Passages

[hearthesilence]

Dr. John Phair, an infectious diseases professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and an early leader in investigating HIV infection. Phair was “a great mentor, instrumental at the beginning of the AIDS pandemic to keep people sane and sensible during the biggest health care crisis of the day,” said Dr. Robert Murphy, an infectious diseases professor at Northwestern.

(His last name may look familiar - his daughter was one of the greatest and most important singer-songwriters to emerge in the 1990s.)

[domino harvey]

David Bordwell posts moved here

[FrauBlucher]

Longtime NFL reporter Chris Mortensen

[Aunt Peg]

Jaclyn Jose, 59, probably best known internationally for Ma' Rosa which won her the Best Actress award at Cannes in 2016. :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaclyn_Jose

[MichaelB]

Edward Bond, unquestionably one of Britain's most important and influential postwar dramatists. His contribution to the cinema was considerably smaller, but the English dialogue for Blow-Up and the script for Walkabout would be distinguished entries on anyone's filmography, although his adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark (for Tony Richardson) is sadly likely to remain in legal limbo until Nabokov's writing passes into the public domain in the late 2040s.

[beamish14]

Edward Bond, unquestionably one of Britain's most important and influential postwar dramatists. His contribution to the cinema was considerably smaller, but the English dialogue for Blow-Up and the script for Walkabout would be distinguished entries on anyone's filmography, although his adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark (for Tony Richardson) is sadly likely to remain in legal limbo until Nabokov's writing passes into the public domain in the late 2040s.

I thought the issue with Laughter in the Dark was tied in with the aborted 1986 adaptation of it

[Aunt Peg]

Michael Jenkins, 77, Australian writer/director (Heartbreak High): https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... es-aged-77

[Matt]

Steve Lawrence

Might be a name unfamiliar to most under 50, but he was a major entertainer of the Sinatra era in Las Vegas and the talk show circuit of the same time. Jerry Lewis fans owe him a debt because he was key to getting Lewis’ movies out on DVD. When Lewis was at a low point about 20 years ago with lung disease and ill effects from his medications, Lawrence distracted him by getting him to rewatch and reminisce about his films. These reminiscences became the commentary tracks for the “Legendary Jerry Lewis” DVD box set.

[FrauBlucher]

Steve Lawrence

Might be a name unfamiliar to most under 50, but he was a major entertainer of the Sinatra era in Las Vegas and the talk show circuit of the same time. Jerry Lewis fans owe him a debt because he was key to getting Lewis’ movies out on DVD. When Lewis was at a low point about 20 years ago with lung disease and ill effects from his medications, Lawrence distracted him by getting him to rewatch and reminisce about his films. These reminiscences became the commentary tracks for the “Legendary Jerry Lewis” DVD box set.

Also, he and his wife known as Steve and Edie (Edie Gorme) were huge on the Vegas circuit and also performed on many of the Variety shows of the 60s and 70s. They were frequently on The Carol Burnett Show appearing on 26 episodes

[What A Disgrace]

Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dr. Slump and the Dragon Ball franchise, passed away on March 1, but the word is just getting around.

[knives]

That’s a big one. Possibly the most fundamental artist for my preteen years. Just did a read through of DB last year and it was a total blast with his humour accentuating the drama perfectly.

[Saturnome]

A lot of people I know are french or belgian comic book artists in their 30s, when they wake up I can easily see this being the biggest news ever on my social media. He's something like a god over there.

[Lemmy Caution]

Steve Lawrence was born Sidney Liebowitz on July 8, 1935

[domino harvey]

Uh, your point being…?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dr. Slump and the Dragon Ball franchise, passed away on March 1, but the word is just getting around.

Shocked he died the way he did and at his age. I feel like the successful manga-ka live forever (Leiji Matsumoto died last year, but Go Nagai is still kicking). I was obsessed with Toriyama as a child and was a huge Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest nut as a kid. I love how even his “scary” designs have a touch of the goofiness of his earlier work, seen very clearly in the enemies of the game. I remember begging my dad to buy me Chrono Trigger when it came out partially because I loved Toriyama’s designs so much.

Last year, I read his Manga Theater anthology which is a very funny and gorgeously illustrated collection of one-shots (sometimes two-shots) he did for Shonen Jump with autobiographical one-pagers mixed in. It really made me appreciate his work all over again. He’s a giant who will be missed.

[flyonthewall2983]

Steve Lawrence

Might be a name unfamiliar to most under 50, but he was a major entertainer of the Sinatra era in Las Vegas and the talk show circuit of the same time. Jerry Lewis fans owe him a debt because he was key to getting Lewis’ movies out on DVD. When Lewis was at a low point about 20 years ago with lung disease and ill effects from his medications, Lawrence distracted him by getting him to rewatch and reminisce about his films. These reminiscences became the commentary tracks for the “Legendary Jerry Lewis” DVD box set.

Also, he and his wife known as Steve and Edie (Edie Gorme) were huge on the Vegas circuit and also performed on many of the Variety shows of the 60s and 70s. They were frequently on The Carol Burnett Show appearing on 26 episodes

The concert promoter in The Blues Brothers

[Lemmy Caution]

Uh, your point being…?

Didn't know that. Lots of performers ditched their ethnic names and adopted safe reassuring Anglo names mid century (such as Rita Hayworth), at a time when conformity and assimilation were national aspirations. Despite attitudes towards immigrants not evolving much, people now are more willing to embrace their heritage.

When I was recently in Florida, the American caste system was apparent, with much of the service, repair and construction work done by Hispanics (plus some islanders such as Jamaicans and Haitians). And not merely my anecdotal experience repairing a condo, but when deSantis was threatening a crackdown on illegals, work entirely stopped on whole housing projects as migrant workers stopped showing up until they could be reassured they were safe.

There's something very American about reinventing yourself (see Dylan, Bob or Gatsby, Jay or Helen Merrill). A sort of skewed optimism. But also something disappointing about having to hide your true self and heritage in order to fit in and succeed. A simple change of name encapsulates a period of American history.

Otherwise I primarily knew Steve Lawrence from the Carol Burnett Show. Knew of Steve & Edie as a Vegas act, and some guest appearances on 70's specials (probably Bob Hope affairs, possibly Dean Martin).

[hearthesilence]

Update on the court case surrounding Treat Williams's death:

Ryan Koss, 35, who knew Williams, was given a one-year deferred sentence and as part of his probation will have his driving license revoked for a year and must complete a community restorative justice program on the misdemeanor charge...

After the crash, Koss called Williams' wife to tell her what happened, said Bennington County State's Attorney Erica Marthage, who said Koss from the beginning has taken responsibility for the accident.

In the emotional hearing on Friday, Koss apologized and offered condolences to Williams' family and fans. The managing creative director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont knew Williams for years as a member of the tight-knit community, as well as a fellow theater member, and considered him a friend.

“I'm here to apologize and take responsibility for this tragic accident,” he told the court.

Williams' son Gill, 32, wore his father's jacket and spoke directly to Koss, who he had met before the crash. The family did not want to press charges or have Koss go to prison, he said.

“I do forgive you, and I hope that you forgive yourself,” he said. But he also added that “I really wish you hadn't killed my father. I really had to say that.”

[beamish14]

Karl Wallinger of World Party and The Waterboys. An amazing songwriter

[beamish14]

Eric Carmen. This is a rough day for popular music

[Aunt Peg]

German writer/director Percy Adlon, 88, probably best known for the very charming and irresistible Bagdad Cafe (1987): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Adlon

[colinr0380]

German writer/director Percy Adlon, 88, probably best known for the very charming and irresistible Bagdad Cafe (1987): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Adlon

Marianne Sägebrecht is kind of Adlon's muse figure for a few films, with Bagdad Cafe coming in between Sugar Baby and the also excellent Rosalie Goes Shopping (which got rather cruelly overlooked in the She-Devil and Fried Green Tomatoes crush of pro-active suburban women tales). There was a bit lost after that when she was out of the picture, although to compensate we did get k.d. lang in Salmonberries and a pre-Gods and Monsters and The Mummy Brendan Fraser starring with Donald Sutherland in Younger and Younger.

His rather wonky view of American life from the point of view of an outsider was a bit of a trend in the late 80s-early 90s, along with other arguably over-quirky fare like Roeg's Track 29 and Kursturica's Arizona Dream. EDIT: Or indeed Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin and The Passion of Darkly Noon.

[GaryC]

German writer/director Percy Adlon, 88, probably best known for the very charming and irresistible Bagdad Cafe (1987): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Adlon

Marianne Sägebrecht is kind of Adlon's muse figure for a few films, with Bagdad Cafe coming in between Sugar Baby and the also excellent Rosalie Goes Shopping (which got rather cruelly overlooked in the She-Devil and Fried Green Tomatoes crush of pro-active suburban women tales). There was a bit lost after that when she was out of the picture, although to compensate we did get k.d. lang in Salmonberries and a pre-Gods and Monsters and The Mummy Brendan Fraser starring with Donald Sutherland in Younger and Younger.

His rather wonky view of American life from the point of view of an outsider was a bit of a trend in the late 80s-early 90s, along with other arguably over-quirky fare like Roeg's Track 29 and Kursturica's Arizona Dream.

I thought of him the other day - a director who had a run in UK cinema distribution but went out of fashion so that his films stopped being distributed here, though they did still turn up in festivals. That was no doubt when someone compared the likely audience with distribution costs and decided that the two didn't add up. That was a pity, but then we didn't have streaming as a possible outlet. Paul Cox was another such director, from around the same time, and also no longer with us.

[MichaelB]

Certainly back in the 1990s, it was usually the failure to land a TV sale that prevented a film from getting distribution, and opportunities were dwindling thanks to the 1990 Broadcasting Act forcing Channel 4 to start selling its own advertising and therefore pay a lot more attention to viewing figures (which they’d blithely ignored in the 1980s as ITV was effectively subsidising them).

And BBC2 was also showing fewer foreign-language films - ironically, the rise in availability of foreign language films on physical media in the early 1990s meant that there was no longer the same compulsion to show them on telly out of a sense of cultural responsibility.

[The Narrator Returns]

Coleman Hough, playwright and writer of Soderbergh's Full Frontal and Bubble