In Memory of James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

Fellow bloggers and Star Wars fans, I have unfortunate news that will devastate you. The legendary actor James Earl Jones, the man behind the iconic voice of Darth Vader, has died. He was 93. His commanding presence has captivated audiences on stage and screen for seven decades. The actor's distinctive, powerful, booming voice left a lasting impression and breathed life into his notable roles, such as Vader in the "Star Wars" movie franchise and Mufasa in "The Lion King". I admired him so much that I often imitated his characters and remembered his lines as I thought about becoming a voice actor. For me, it was sad to lose him.

Jones was born on 17th January 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi and raised by his mother and grandparents. He had a severe stutter as a child, and he said he spent most of his childhood unable to speak because of it. It was not until his teen years that Jones gained his famous voice with the help of a high school teacher after overcoming his stammer. It was at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1955 after two years in the army, that Jones discovered his love for acting. In 1957, he made his Broadway debut before becoming a Shakespearean actor.

His first screen role was as Slim Pickens' young, trim flight crewman in Stanley Kubrick's black comedy "Dr. Strangelove". In 1968, he played boxing champion Jack Johnson in a stage performance of "The Great White Hope", which won him a Tony Award. Two years later, he would reprise the role in the screen adaptation, which later earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, in which he became the second black actor following Sidney Poitier to be honoured. He also starred in the 1974 romantic comedy-drama "Claudine". However, his career changed forever when he gained international fame as the ominous voice of Darth Vader in "Star Wars". Initially, Jones wasn't the first choice to voice the intimidating Sith Lord, as George Lucas thought of Orson Welles, whom he realised was too recognisable and distracting for the character, as he needed someone with the right sinister voice. This role secured him a position in pop culture and allowed his voice to become one of the most iconic in the world. He continued voicing the character in subsequent Star Wars movies and the animated TV series "Star Wars Rebels".

Bodybuilder Dave Prowse, who portrayed the physical form of Darth Vader and donned the costume, claims he didn't know James Earl Jones dubbed over his voice. However, Jones did not want to receive credit until the third instalment. Jones also appeared in notable films like "Conan the Barbarian" (with Arnold Schwarzenegger), "Matewan", "Coming to America" (with Eddie Murphy), "Field of Dreams" (with Kevin Costner) and "The Sandlot", and has a recurring role as Admiral Greer in "The Hunt for Red October", "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". In 1994, Jones lent his voice as Mufasa in Disney's animated mega-hit "The Lion King". He would reprise the role 25 years later in the live-action remake, the only actor from the original voice cast to do so.

Jones was also known in television as the older Alex Hailey in the miniseries "Roots: The Next Generation" and won one of his two Emmys for the leading role in the US drama "Gabriel's Fire". He was also one of the earliest guest stars of "Sesame Street" and lent his voice occasionally in a few episodes of "The Simpsons". Jones even lent his comedic chops in a guest role as himself in the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory". His voice also became a trademark of the Cable News Network when he recorded the promo "This is CNN" for the network.

In 2011, he received an Honorary Oscar. His last live-action movie was "Coming 2 America", in which Jones reprised his role as King Jaffe Joffe. By 2022, Jones stepped down as Darth Vader and cut a deal with Lucasfilm that allowed the studio to replicate his voice for the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" miniseries for Disney+. All subsequent roles of Darth Vader will use the Respeecher in this fashion.

Jones, wherever you are, you gave us a memorable voice, and we'll miss you for that. May the force be with you.

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In Memory of Bob Newhart (1929-2024)

Bob Newhart (1929-2024)

On 18th July 2024, legendary comedian and actor Bob Newhart has passed away. He was 94 years old. His publicist confirmed through a statement in a news article that Bob died following a battle with a series of short illnesses. He's most famous for shows like "Newhart" and "The Bob Newhart Show", but over the past 50 years, he's appeared in countless projects.

Originally an accountant who took up comedy, Newhart became famous in the 1960s for his dry observational humour and quirky delivery. In 1961, he won two Grammys for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for his breakout album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart", recorded over several days in Houston before Newhart had any stand-up experience. He quickly moved on to television, becoming a household name with his own NBC variety series, "The Bob Newhart Show", in 1961, and went on to star in his sitcom, also called "The Bob Newhart Show", on CBS from 1972 to 1978. The actor had another popular sitcom, "Newhart", which lasted from 1982 to 1990.

Newhart has appeared in several movies, including "Catch-22", "In And Out", "Legally Blonde 2", "Elf" (in which he played Will Ferrell's diminutive adoptive father) and "Horrible Bosses". Throughout his career, he received a total of nine Emmy nominations. But it wasn't until 2013 that he won a single acting Emmy, in the Outstanding Guest Actor category, for his portrayal of Professor Proton in "The Big Bang Theory". Newhart didn't retire and continued to appear on TV in recent years in "Big Bang" and "Young Sheldon", as well as "Hot in Cleveland" and "The Librarians".

In addition to appearing in films and shows since the '60s, Newhart lends his voice in animated projects, most notably as the voice of Bernard in Disney's "The Rescuers" and its sequel "The Rescuers Down Under", and even a guest spot in an episode of "The Simpsons".

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In Memory of Shelley Duvall (1949-2024)

Shelley Davis (1949-2024)

Shelley Davis, the actress most famous for her role with Jack Nicholson in "The Shining", is dead. She was 75 years old.

Duvall attended junior college in her hometown of Houston before being discovered by some of director Robert Altman's crew at a party she was hosting. They brought her to Altman, who chose her to play teen temptress and Astrodome tour guide Suzanne Davis in 1970's "Brewster McCloud". Over the years, the childlike actress has worked with Altman, portraying characters in films like a mail-order bride in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", a woman who has a fling with Keith Carradine's Mississippi bandit in "Thieves Likes Us", the hot-pants-loving L.A. groupie in "Nashville", Mrs. Francis Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, in "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson", and "3 Women". In 1980, Duvall portrayed the iconic comic strip character Olive Oyl, the strong-willed damsel in distress, in Altman's live-action adaptation of "Popeye" opposite Robin Williams. That same year, she co-starred with Jack Nicholson as Wendy Torrance, the tormented wife and mother in Stanley Kubrick's famous movie adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining". During the making of the film, Kubrick, a well-known perfectionist, was known for being difficult on the actress, with one harrowing scene reportedly shot in 127 takes.

She also appeared in "Annie Hall", "Time Bandits" and "Roxanne". In the 1990s, her acting roles dwindled, with Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady" picking up the slack, and she fell from the public eye in 2002. While on a hiatus from acting, Duvall appeared in an interview on Dr Phil McGraw's talk show in 2016, where she disclosed that she struggled with mental illness. In 2022, after two decades away from acting, she returned to star in the horror film "The Forest Hills", which turned out to be her last.

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In Memory of Donald Sutherland (1935-2024)

Donald Sutherland (1935-2024)

The veteran film and television actor Donald Sutherland, whose career spanned half a decade, from "M*A*S*H" to "The Hunger Games", has died. He was 88 years old. His son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, confirmed his death on Thursday.

Born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, on 17th July 1935, Sutherland first worked as a disc jockey at his radio station at age 14. Originally an engineering student at the University of Toronto, Sutherland moved to England, where he started acting in school plays. He graduated in 1956 and studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Sutherland began appearing in West End plays. He then took minor roles in British film and television. Sutherland moved to Los Angeles and continued to drift until a series of war movies changed his trajectory. His first film in America was "The Dirty Dozen", where he played a psychopathic officer impersonator Vernon Pinkley.

In 1970, both "Kelly's Heroes" and "M*A*S*H" came out, the latter being a huge hit and spawned a successful TV series as Sutherland thrust into the spotlight. Sutherland's A-list status peaked in the 1970s as he starred in films by the best directors of the decade - though they didn't always do their best work with him. One of his best performances was that of a detective in Alan Pakula's "Klute". It was then during the shooting of "Klute" that he met his co-star, actress Jane Fonda, with whom he had a relationship that lasted for three years. His next big film was Nicolas Roeg's psychological thriller "Don't Look Now", followed by the international spy comedy "S*P*Y*S" in 1974 and "Day of the Locust" in 1975. As his acting career took off, Sutherland acted in another big-budget war movie, "The Eagle Has Landed" with Michael Caine and Robert Duvall in 1976, and subsequently had a small part in John Landis' 1977 farce "The Kentucky Fried Movie", written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, who later became directors of "Airplane!"

In 1978, Sutherland starred in three diverse movies, such as"The Great Train Robbery", a heist comedy with Sean Connery and Lesley-Anne Down, the horror-thriller remake "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum and the much-loved early-'60s fraternity comedy "National Lampoon's Animal House", also directed by Landis. In the latter, he had a supporting but crucial part as a stoned professor of English literature. Following his star turn in the 1980 comedy "Nothing Personal" with Suzanne Somers from "Three's Company", Sutherland's next film was to be one of his greatest. In "Ordinary People", a generational drama, which marks actor Robert Redford in his directorial debut that won four Oscars, including Best Picture, he played Calvin Jarrett, a man grieving for one son and coping with another's suicide attempt.

Throughout the 1980s, Sutherland continued to act in films. In 1991, he had a pivotal role in Ron Howard's firefighter drama "Backdraft", where he played an imprisoned pyromaniac who aids investigators by saying that the arsonist they are hunting must also be a firefighter. In the 1990s, Sutherland acted in such movies as "JFK", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Six Degrees of Separation". In 1995, he received an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing Russian Colonel Mikhail Fetisov in HBO's serial-killer thriller telemovie "Citizen X", co-starring Stephen Rea and Max von Sydow. In the same year, he had a supporting role in Wolfgang Peterson's virus outbreak film "Outbreak" with Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman.

He also scored an Emmy nomination for his lead role in Lifetime's 2006 miniseries "Human Trafficking", in which he co-starred with Mira Sorvino and Robert Carlyle. Sutherland kept appearing in films such as "A Time to Kill", "Shadow Conspiracy", "Fallen", "Instinct", "The Italian Job (2003)", "Cold Mountain", "Fierce People", "Pride and Prejudice (2005)" and "Horrible Bosses". However, his next role would be his best-known. In 2012, Sutherland took on the role of President Coriolanus Snow, the fascist dictator of Panem in "The Hunger Games", which he then reprised in the sequels "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay Parts 1" and "2" as the main antagonist. The films based on the YA novels by Suzanne Collins were international hits. They broke box office records and catapulted its lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence, to stardom. For the rest of his life, Sutherland continued to appear in films, such as "Ad Astra" and "Moonfall", while also making several appearances on the small screen.

Sutherland was married three times and had five children. Three of them, including Kiefer, would follow in their father's footsteps as actors. Though he was never nominated for an Oscar, however, in 2017, he received an Honorary Award.

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In Memory of Morgan Spurlock (1970-2024)

Morgan Spurlock (1970-2024)

Morgan Spurlock, the man behind the fast food documentary "Super Size Me", has died after a private battle with cancer. He was 53. Spurlock's career as a director has been varied and erratic. His documentary changed people's minds about fast food and how it affects them. It also prompted many fast food outlets to improve their healthier options.

A native of Parkesburg, West Virginia, the future filmmaker grew up in Beckley, where he attended Woodrow Wilson High School. He completed his studies at New York University in 1993.

In his first movie, "Super Size Me", Spurlock examines obesity and unhealthy food choices in America by experimenting on himself and chronicling the effects of an all-fast food diet. He ate only McDonald's for a month with dozens of Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets and drank gallons of cola. This unhealthy diet gained him 25 pounds of weight, and he claims that it had damaged his liver. McDonald's described Spurlock's eating habits as "unrealistic", but after the controversy surrounding the film, they scrapped their supersized portions. However, the film earned the Best Documentary Feature Oscar nomination and the first Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.

His success with "Super Size Me" encouraged Spurlock to do several documentaries. Such films include "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?", "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold", a One Direction concert feature and "Super Size Me 2".

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In Memory of Richard M. Sherman (1928-2024)

 

Richard M. Sherman (1928-2024)

Richard M. Sherman, half of the famous Oscar-winning songwriting duo the Sherman Brothers and co-writer of such iconic Disney songs like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" for "Mary Poppins" and the title theme from It's a Small World, has passed away at the age of 95.

Born in New York City on 12th June 1928, Richard and his brother would go on to follow in the footsteps of their Tin Pan Alley songwriter father, Al Sherman. After years of moving around the country, the Sherman family settled in Beverly Hills in 1937. Richard was a student at Beverly Hills High School before his studies in music at Bard College. He joined the United States Army, and from 1953 to 1955, he conducted the Army Band and Glee Club. Their success with early tunes like "Gold Can Buy You Anything But Love" and "Tall Paul" caught the eye of Walt Disney. Walt would recruit the Sherman Brothers as staff songwriters for his studio, and their first assignment was to write a song for the TV movie "The Horsemasters". Shortly after, they would collaborate on such movies as "The Absent-Minded Professor", "The Parent Trap", "Summer Magic", "The Sword in the Stone", "Mary Poppins", "That Darn Cat!", "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree", "The Jungle Book", "The Happiest Millionaire", "The Aristocats" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". For some 27 films and 24 television productions, they would eventually write more than 200 songs.

The Sherman Brothers wrote some of the most recognisable and popular songs of all time for the Disney theme park rides, including "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room", and "It's a Small World". They also wrote songs for EPCOT and Tokyo Disneyland. In addition to Disney, the Sherman Brothers worked on other movies, including "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Snoopy Come Home", "Charlotte's Web", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "Huckleberry Finn" and "The Skipper and the Rose".

In 1990, both Richard and his brother were named Disney legends. They were honoured with induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Medal of the Arts in 2008. When Robert died in 2012, Richard continued to work. He penned new lyrics for the 2016 live-action remake of "The Jungle Book", wrote three new songs for "Christopher Robin", and composed a new song for the animated short film "Mushka" by Disney legend Andreas Deja in 2023.

In 2023, Richard returned to Walt Disney's office to record a new version of "Feed the Birds" from "Mary Poppins" for "Once Upon a Studio", the short film celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. Richard and Robert often played the same song for Walt on Friday afternoons.

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In Memory of Dabney Coleman (1932-2024)

Dabney Coleman (1932-2024)

Dabney Coleman, who had a reputation for playing dishonest characters with no redeeming qualities in films like "9 to 5" and "Tootsie", has died. He was 92 years old.

He was born on 3rd January 1932 in Austin, Texas, USA. After attending the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Texas School of Law, Coleman served in the military and then embarked on a career in the entertainment industry. In 1961, Dabney landed his first acting gig in an episode of "Naked City", according to IMDb. He went on to appear in such series as "Ben Casey", "Dr. Kildare", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "The Outer Limits", "Hazel", "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Fugitive", before recurring as Leon Bessemer, Mario Thomas' neighbour and obstetrician in the first season (1966-1967) of "That Girl". Dabney took the lead role in Norman Lear's soap opera "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" as Merle Jeeter. He continued that role after the programme was re-titled "Forever Fernwood".

In 1980, Coleman achieved his breakthrough role as a rapacious manager who seeks sexual favours from secretaries, with Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin helping to pay the price in the workplace comedy "9 to 5". The following year, Coleman would reunite with Jane Fonda in one of his rare sympathetic roles as her dentist boyfriend in the drama "On Golden Pond". In 1982, he reverted to his boorish performances as a chauvinistic TV director in "Tootsie". Dabney also played a tough computer programmer in "WarGames" and a lisping pornographer in "Dragnet". His other films include "The Trouble with Girls", "Downhill Racer", "The Towering Inferno", "North Dallas Forty", "How to Beat the High Co$t of Living", "Melvin & Howard", "Modern Problems", "Young Doctors in Love", "Cloak & Dagger", "The Muppets Take Manhattan", "Short Time", "Meet the Applegates", "The Beverly Hillbillies", "Amos & Andrew", "You've Got Mail", "Inspector Gadget", "Stuart Little", etc.

On TV, he had a memorable turn as an insensitive talk show host on NBC's "Buffalo Bill", which only ran for 26 episodes in 1983 and 1984. Still, it attracted a devoted following over the years for Coleman's gruff portrayal. However, Coleman gave a somewhat more sanitised and humane performance in "The Slap Maxwell Story", which aired on ABC from 1987 to 1988, while retaining his sharp wit as a fedora-wearing sports journalist. Coleman also provided the voice of Principal Prickley in the Disney animated series "Recess". He even appeared in the HBO drama "Boardwalk Empire" as a former Atlantic City power broker with a liking for young girls.

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