell (1987), Black Widow (1987), Blood Red (1989), Eye of the Storm (1991), and the 1993 screen adaptation of the video game Super Mario Bros. as the villainous King Koopa. He shared a memorable scene opposite Christopher Walken in the crime drama True Romance in 1993, and starred as John Canyon in Stuart Gordon’s Space Truckers (1996). His other films include The Blackout (1997), The Prophet’s Game (1999), The Spreading Ground (2000), Michael Angel (2000), Ticker (2001), Unspeakable (2002), The Night We Called It a Day (2003) as Frank Sinatra, The Keeper (2004), Hoboken Hollow (2005), George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead (2005) as Kaufman, The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005), House of 9 (2005), Memory (2006), An American Carol (2008), and Hell Ride (2008).
Hopper was also featured on television in such tele-films and mini-series as Wild Times (1980) as Doc Holliday, Stark (1985) and the sequel Stark: Mirror Image (1986) as Lt. Ron Bliss, Paris Trout (1991) earning an Emmy Award nomination for his performance in the title role, the crime drama Nails (1992) as Harry ‘Nails’ Niles, the supernatural thriller Witch Hunt (1994) as private detective H. Phillip Lovecraft, Samson and Delilah (1996) as General Tariq, the mythological adventure Jason and the Argonauts (2000) as Pelias, and Firestarter 2: Rekindled (2002). He starred as the evil Mr. Smith in the short-lived sci-fi television series Flatland in 2002, and was Victor Drazen, a former Balkan warlord whose machinations were the catalyst behind the action in the first season of 24 in 2002. He also starred as Col. Eli McNulty in the military action drama E-Ring from 2005 to 2006, and was Ben Cendars in the Starz drama series Crash from 2008 to 2009.
Hopper had been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in the fall of 2009. He made his last public appearance when he attended the addition of his star to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March of 2010.
Hopper died of complications from prostate cancer at his home in Venice, California on May 29, 2010 at age 74.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Pat Stevens was a leading voice actress who was best known for her role as Velma in Scooby-Doo cartoons from 1974 to 1979.
Stevens was born in Linden, New Jersey on September 16, 1945. She aspired to a career in show business from an early age, and performed as an actress and dancer on the New York stage. Stevens also appeared on television in episodes of such series as The Girl with Something Extra, M*A*S*H, and Police Woman.
In 1975, Stevens replaced Nicole Jaffe as the voice of the Velma Dinkley, the brilliant researcher of the Scooby gang, in Scooby-Doo cartoons. She voiced the roles in segments of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, Scooby’s All-Stars, and early episodes of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo before leaving the series in 1979.
Stevens died in Rutland, Massachusetts on May 26, 2010 at age 64.
Posted by Harris Lentz in OBITS by Harris Lentz, III on June 21st, 2010
Himan Brown worked the radio industry from the late 1920s, and went on to produce such radio and television series as Inner Sanctum, Lights Out, and CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
Brown was born on July 21, 1910, the son of Russian immigrants from the Ukraine. He began working in radio in the late 1920s, reading newspapers for a New York station. He continued to work as a radio actor while beginning to produce programs. Brown oversaw over 30,000 radio programs during his eight-decade career, including The Adventures of the Thin Man, Inner Sanctum, The Affairs of Peter Salem, Bulldog Drummond, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, The Private Files of Rex Saunders, Terry and the Pirates, and Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. He also directed episodes of many of the shows he produced. He moved into television in the late 1940s, producing the syndicated series Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, and The Chevy Mystery Show.
Brown died in New York on June 4, 2010 at age 99.
Helene Zollo Lentz, accordionist, toe dancer, businesswoman, film fan, and my mother, died of pneumonia and complications from surgery at a Memphis, Tennessee hospital on June 7, 2010 at age 86.
