In my favorite segment, of one of my all time favorite films, Hal Holbrook played one of my favorite characters, brow-beated Henry Northrup, married to the one and only Wilma aka “just call me Billie”, played wonderfully by Adrienne Barbeau. Of course the movie is Creepshow (1982). I knew of Holbrook before that, from John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980), another top favorite of mine, but also from a lot of appearances on television and movies. He was an actor that no matter what he was in, or the role he was portraying, his presence would up the quality of the production. He was always just a treat to watch perform, being one of those actors who could give you that warm smile but with a glare that could chill you to the bone.
He had passed away back on January 23rd at the age of 95. With all the amazing characters he appeared as, he is probably known for his stage play of playing Mark Twain, that he did for well over a half a century! Years ago, he actually was in our home town on tour with his Mark Twain play and I really thought about waiting outside the theater in hopes of getting him to sign my Creepshow poster. Never did, but now my regret is even stronger.
You had a great run, Mr. Holbrook. Your work will definitely you alive for as long as there are film fans. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.
Okay 2021… not a good way to start out. Not even a week in and now this? This one stings.
You don’t need to be a filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, or even makeup artist to have an effect on the film industry. When you’re a writer that is constantly waving the flag of cult and obscure, and just plain fun and crazy cinema, you are doing wonders for the genre. And this week, we lost one of those people.
And we lose yet another movie icon. Yesterday, we lost the actor to give physical life to one of cinema’s greatest villains, Darth Vader from the original Star Wars trilogy, David Prowse. Being a huge fan of that series, I had learned all of the main actors’ names, so I knew who Prowse was at the time. But it wasn’t until years later, when I started down my path of the horror genre, that I realized his connection to Hammer Films, as well as the many other things he had worked on.
These posts are always tough to do. It is with great sadness that we have found out that Daria Nicolodi has passed away today, age the age of 70. One cannot be a fan of Italian cinema and not know of her work, both in front of and behind the camera. From her appearance in Dario Argento’s Deep Red (1975), Tenebre (1982), to Opera (1987), as well as co-writing Suspiria (1977), one of the best horror films ever committed to film, she has definitely made her mark.
Writer and columnist Joe Kane, more known under his long time pseudonym The Phantom of the Movies, passed away on November 1st, at the age of 73. Being a lifelong movie fan, he was one of those that strived to inform other movie fans of all the wonderful titles out there waiting to be discovered. One of his favorite quotes was “Keep Watching the Screens!”
When growing up in the early ’70s, when much of your time is spent in front of the television, you see a lot of actors and actresses over the years. Some stick in your head more than others. Diana Rigg was one of those actresses. Probably best known for either her role as Emma Peel in the British TV show The Avengers, where she appeared from 1965 to 1968, or the fact that she was the only actress to become Mrs. James Bond, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), as well as more recently appearing in the series Game of Thrones (2013-2017). No matter what she was in, even in a personal favorite of mine, The Great Muppet Caper (1981), she was always memorable.
Actress Lori Nelson only appeared in a couple of creature features but there were more than memorable to make sure that we mention her recent passing here. In 1955, she appeared in two monster flicks, one with a very low budget and one with a much bigger one. She appeared alongside Richard Denning in Roger Corman’s The Day the World Ended, fighting a mutated survivor of an atomic blast. That same year, she joined John Agar in the sequel Revenge of the Creature, fighting off the GIll-Man who is stalking her! So if you were looking for an excuse to bust out either of those tow movies, then now is your chance.
The film industry has lost another true and great talent with the passing of Wilfred Brimley. While he only appeared in a few horror films, if I saw his name in the opening credits, I knew he was going to be interesting to watch. I think I first became aware of him in the Paul Newman film Absence of Malice (1981) because that played at the theater I worked at. So while it wasn’t a film I would normally see, I got to see a lot of it during the working hours, so I remembered his character. And then came John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). It threw me for a bit with him without his mustache, but his voice is just as recognizable as this facial hair. As well as his incredible performances. In 1985, he appeared in another favorite of mine, Remo Williams, which I was so bummed they never made more of those.
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