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Showing results for tags 'Actor'.
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Here's to Carl Reiner, one of three comedians who seemed to have an infinite lifespan (along with Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke). --- "The Dick van Dyke Show" (DonRocks) -
My wife has been a fan of Glen Hansard for maybe the last half dozen years or so. My first impressions were that he was overwrought. A little too moody for me. Not inventive. Songs sounded too similar. Meh. But....I love my wife. And she's indulged me in my fascination with metal. And besides, I generally love Scottish and Irish music. I'm a huge Silly Wizard fan, for example. So when she suggested we see Glen Hansard at The Anthem, while I initially was not wild about it, I remembered these things and remembered that she's also turned me on to many bands and other performers that I loe dearly so, of course, we set the plans in motion. This concert was a week or two ago. It was GREAT. Tremendous performer and band. A storyteller. Inclusive. Infectious. And clearly I had been doing things wrong. Many songs, while unfamiliar to me absolutely were great. I need to listen to his stuff MORE LOUDLY. And some blew me away. Like this absolute gem. I think they stretched this to about 9 minutes. To say I was elated to see this performed by folks at the top of their game is an understatement. -
All generations have their own little embarrassments (goodness knows, mine had "Saturday Night Fever" et al), but can someone please explain to me, other than that this man was obviously extremely handsome, what in the *hell* this is all about? I had heard of this song before, but had never seen the entire thing performed; unfortunately, now that I've watched it, I can't unwatch it. Just as hunky Edd Byrnes was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger, the beautiful Connie Stevens, was born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingoglia. Both singers-actors are alive and well.
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This is the earliest thing I've seen by George Carlin (as much as I like him, this isn't his best work):
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Jeff Corey (1914-2002) is another fine character actor who merits his own thread (if I see about five different performances, I'm going to give any of these talented actors and actresses their own thread - they deserve it). For those of you who've heard the term, but have never really heard it defined, a "character actor" is someone whose face you've seen a million times, but can't come up with the person's name - there are a lot more of them, both in Hollywood and on television, than you think, and Jeff Corey was certainly one of them. This is but a small portion of what he has done - just what *I've* personally seen in the past couple of years, which should tell you he's done a *lot* more than this. Actively involved in television in the 1960s (Corey was blacklisted from Hollywood for refusing to name names before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s), he played a major role as Byron Lomax in the somewhat Orwellian, 1963 episode of "The Outer Limits," - "O.B.I.T": It's fitting that Corey played in Hollywood during the seminal year of 1967, as Mr. Hickock (Dick Hickock's father), in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood": In 1969, Corey played High Advisor Plasus in an episode of "Star Trek" clearly influenced by Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" - "The Cloud Minders": Back in Hollywood, he plays a vital role in the 1969 film, "True Grit," as Tom Chaney, committing the murder near the very beginning which is the raison d'être of the entire film: From that same, fertile year for Corey, 1969, he played Sheriff Bledsoe in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid": The following year, 1970, he would play a well-received role as the logical Dr. Miles Talmadge on "Night Gallery's" "The Dead Man":
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A 26-year-old Lee Majors, in a 1965 "Alfred Hitchcock Hour" episode. His voice got appreciably deeper in the 1970s - it's strange hearing him talk at this age.
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Great actor, passed yesterday. Albert Finney-IMDB -
George Kennedy is probably best-known for "Airport," but his finest performance might have been in "Cool Hand Luke," in which he was Paul Newman's superior-turned-fanboy. Here's Bob Hope introducing Patty Duke, who presented the 1968 Academy Award for "Best Supporting Actor."
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I just saw "Cool Hand Luke" for the second time - it is a fantastic film, difficult to watch due to its cruelty. Rod Steiger won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1968 - Sidney Poitier deserved it more within the same film ("In the Heat of the Night"), and Newman deserved it more still for "Cool Hand Luke." Newman's 1987 Best Actor Award for "The Color of Money" was a make-up call for past transgressions, plain and simple - that movie was pedestrian, and handing Newman the Oscar was something akin to a "Lifetime Achievement Award."
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Live long and prosper Mr Spock... -
Similar to how I was inspired by John McGiver, I was watching an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (S03 E34 - "The Crocodile Case") which featured Denholm Elliott in a rather fiendish role, and realized that, like McGiver, Elliott is often considered a "character actor" whose face you recognize like an old friend, but whose name you just don't know. Although most of us will recognize Elliott as Dr. Marcus Brody in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," his career is long and storied, having become interested in drama in the thick of World War II. His film career began in the late 1940's, and he received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the 1985 Merchant and Ivory period film, "A Room With A View." I hope people will feel free to post their memories of Elliott here, preferably with a picture of him in the role. Here's one of him with Harrison Ford, in the role of Dr. Camby in "Raiders":
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I was just watching the opening credits of "Murder on a Honeymoon," and noticed that in the long list of secondary names, there was an actor simply named "Sleep 'n' Eat." "What the heck is 'Sleep 'n' Eat?'" I said. So I looked it up, and of course, it was a black actor. Named Willie Best, and active from 1930-1955, he was a comedian who also had the derogatory name, "Sleep 'n' Eat," and I mean that's how he's billed in this movie! That isn't right, so I decided to give Mr. Best his own thread here, with no mention of this terrible nickname in the title. I only make such a big deal out of it here because that's the only way I know who he is. Hopefully, someone will eventually chime in with some mention of his work. Mr. William "Willie" Best (1916-1962):
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Well, why not. Guess who is the very first person shown in the television series, "The Time Tunnel?" And I'm talking about the first 5 seconds of SE1 EP1?
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Glenn Corbett was "the guy who replaced George Maharis on Route 66." While watching "Same Picture, Different Frame," I wondered to myself how this impossibly handsome man could be relatively unknown in today's mind, so I did a little research, and found that Corbett played Zefram Cochrane (inventor of the warp drive!) in the "Star Trek" episode, "Metamorphosis." (Yes, that's Betty from "Father Knows Best.")
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I'm certain that I saw Topol in a version of "Fiddler on the Roof," and I think it was on Broadway, but it might have been at National Theater in Washington, DC. Does anyone remember when, and where, Chaim Topol reprised his beloved role as Tevye here in the United States? He was old - in his 70s, perhaps - but not so old that he didn't retain his signature charisma. It's bothering me that I can't find when or where he reprised the role.
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Last night, I watched "In Cold Blood" (1967), the magnificent, black-and-white, artsy, non-fiction masterpiece for the second time, and was positively riveted by the performance of Robert Blake, just as I was before - maybe even more so: Blake was nearly perfect in this role. But this is a two-man film, and the "other" co-star, Scott Wilson, was just as effective in his own swaggering, Elvis-like, cold-blooded role as sociopath Dick Hickock, and I began to wonder what, exactly, happened to this fine actor. Where has he been for the past fifty years? So I looked him up, and I can honestly say that, in thirty-five years of being an amateur film scholar, and certainly in the past several years of being a very serious amateur film scholar, I have never experienced such a jaw-dropping moment in my life. Well, there was one other time that came close - when I found out that Merle in "The Walking Dead" was Henry in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer." Seriously, I about peed my pants when I found that one out, and that's what inspired me to re-watch "Henry" after not having seen it since it was released in 1986. When I did re-watch it, I could see that, yes, Michael Rooker was both Henry and Merle, even though it took me a couple of days to recover from that shock. But never, *ever* have I been so shocked as when I discovered that Scott Wilson, the man who portrayed Dick Hickock in "In Cold Blood," pictured here with co-star Robert Blake: was the very same person who played, well, see for yourself ... but be forewarned: If you've seen "In Cold Blood" before, and if you're a fan of "The Walking Dead," prepare to have a heart attack.
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If you want to pay a brief tribute to Burt Reynolds, watch "The Bard," (<--- Hulu link here) where he forever-angered Marlon Brando. (Really, how many people know that Reynolds got decked by William Shakespeare?) I watched "Deliverance" last night for about the fifth time, and loved it just as much as ever.
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Most people of a certain age know that George Reeves played "Superman" in the original television series. Many people know that he died of suicide, by a suspicious gunshot. But who knew that he spoke the very first lines in "Gone with the Wind?!"
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When I was a young adult, Pee-Wee Herman was everywhere - nearly as ubiquitous as Barney.This, until it all came crashing down one evening in a movie theater, where Rubens was arrested for lewd behavior, indecent exposure, etc. Yes, he was gay. Which is is precisely why I believe a Presidential pardon is a legitimate option (albeit not anytime soon) - times have changed, and while, on the surface, getting caught yanking it in a movie theater may seem like an "oops," back then it was a career-ending transgression. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I pretty much give carte blanche on the "transgressions" of gay people, pre-acceptance: bathhouses, casual sex, The Follies, glory holes - hey, these people have sex drives like the rest of us, and even though, in reality, some of this behavior was extraordinarily risky (cf: "Dallas Buyers Club") it is *all* understandable, completely forgivable, and quite honestly, had I known the shame and humiliation gay and lesbian people were going through - all because they were *perfectly normal* and needed sex, as surely as someone needs a glass of water - I would have given them the keys to my house, gone out to dinner, and said, "Here, have fun - back in a couple of hours." Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm certainly open-minded to reading other opinions (no matter what your opinions, your viewpoints and perspectives will absolutely be tolerated here, as long as they don't involve politics, religion, or mean comments about other people. I realize the "Presidential pardon" comment is political, so you should feel free to ignore that, and simply discuss the issue in general - or anything else you wish to discuss about Reubens.) I do know that there were some issues down the road, regarding underage pornography, and sure, the line must be drawn somewhere - but I don't know any specifics regarding Mr. Reubens' situation; only about the career-ending incident in the movie theater, which I believe to be the height of intolerance and cruelty.
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There is the artist, and then there is the man. The Little Tramp and the Refugees Who Loved, Then Loathed Him, by Dove Barbanel, December 29, 2017, on nytimes.com. -
I grew up watching "The Dick van Dyke Show," and am watching an episode right now - at age 92, the great, comedic genius Dick van Dyke is going strong, and is a childhood favorite of mine. He is *so* talented, and so likable - I'm currently watching "The Great Petrie Fortune" - about an inherited desk with a mysterious song behind the inheritance, foretelling a treasure within. Dick van Dyke is awesome - the thing I've seen him in most recently is "Divorce American Style." I was thinking that was the great George Carlin's debut; I was wrong - his debut was "With Six You Get Eggroll." I so wish you all would get into these TV and Film Forums - they'll be here forever, and could be *so* interesting with enough discussion; with me just blathering by myself, they aren't so compelling. Just remember: This is an Evergreen Website, and nothing you write here will ever go to waste. When you post here, you're writing a love-letter to your grandchildren.
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Nov 30, 2014 - "In Conversation: Chris Rock" by Frank Rich on vulture.com This is a good interview. One thing that was incredibly poignant to me was Chris Rock's description of black people needing teeth pulled in Andrews, SC.
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Some people might recognize Thomas Gomez, né Sabino Tomas Gomez, because he has one of "those" unforgettable faces - never on display more prominently than in the "Twilight Zone" episode, "Escape Clause," in which he played The Devil himself, complete with a Sebastian Cabot-like chortle (recall Cabot's role as "Pip" in "A Nice Place To Visit"). However, Gomez was primarily in films, after getting his start in theater. Although it's bittersweet that Gomez is perhaps most notable for being the first-ever Hispanic-American actor ever to be nominated for an Academy Award (for Best Supporting Actor in the 1947 film, "Ride the Pink Horse"), his talents should carry the day in the long run. In "Escape Clause," he's just about perfect in his role, and I'd love to learn more about him by watching his films - which extend over a period of decades.
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If you enjoy a Louis CK-style of standup, you might enjoy Rory Scovel, who has recently come out with a Netflix special called "Rory Scovel Tries Stand-Up for the First Time." If you aren't familiar with Scovel (I doubt this is his first-ever stand-up, despite the name), he's a solid, somewhat unorthodox, talent whom I would put in the second tier behind the best-of-the-best. This is not to say that he isn't funny - there were moments in this routine that were laugh-out-loud funny - merely that this probably won't be "The Best" stand-up special you've ever seen. Still, I found it well-worth watching. He is absolutely influenced by Louis CK, but his humor, while extremely crude, doesn't quite hit the border of "inappropriate" (CK's bit about pedophilia shocked even me). Still, Scovel isn't afraid to make jokes using topics such as genocide, anal sex, etc. - he isn't crude for crude's sake, but he is often crude, so if that offends you, be forewarned. I enjoyed this special, and can recommend it to others - not as anything ground-breaking, but as good, solid, stand-up comedy.
