Celebrity Deaths

[Sardondi]

...Steve Railsback as Manson.

There's a guy who always gave me the willies. His Manson was chilling. The Stunt Man too. And then he did Ed Gein. What is it with this guy? When he does crazy, it's like he's not acting. I really think he got pigeonholed early in his career, and he's never really been anything but a B-lister although he had the talent to be a top drawer actor.

[Eddie Coyle]

There's a guy who always gave me the willies. His Manson was chilling. The Stunt Man too. And then he did Ed Gein. What is it with this guy? When he does crazy, it's like he's not acting. I really think he got pigeonholed early in his career, and he's never really been anything but a B-lister although he had the talent to be a top drawer actor.

He did a movie in '72, "The Visitors" with an young unknown James Woods, and it had to be an asset in getting the Helter Skelter gig. He has that "look", which indeed does present a feeling that there isn't a lot of acting going on there.

         Andrew Robinson as Scorpio in Dirty Harry got that pigeonholing as well. *And he was a better Liberace(twice) than Michael Douglas.

[onan]

There's a guy who always gave me the willies. His Manson was chilling. The Stunt Man too. And then he did Ed Gein. What is it with this guy? When he does crazy, it's like he's not acting. I really think he got pigeonholed early in his career, and he's never really been anything but a B-lister although he had the talent to be a top drawer actor.

Steve Railsback and Jeffery Combs could produce barrels of creepy.

[ItsOver]

   
      .....Brian Dennehy as John Wayne Gacy.....

Oh, yeah.  He did "creepy clown" well.

[Eddie Coyle]

Oh, yeah.  He did "creepy clown" well.

The only physical inaccuracy was the 6'3" Dennehy playing the 5'9" Gacy, but that's a minor cavil. Dennehy's size made him even creepier/scarier.

[ItsOver]

      The only physical inaccuracy was the 6'3" Dennehy playing the 5'9" Gacy, but that's a minor cavil. Dennehy's size made him even creepier/scarier.

Oh...yeah...

[HorrorRetro]

         Andrew Robinson as Scorpio in Dirty Harry got that pigeonholing as well. *And he was a better Liberace(twice) than Michael Douglas.

Absolutely.  Robinson really had the creepy crazy vibe down pat.

[Eddie Coyle]

Absolutely.  Robinson really had the creepy crazy vibe down pat.

"Oh look, Scorpio is playing a cop...Scorpio is playing a shrink". The guy was a constant presence on TV from 70's through 90's, playing a myriad of roles, but ultimately he's Scorpio to me. It's probably a drag to be typecast, but it's better than being forgotten.

[Sardondi]

"Oh look, Scorpio is playing a cop...Scorpio is playing a shrink". The guy was a constant presence on TV from 70's through 90's, playing a myriad of roles, but ultimately he's Scorpio to me. It's probably a drag to be typecast, but it's better than being forgotten.

Absolutely.  Robinson really had the creepy crazy vibe down pat.

...Andrew Robinson as Scorpio in Dirty Harry got that pigeonholing as well. *And he was a better Liberace(twice) than Michael Douglas.

I hope he got plenty of money for his Dirty Harry gig, because he pretty much paid for it with his entire career. I know I always had that involuntary stomach-tightening thing every time I saw him.

[RealCool Daddio]

Matheson also wrote Bid Time Return (better know by it's motion-picture name, Somewhere in Time) -- a bit of an Art Bell influence, eh?  Yes, he was one of the modern sci-fi behemoths.  I know this is almost blasphemous to some, but I think his writing was superior to Asimov's (who wrote over 400 books in a 50 year span -- that's 8 per year, not the sort of writing that is great for things like descriptive detail and character development).  Matheson created convincing, engaging characters.  He could write effective female characters as well, something that does evade a lot of male sci-fi fantasy writers I've noticed.

Somewhere in Time is Art's favorite movie.  He did a show or two about it, and even went to the hotel where it was filmed on Mackinac Island for a vacation.

[Eddie Coyle]

           JJ Cale dead at 74.

[West of the Rockies]

Ah, yes, Dr. Hook.  Great music....

[Sardondi]

JJ Cale dead at 74.

Any guy whose two biggest songs are a worshipful adoration of the coca bush and about getting wasted in the wee hours, and lives to 74, must have been pretty tough and resilient. Or maybe he was the quiet guy in the corner making notes.

Ah, yes, Dr. Hook.  Great music....

Was there a connection?

[Eddie Coyle]

Any guy whose two biggest songs are a worshipful adoration of the coca bush and about getting wasted in the wee hours, and lives to 74, must have been pretty tough and resilient. Or maybe he was the quiet guy in the corner making notes.

By the looks of him, I'd go with the former. His 74 equates to 117.42 for most of us. Another (relatively) famous song of his was "Bringing It Back", concerning some vice activities along our southern border. Talk about being "influential", Clapton was basically a Cale imitator after he ditched Delaney and Bonnie.

         

[PB the Deplorable]

           JJ Cale dead at 74.

I'm glad some of the old timers are still touring, or returned to do a tour or two and I've had a chance to see them. 

[Eddie Coyle]

I'm glad some of the old timers are still touring, or returned to do a tour or two and I've had a chance to see them.

Dave Mason and Johnny Winter doing separate shows in my neck of the woods next week and I get that "whoa, could be the last time to see them vibe" when I read about the passing of someone like Cale.

[SR-71]

Oh...yeah...

I hate clowns more then I hate Capt Noory and I hate Capt Noory alot.

[West of the Rockies]

Any guy whose two biggest songs are a worshipful adoration of the coca bush and about getting wasted in the wee hours, and lives to 74, must have been pretty tough and resilient. Or maybe he was the quiet guy in the corner making notes. Was there a connection?

JJ wrote a song called "Clyde Played Electric Base" on a Hook album.  I don't know that he ever performed with them.  (It's a pretty weak connection, I guess.)

[Sardondi]

Eileen Brennan dies at 80 - http://news.yahoo.com/private-benjamin-actress-eileen-brennan-dies-204655369.html Bladder cancer.

Character actress who had some of the sharpest cheekbones in Hollywood. Nobody could play a greasy hooker better. She's probably best known for playing Paul Newman's hooker-with-a-heart gf in The Sting. She played drama but was also hilarious in comedies, with an Oscar-nominated role in Private Benjamin as Goldie Hawn's sergeant. She also won an Emmy and a Golden Globe and was additionally nominated several times.

My fave was probably in Murder By Death as the long-suffering gf of the Sam Spade-type character played by Peter Falk in the Neil Simon comedy - a lightweight flick, but still fun to look at because of all the big names.

[stevesh]

Michael Ansara dead at 91. I remember him most as Cochise in Broken Arrow in the mid-fifties, but he had a recurring role in Star Trek as a Klingon commander, Kang.

[onan]

Michael Ansara dead at 91. I remember him most as Cochise in Broken Arrow in the mid-fifties, but he had a recurring role in Star Trek as a Klingon commander, Kang.

Sad to hear it... and Broken Arrow is one of my all time favorites.

[Morgus]

Michael Ansara dead at 91. I remember him most as Cochise in Broken Arrow in the mid-fifties, but he had a recurring role in Star Trek as a Klingon commander, Kang.

One of my favorites, he will be missed.

[Sardondi]

Ansara was a well-known face to anyone who was a fan of the 50's and 60's Westerns. He was a B-lister, who worked steadily without ever making it as the star (but for Broken Arrow). One day I'm going to put together an album of all those familiar faces from the Westerns.

[Eddie Coyle]

         George Duke dead at 67.

[ItsOver]

Michael Ansara dead at 91. I remember him most as Cochise in Broken Arrow in the mid-fifties, but he had a recurring role in Star Trek as a Klingon commander, Kang.

I remember him most for being married to the Major's hottie. 

[ItsOver]

Absolutely.  Robinson really had the creepy crazy vibe down pat.

Robinson definitely had that "hello, I'm a psycho" look.  Disturbingly so.  I can still hear that sick Scorpio laugh and visualize his paid for beating.  Geez... just look at those eyes and that evil smurk. 

[b_dubb]

I remember him most for being married to the Major's hottie. 

you can't feel too bad for a guy that was married to one of prettiest actresses of all time

[Sardondi]

Karen Black, owner of the closest-set eyes in Hollywood, dead at 74, of cancer. http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Five-Easy-Pieces-star-Karen-Black-dead-at-74-4718686.php?cmpid=hpts

[West of the Rockies]

I first became aware of Karen Black through Trilogy of Terror.  My wife, an assistant costumer in film back in the mid-80's worked with her on some project.  Ms. Black (according to my wife) was very demanding and quite full of herself.  But she sure had sex appeal....  RIP.

[HorrorRetro]

I first became aware of Karen Black through Trilogy of Terror.  My wife, an assistant costumer in film back in the mid-80's worked with her on some project.  Ms. Black (according to my wife) was very demanding and quite full of herself.  But she sure had sex appeal....  RIP.

That's too bad.  Trilogy of Terror is one of my favorite '70's movies of the week.    The Zuni fetish doll segment still scares me.