Marla Adams obit

Marla Adams, Dina on ‘The Young and the Restless,’ Dies at 85

The Emmy winner also appeared on Broadway, played Natalie Wood's BFF in 'Splendor in the Grass' and starred on 'The Secret Storm.' 

She was not on the list.

Marla Adams, the Emmy-winning soap opera veteran who starred as the scheming Dina Abbott Mergeron during parts of five decades on The Young and the Restless, has died. She was 85.

Adams died Thursday in Los Angeles, Matt Kane, director of media and talent for Y&R, announced.

When she was just starting out, Adams appeared in 1958 alongside Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway in The Visit and portrayed June, the high school best friend of Natalie Wood‘s Deanie, in Elia Kazan‘s Splendor in the Grass (1961).

Her first prominent role on a daytime drama came on CBS’ The Secret Storm, where she played bad girl Belle Clemens from 1968 until the show’s 1974 demise. “I was the bitch of daytime,” she said in a 2016 interview. “I played a good bitch.”

Adams joined Y&R in 1982 but left when her three-year contract was up. She returned to Genoa City for brief stints in 1991, 1996 and 2008 before being asked by head writer-producer Sally Sussman to go it again in 2017.

“I remember when [Sussman told her], ‘I’m going to bring you back on The Young and the Restless, but you’ve got Alzheimer’s,’ and I said, ‘What!? You’re bringing me back so you can kill me off?'” she recalled in 2020. “And she said, ‘Oh no, it’ll be about a year.’ That dissolved into four years.”

Viewers watched the Abbott matriarch slowly and heartbreakingly unravel before dying in an episode in October 2020. In her final moments, she addressed her kids, Traci (Beth Maitland), Jack (Peter Bergman) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson), before being welcomed into heaven by her first husband, John Abbott (Jerry Douglas).

Eight months later, Adams received the lone Daytime Emmy of her long career.

“From all the characters I’ve played, from The Secret Storm to Broadway, this has been the most astonishing, amazing part I’ve had the privilege to play,” she said.

Marla Adams was born on Aug. 28, 1938, in Ocean City, New Jersey. She was named Miss Diamond Jubilee at the 75th anniversary celebration of her hometown in 1954 and graduated two years later from Ocean City High School.

She spent two years with The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was hired for The Visit, directed by Peter Brook, on the day she graduated. “I played Alfred Lunt’s daughter, and I thought, ‘Well, it’s going to be downhill from here,'” she told Soap Opera Digest in 2018.

Adams made her big-screen debut in the period drama Splendor in the Grass, which was Warren Beatty‘s first movie, too.

After Belle made life miserable for Jada Rowland’s Amy Ames on The Secret Storm, she moved to Los Angeles when the soap was canceled and guest-starred on episodes of The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Harry O, Adam-12, Starsky and Hutch, Marcus Welby, M.D., Barnaby Jones, The Love Boat, Emergency! and Archie Bunker’s Place before landing on Y&R.

The actress also portrayed Mildred Deal on ABC’s General Hospital in 1963; the conniving Myrna Clegg — between turns by Carolyn Jones and Marj Dusay — on CBS’ Capitol in 1983; Helen Mullin on NBC’s Generations in 1989-90; Beth Logan on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful in 1990-91; and Dr. Claire McIntyre on NBC’s Days of Our Lives in 1999.

She was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her turn as Dina in 2018 before winning one three years later.

“On behalf of the entire company of The Young and the Restless, we send our deepest sympathies to Marla’s family,” Josh Griffith, executive producer and head writer of Y&R, said in a statement. “We’re so grateful and in awe of Marla’s incredible performance as Dina Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on [the show].”

Survivors include her children, Gunnar and Pam; grandchildren Gefjon and Stone; and great-grandson Remi.

In her later years, Adams said she was still getting spotted in public. “I’m very big at Walmart,” she said with a laugh. “When I was younger, I was recognized all the time, and now that I’m older, people are like, ‘Is that her? No, that’s not her. It couldn’t be! Just some old lady in sneakers and sweats.'”

Actress

Eileen Davidson, Bryton James, Joshua Morrow, Gina Tognoni, Justin Hartley, Melissa Claire Egan, and Peter Bergman in The Young and the Restless (1973)

The Young and the Restless

5.3

TV Series

Dina Abbott Mergeron

Dina Mergeron

Dina Abbott

1983–2021

235 episodes

 

Mira Sorvino and Paul Sorvino in Beneath the Leaves (2019)

Beneath the Leaves

4.5

Nadine

2019

 

Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger (1993)

Walker, Texas Ranger

5.6

TV Series

Betsy Harper

2000–2001

3 episodes

 

The President's Man (2000)

The President's Man

4.7

TV Movie

First Lady Mathews

2000

 

Jennifer Love Hewitt in Time of Your Life (1999)

Time of Your Life

6.1

TV Series

Lauren

1999

1 episode

 

Days of Our Lives (1965)

Days of Our Lives

5.2

TV Series

Claire McIntyre

1999

50 episodes

 

Tony Danza, Majandra Delfino, Maria Canals-Barrera, Ashley Malinger, and Shaun Weiss in The Tony Danza Show (1997)

The Tony Danza Show

5.0

TV Series

Mrs. Paxton

1998

1 episode

 

Don Johnson and Cheech Marin in Nash Bridges (1996)

Nash Bridges

6.8

TV Series

Mrs. Van Pelt

1997

1 episode

 

LL Cool J, Alfonso Ribeiro, Maia Campbell, and Kim Wayans in In the House (1995)

In the House

6.8

TV Series

Mrs. Tuckman

1997

1 episode

 

Undercover (1994)

Undercover

6.9

TV Movie

Sheila Byrnes

1994

 

The Good Life (1994)

The Good Life

7.4

TV Series

Kate Donnetti

1994

1 episode

 

Sela Ward, Swoosie Kurtz, Patricia Kalember, and Sheila Kelley in Sisters (1991)

Sisters

7.5

TV Series

Madeline Brady

1992

1 episode

 

Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, David Hasselhoff, David Chokachi, Gena Lee Nolin, and Jaason Simmons in Baywatch (1989)

Baywatch

5.4

TV Series

Trish McClain

1992

1 episode

 

Susan Griffiths in Marilyn and Me (1991)

Marilyn and Me

5.7

TV Movie

Gladys Baker

1991

 

Loni Anderson and Robert Davi in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991)

White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd

5.8

TV Movie

Mrs. Ford

1991

 

Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, and Betty White in The Golden Girls (1985)

The Golden Girls

8.2

TV Series

Woman #1

1991

1 episode

 

Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker in Perfect Strangers (1986)

Perfect Strangers

7.2

TV Series

Mrs. Catherine Lyons

1991

1 episode

 

Heather Tom, Thorsten Kaye, and Katherine Kelly Lang in The Bold and the Beautiful (1987)

The Bold and the Beautiful

3.4

TV Series

Beth Logan

1990–1991

6 episodes

 

Kelly Rutherford, Anthony Addabbo, and Kristoff St. John in Generations (1989)

Generations

7.4

TV Series

Helen Mullin

1989–1990

49 episodes

 

The New Adam-12 (1990)

The New Adam-12

6.0

TV Series

Carol Miller

1990

1 episode

 

Dinah Manoff, Kristy McNichol, David Leisure, Richard Mulligan, and Park Overall in Empty Nest (1988)

Empty Nest

6.6

TV Series

Elna

1989

1 episode

 

Dabney Coleman and Jane Curtin in Maybe Baby (1988)

Maybe Baby

5.3

TV Movie

Shirley

1988

 

Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman in Beauty and the Beast (1987)

Beauty and the Beast

7.0

TV Series

Helen Thompson

1988

1 episode

 

Andy Griffith in Matlock (1986)

Matlock

7.1

TV Series

Roselle

1988

1 episode

 

Alyssa Milano, Tony Danza, Katherine Helmond, Danny Pintauro, and Judith Light in Who's the Boss? (1984)

Who's the Boss?

6.6

TV Series

Connie

1987

1 episode

 

Robert Clohessy, Michael Warren, and Bruce Weitz in Hill Street Blues (1981)

Hill Street Blues

8.2

TV Series

Mrs. Fein

1987

1 episode

 

Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino in Gotcha! (1985)

Gotcha!

6.2

Maria

1985

 

Concrete Beat (1984)

Concrete Beat

5.0

TV Movie

Cathy Lord

1984

 

Trauma Center (1983)

Trauma Center

6.6

TV Series

Dr. Chas Sternhause's Secretary

1983

1 episode

 

Bruce Boxleitner, Clyde Kusatsu, and Cindy Morgan in Bring 'Em Back Alive (1982)

Bring 'Em Back Alive

7.1

TV Series

Martha Nielsen

1983

1 episode

 

Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)

Happy Days

7.4

TV Series

Millicent 'Milly' Pfister

1983

1 episode

 

Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Charles Frank, Jerry Hardin, Michael Lombard, Nedra Volz, and Ann Wedgeworth in Filthy Rich (1982)

Filthy Rich

7.8

TV Series

Muffy Newkirk

1982

1 episode

 

Martin Balsam, Carroll O'Connor, Danielle Brisebois, and Jean Stapleton in Archie Bunker's Place (1979)

Archie Bunker's Place

6.4

TV Series

Ann Marlowe

1982

1 episode

 

Debrah Farentino, Nicholas Walker, and Jess Walton in Capitol (1982)

Capitol

7.2

TV Series

Myrna Clegg #2 (1983)

1982–1987

 

Hart to Hart (1979)

Hart to Hart

6.7

TV Series

Evelyn Carney

1981

1 episode

 

Victor French and Kene Holiday in Carter Country (1977)

Carter Country

6.8

TV Series

Florabelle

1979

1 episode

 

Buddy Ebsen in Barnaby Jones (1973)

Barnaby Jones

6.9

TV Series

Eleanor Raymond

Sandra Lassiter

Audrey Meyer

1974–1978

3 episodes

 

Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in The Love Boat (1977)

The Love Boat

6.3

TV Series

Arlene Simpson

Glenda Fairbanks

1978

2 episodes

 

Emergency! (1972)

Emergency!

7.9

TV Series

Mrs. Anderson

Soap Opera Patient

Rita Hudson

1975–1978

3 episodes

 

The Streets of San Francisco (1972)

The Streets of San Francisco

7.3

TV Series

Cecilia Roman

1977

1 episode

 

Raymond Burr in Kingston: Confidential (1976)

Kingston: Confidential

6.4

TV Series

Lila Perry

1977

1 episode

 

Richard Schaal in Phyllis (1975)

Phyllis

6.4

TV Series

Mrs. Snyder

1977

1 episode

 

Johnny Staccato (1959)

Delvecchio

6.7

TV Series

Mrs. Fred Nailor

1976

1 episode

 

Special Delivery (1976)

Special Delivery

6.1

Mrs. Hubert Zane

1976

 

James Brolin, Robert Young, Barbara Sigel, and Elena Verdugo in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)

Marcus Welby, M.D.

7.0

TV Series

Olivia Randall

Marian Blakely

1974–1976

3 episodes

 

Jackie Cooper in Mobile One (1975)

Mobile One

6.1

TV Series

1975

1 episode

 

Starsky and Hutch (1975)

Starsky and Hutch

7.0

TV Series

Sheila

1975

1 episode

 

Kent McCord and Martin Milner in Adam-12 (1968)

Adam-12

7.7

TV Series

Mildred Bell

1975

1 episode

 

The Secret Night Caller (1975)

The Secret Night Caller

6.7

TV Movie

Ruth (uncredited)

1975

 

David Janssen in Harry O (1973)

Harry O

7.6

TV Series

Janet Rankin

1974

1 episode

 

The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971)

The New Dick Van Dyke Show

6.6

TV Series

Gloria

Brenda

1973

1 episode

 

Nicolas Coster in The Secret Storm (1954)

The Secret Storm

5.2

TV Series

Belle Clemens Britton Kincaid

1968–1973

5 episodes

 

General Hospital (1963)

General Hospital

6.6

TV Series

Mildred Deal

1963

 

Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Splendor in the Grass

7.7

June

1961

Ray Chan obit

Ray Chan, Marvel Studios Art Director and Deadpool & Wolverine Production Designer, Has Died

 

He was not on the list.

Ray Chan, a longtime supervising art director and production designer at Marvel Studios whose credits include Avengers: Endgame and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, died this week. Marvel Studios announced Chan's death on Wednesday, remembering the Art Directors Guild Award-winning artist as "an incredible production designer who helped imagine and design the Marvel Cinematic Universe" and "a wonderful friend and colleague who will be dearly missed by everyone who had the privilege of working with him." A cause of death was not provided.

"Ray was first and foremost a good friend to everyone at Marvel Studios. He was a talented collaborator who brought creativity and attention to detail to every frame of every movie he worked on, and who was able to bring out the best in each department he worked with," Kevin Feige, CCO of Marvel Entertainment and president of Marvel Studios, and co-president Louis D'Esposito said in a joint statement. "He was the nicest human being and was such a pleasure to work with, hugely generous, and the kind of person who could take the seed of an idea and turn it into something beautiful. We are devastated by his passing. He will be missed by everyone at Marvel, and our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends."

Chan first joined Marvel Studios on 2011's Thor: The Dark World as supervising art director and went on to collaborate with filmmaker James Gunn as supervising art director on 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, director Joss Whedon on 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Scott Derrickson on 2016's Doctor Strange, crafting alien worlds like Xandar, the mystical Sanctum Sanctorum, and the planets Titan and Vormir. Chan worked with Joe and Anthony Russo on 2018's Avengers: Infinity War and 2019's Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios' highest-grossing movie, for which he won an Art Directors Guild Award.

He also served as art director for additional photography on Sony and Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019 and production designer on the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in 2021. Most recently, Chan worked as the production designer for additional photography on last year's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the production designer on the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.

"Each film that Marvel [puts out], it's always a very involved process, for myself and Charlie [Wood, production designer], each one is unique and a challenge," Chan said in a 2018 interview with The Credits. "Guardians of the Galaxy is different to Ultron, which is different to Dr. Strange. Infinity Wars was probably the biggest challenge. It comes off as a collaboration, working with a great studio like Marvel. There are great scriptwriters, directors, they bring a lot to the table. They'd come up with ideas, first, and we'd bounce of that."

Chan's other credits include 2023's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves as production designer, and supervising art director on such films as National Treasure, Blood Diamond, Knight and Day, and Wrath of the Titans. He was the art director for AVP: Alien vs. Predator in 2004, Alfonso Cuarón's three-time Oscar-nominated Children of Men in 2006, and senior art director on Robin Hood in 2010. He also worked in commercials, creating spots for major brands like Mercedes, Jeep, IBM, General Electric, American Express, Merrill Lynch, NY Times, and Land Rover. He appeared in the documentary Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in 2021, where he took viewers behind-the-scenes of designing the city Madripoor.

Chan is survived by his wife, Lindsay, and his children, Caspar and Sebastian. Chan's final credit will be Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine, which is in theaters this July.

 

Art Director

Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Sean Gunn, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Danai Gurira, and Karen Gillan in Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame

8.4

supervising art director

2019

 

Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Vin Diesel, Paul Bettany, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Sean Gunn, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Pratt, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Wong, Terry Notary, Anthony Mackie, Chris Hemsworth, Dave Bautista, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Letitia Wright, and Tom Holland in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War

8.4

supervising art director

2018

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange (2016)

Doctor Strange

7.5

supervising art director

2016

 

Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., James Spader, Paul Bettany, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Chris Hemsworth in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron

7.3

supervising art director

2015

 

Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy

8.0

supervising art director

2014

 

Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Tom Hiddleston, Zachary Levi, Chris Hemsworth, and Jaimie Alexander in Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor: The Dark World

6.8

supervising art director

2013

 

Sam Worthington in Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Wrath of the Titans

5.7

supervising art director (as Raymond Chan)

2012

 

Leighton Meester, Selena Gomez, and Katie Cassidy in Monte Carlo (2011)

Monte Carlo

5.8

supervising art director

2011

 

Russell Crowe in Robin Hood (2010)

Robin Hood

6.6

senior art director

2010

 

Jeff Bridges, Kirsten Dunst, Simon Pegg, and Megan Fox in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

6.4

supervising art director

2008

 

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in Fool's Gold (2008)

Fool's Gold

5.7

supervising art director

2008

 

Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (2006)

Blood Diamond

8.0

supervising art director

2006

 

James Franco in Flyboys (2006)

Flyboys

6.5

supervising art director (as Raymond Chan)

2006

 

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men

7.9

Art Director

2006

 

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Nanny McPhee

6.6

Art Director (uncredited)

2005

 

Leo Gregory in Stoned (2005)

Stoned

5.7

Art Director

2005

 

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Alien vs. Predator

5.7

Art Director (as Raymond Chan)

2004

 

Thunderbirds (2004)

Thunderbirds

4.3

Art Director

2004

 

Michael Sheen in Heartlands (2002)

Heartlands

6.8

Art Director

2002

 

Five Seconds to Spare (2000)

Five Seconds to Spare

5.1

Art Director

2000

 

The Lost Son (1999)

The Lost Son

6.4

Art Director

1999

 

Art Department

Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Rudd, Kathryn Newton, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, and Jamie Andrew Cutler in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

6.1

production designer: additional photography

2023

 

Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Spider-Man: Far from Home

7.4

art director: additional photography, Los Angeles (as Raymond Chan)

2019

 

Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Sean Gunn, Scarlett Johansson, Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Danai Gurira, and Karen Gillan in Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame

8.4

production designer: additional photography

supervising art director

2019

 

Knight and Day (2010)

Knight and Day

6.3

supervising art director: Europe

2010

 

Gabrielle Union, Cedric The Entertainer, Mike Epps, and Regina Hall in The Honeymooners (2005)

The Honeymooners

3.5

draughtsperson (as Raymond Chan)

2005

 

Nicolas Cage in National Treasure (2004)

National Treasure

6.9

supervising art director: UK (uncredited)

2004

 

Ioan Gruffudd, Keira Knightley, and Clive Owen in King Arthur (2004)

King Arthur

6.3

supervising art director: UK

2004

 

Rowan Atkinson in Johnny English (2003)

Johnny English

6.3

art director: second unit

2003

 

Jeremy Northam, Kate Winslet, Saffron Burrows, and Dougray Scott in Enigma (2001)

Enigma

6.4

stand-by art director

2001

 

Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Elliott, and Linus Roache in The Wings of the Dove (1997)

The Wings of the Dove

7.1

assistant art director

1997

 

The Hunger (1997)

The Hunger

6.2

TV Series

assistant art director

1997–2000

 

Pierce Brosnan in Robinson Crusoe (1997)

Robinson Crusoe

5.9

assistant art director

1997

 

Screen Two (1985)

Screen Two

6.3

TV Series

storyboard artist

set dresser

1994–1996

2 episodes

 

Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller in Hackers (1995)

Hackers

6.2

junior draughtsman

1995

 

The Secret Rapture (1993)

The Secret Rapture

5.8

art department assistant

1993

 

Production Designer

Deadpool & Wolverine

Production Designer

Post-production

2024

 

Hugh Grant, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Pine, Daisy Head, Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, and Justice Smith in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

7.2

Production Designer (as Raymond Chan)

2023

 

Daniel Brühl, Wyatt Russell, Emily VanCamp, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and Erin Kellyman in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

7.1

TV Mini Series

Production Designer (as Raymond Chan)

2021

6 episodes

Mike Pinder obit

Mike Pinder, Moody Blues’ Founding Member and Innovative Mellotron Player, Dies

 He was not on the list.

Mike Pinder, a founding member and keyboard player for the progressive rock band, the Moody Blues, died today (April 24, 2024). The news of his death at age 82 was announced by a Facebook group devoted to his career. The post indicated that he died at his northern California home, surrounded by his family. “His final days were filled with music,” it said. Along with the Moody Blues’ so-called “classic lineup,” Pinder performed on the landmark 1968 album, Days of Future Passed, and its singles “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon,” as well as such songs as “Ride My See-Saw,” “The Story in Your Eyes” and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band).” He wrote and sung the band’s 1968 single, “A Simple Game,” and many others, including several from Days of Future Passed.

The first lineup calling itself the Moody Blues got together in spring 1964, and included Ray Thomas (vocals, tambourine, harmonica), Pinder (keyboard and vocals), drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist/singer Denny Laine and Clint Warwick on bass and vocals. With four singers, the group was able to build a varied repertoire that featured strong vocal harmonies.

The early Moody Blues scored a number of hits in England, and one worldwide hit in “Go Now.” But the band splintered by 1966. “Clint Warwick was the only married guy in the group,” Pinder told Bill Kopp in a 2017 interview with Best Classic Bands that he did, along with Thomas, “and his wife wanted him to have a steady gig. Denny Laine thought he would do better making his way on his own.

“Our management had made off with any earnings from ‘Go Now,’” he said, “so we didn’t have managers or money.” Looking for a follow-up to their big hit, they even considered a song offered to the group by Paul McCartney, but in the end decided the tune wasn’t right for the Moodys. Instead, Mary Hopkin recorded the song, “Those Were the Days,” and scored a worldwide smash hit.

Soon, Warwick departed. He and Laine were replaced by bass guitarist John Lodge and guitarist Justin Hayward, both of whom also became the group’s main songwriters. “John and Justin were the perfect additions to the band,” Pinder told Best Classic Bands. [This 2017 interview was Thomas’ last and may have been Pinder’s as well.] The Moody Blues’ musical style changed with the new lineup. Pinder had worked for the company that built the unique Mellotron, a tape-based forerunner of modern sampling playback keyboards. A notoriously fickle instrument, it had only rarely been used in a rock context, the most prominent early example being the “flute” sound heard on the Beatles’ 1967 single “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

The versatile instrument’s temperamental nature was no challenge to Pinder. “I knew how they were built. I knew how to put the Mellotron together and how to take it apart,” he said. He replaced some of the less-useful sounds with more practical tapes containing orchestral strings and the like.

Around that time, executives from the group’s British label, Decca, approached the Moody Blues with an idea for a kind of hybrid album.

But the Moody Blues had ideas of their own. “We initially wanted to do a stage show with the Mellotron,” recalled Thomas. “And [conductor] Peter Knight went along with it, God bless him. So did Tony Clarke.” Clarke was a staff producer at Decca, and Pinder says his support was critical. “We considered Tony to be the sixth Moody,” he says.

The band and Clarke developed an even more ambitious plan for the album. “I had always wanted to create something that was conceptual,” Pinder said. “I loved the works of Mantovani. I wanted to have our albums on people’s shelves … albums that people would want to collect, and play in their entirety.”

Work began on what would become Days of Future Passed, with Knight composing for the London Festival Orchestra while the band worked separately with Clarke. The Moody Blues wrote and recorded eight songs that, taken together, formed a concept: a day in the life of an everyman. At least two of the songs, “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Nights in White Satin,” were destined to become classics. “We were all writing songs,” Pinder said. He considered Days of Future Passed the successful result of a winning combination: “the use of the Mellotron, the input of Tony Clarke, the support of Decca, the ambience of the studio and the combined creativity of the band members.” Knight’s orchestrations provided the link between the pop songs; taken together the work was one of the earliest exemplars of what’s now known as progressive rock. “We were not there when the orchestra parts were done,” Pinder told Best Classic Bands. “But we had a wonderful group listening session after they added their contributions. We loved what they had done.”

On its November 1967 release, Days of Future Passed did reasonably well on the British album chart, reaching #27. The single of “Nights in White Satin” only made it to #19 there, with no success in the U.S.

The band wasn’t too worried, though. “We were just thrilled that we’d got it released,” Thomas said. “We knew what was happening live, and we were getting great reviews.”

The 1968 followup single, “Tuesday Afternoon,” fared better in the U.S., reaching #24, and there were hit singles like “Question” (1970) and “The Story In Your Eyes” (1971), but the band finally hit paydirt in 1972. When re-released in America that year, Days of Future Passed soared to the #3 spot on the Billboard chart, and the “Nights in White Satin” single, on its second go-round, made it to #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 single chart. The Moody Blues’ run with the lineup of Thomas, Pinder, Edge, Lodge and Hayward, spanned the so-called “classic seven” albums that also included On the Threshold of a Dream, A Question of Balance and Seventh Sojourn. Weary of touring, Pinder left after 1978’s Octave. Thomas continued with the band through its MTV-era resurgence and beyond, retiring from the group in 2002. He died on January 4, 2018, at age 76. Graeme Edge died in 2021. Both Lodge and Hayward are still performing, though separately.

Pinder’s friendship with John Lennon led to his performing on the Imagine album, playing the tambourine, for instance, on “Jealous Guy.”

Pinder was born December 27, 1941, in the Birmingham, U.K., suburb of Erdington.

Both Pinder and Thomas were among six members of the progressive rock band who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018. Pinder was the only one who did not speak at the event. He later wrote on his website, “Many MB fans have asked why I did not speak at the induction but by the time the Moodies took the stage we were 5 hours into the ceremony. The oldest of the inductees were up the latest. The speeches were a bit anti-climatic at that point and it was only fitting that the current touring members (Edge, Hayward and Lodge) spoke first. I am happy that we finally got inducted for our fans sake.

“As I have said for the last 30 years ‘the fans are my hall of fame.’”

Donald Payne Jr. obit

Donald Payne, six-term congressman from New Jersey, dies at 65

He was not on the list.

Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) – an immensely likable, low-key but effective, progressive six-term congressman from New Jersey with a passion for social justice and constituent service – died today.  He was 65.

Payne suffered a heart attack on April 6 and had been unconscious and on a ventilator since then at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.  He battled a series of health issues in recent years, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney issues that required regular dialysis.

According to Payne’s office, the Newark Democrat “experienced a physical accident at home…which necessitated hospitalization.”

“During his treatment for this health issue, he faced medical complications due to diabetes and high blood pressure that led to subsequent cardiorespiratory arrest,” Payne’s office said in a statement this afternoon.  “Despite the dedicated efforts of the medical staff to treat him and improve his health, they were unable to prevent his passing, unfortunately.”

He is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Payne’s father, Rep. Donald Payne Sr. (D-Newark), was a trailblazer in New Jersey politics. When he was elected to Congress in 1988, the winner of an open seat after twice challenging Rep. Peter W. Rodino (D-Newark) in the Democratic primary in a Black-majority district, he became New Jersey’s first-ever Black representative.

Following his father’s death of colon cancer in March 2012 at age 77, Payne became a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives and won a tough primary in New Jersey’s 10th district.

As a Democrat, Payne checked all the boxes for support among progressive voters: he supported Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Racial Justice, Equal Rights for all, Reproductive Freedom, public transportation, and free college tuition.

Payne became a national leader in a move to fund clean drinking water projects across the nation that resulted in the passage of a House infrastructure bill that included $55 billion for the national replacement of lead pipes.  Nearly $200 million went to replace more than 24,000 lead pipes in Newark.

In a bid to reduce community gun violence, Payne was a sponsor of the Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2019.

As a proponent of making childcare, housing, and prescription drugs more affordable and fighting climate change, Payne voted for the Build Back Better Act.  He supported legislation to expand the Voting Rights Act, to provide to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Under a Democratic majority, Payne served as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.  He had previously headed the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

Born in Newark on December 17, 1958, Payne was just five years old when his mother, Hazel, died.  That left his father to raise three children alone.

He served as president of the South Ward Young Democrats and worked as a Garden State Parkway toll collector and for the Essex County Educational Services Commission before becoming a candidate. Payne began his own electoral career the same way his father had in 1972: running in a countywide election as a candidate for Essex County Freeholder.  Democrats put Payne on the organization line in 2005 to replace Albertus Jenkins, who opted not to seek re-election.  Running with three incumbents, Payne was the top vote-getter with about 105,000 votes against a ticket headed by Republican Candace Straight.

He was re-elected in 2008 and 2011, the top vote-getter in primary and general elections in every county race he ran in.

In 2006, Payne ran for an at-large seat on the Newark City Council.  That was the year Cory Booker was first elected mayor.

In the May non-partisan municipal election, he finished fifth out of twelve candidates in a race for four seats.   Seven at-large candidates made it to a June runoff, including three incumbents who ran with Booker: Luis Quintana (20,479), Mildred Crump (18,441), and Carlos Gonzalez (14,158).   Ras Baraka, now the mayor of Newark, received 15,512 votes, and Payne got 13,198.

In the runoff, Payne finished third with 16,489 votes, behind Crump (18,550) and Quintana (17,460).  Gonzalez (15,580) captured the fourth seat, ending out Baraka (11,435) by 4,145 votes.

As a candidate for re-election in 2010, Payne was the top vote-getter with 20,358 votes, followed by Mildred Crump (18,918), Luis Quintana (17,546), and Carlos Gonzalez (15,547). The fifth-place finisher was John Sharpe James (12,589), the son of the former mayor, followed by Carol Graves (7,141), the former Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages and onetime Newark Teacher’s Union president.

Payne became the city council president when the council reorganized in July 2010.

Running for Congress in 2012, Payne had the organization line as the endorsed candidate for the Essex County Democrats.

He faced a crowded field of six candidates that included: Newark West Ward City Councilman Ronald C. Rice, the son of a popular state senator; State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair); Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith; and newcomers Iraq War veteran Dennis Flynn and Cathy Wright, who worked in the billing office at the Star-Ledger.

Gill had the county line in Hudson after winning the endorsement of the Democratic county chairman, Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith.  But U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and then-Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop endorsed Payne.

Three Newark city council members – Baraka, Crump, and Darrin Sharif – endorsed Rice.

Union County Democrats put Payne, Rice, Gill, and Smith on the organization line.

Payne won the Democratic primary with 59.6%, defeating Rice (19.5%) by 24,627 votes.  Gill finished third with 16.6%, running 1,732 votes behind Rice.  Smith received just 2.2%, followed by Flynn (1.3%) and Wright, who had less than one percent of the vote.

Payne won Essex County with 61% of the vote, followed by Rice (23%), Gill (13%), and Smith 2%.  Gill carried the Hudson County portion of the district by a 49%-39% margin over Payne; Union County gave Payne 69.5%.

Payne ran in two different elections in two different districts that day, seeking his father’s unexpired term as well as a full two-year term.  Congressional redistricting that year changed the boundaries slightly.

Gill did not compete in the special primary, and Payne defeated Rice by 22,423 votes, 70.7% to 24.6%, with Smith finishing third with 4.8%.

New Jersey’s 10th district is one of the most Democratic in the nation, and Payne won his first term in Congress with 87.6% against Republican Brian Kelemen.  The GOP didn’t run anyone in the special election, and Payne defeated independent Joanne Miller with 97.4% of the vote.

Payne endorsed Shavar Jeffries for mayor in his race for mayor of Newark against Baraka in 2014.

Payne caught some bad press in June 2021 when a live Zoom camera caught him unawares, in his underpants and a Captain America T-shirt, while in the middle of a committee hearing. The incident prompted criticism from Payne’s Republican House colleagues and significant embarrassment back home in New Jersey.  The episode happened because a technologically challenged Baby Boomer congressman was alone because his staff was not known for early arrivals at the office.  Payne used self-deprecating humor to diffuse the situation.

The following year, he faced what appeared to be his first serious primary challenge in a decade.  Imani Oakley entered the race against Payne, hoping to harness the same progressive energy that had propelled other left-wing underdogs like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman to victory in next-door New York districts.  She raised $462,671.

Oakley tried to run to Payne’s left, though the congressman hasn’t left a massive amount of room for her to do so, promoting endorsements from progressive luminaries like Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Gov. Phil Murphy.  Payne has voted 97% of the time with Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), the hero of the national progressive movement, during the 117th Congress.  No other New Jersey House member has voted with Ocasio-Cortez more frequently than Payne.

But Oakley proved to be a deeply flawed, mountebank candidate who held a variety of jobs in progressive organizations in recent years but hadn’t been able to hold any of them, and didn’t run with any particular institutional backing. Her former employers – U.S. Senator Cory Booker, then-Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake (D-East Orange), and New Jersey Working Families – endorsed Payne for re-election.

Recognizing that his political image had faded, Payne took the challenge seriously from the start and began building his dormant campaign organization back up.  Needing 200 signatures to get on the ballot, he submitted nearly 10,000 – a symbolic gesture that reconnected his field team with the voters of the 10th district – and raised $1,375,800, far more than in previous cycles. Under the tutelage of Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), Payne became a fundraising powerhouse, relatively speaking.

Payne also made serious inroads with the left wing of the Democratic Party, which has never been fully in his corner but which distrusted Oakley far more.  He won endorsements from unions that might typically be allied with liberal causes– the New Jersey Education Association, AFCME, and the CWA – as well as Planned Parenthood, Baraka, and Fulop.

Because of the strength of the Democratic Party organization in Essex County, Payne would likely have beaten Oakley even if he’d been operating on autopilot. But his strong campaign netted him a huge win, garnering 84% of the vote with Oakley far behind at just 10%. With that victory came newfound recognition from New Jersey Democrats that Payne was indeed a competent, hardworking lawmaker with real progressive chops.

Following his father’s death, Payne actively promoted enhanced awareness of colon cancer and colonoscopies, especially among low-income residents in his district.  He was a member of the Congressional Men’s Health Caucus, the Colorectal Cancer Caucus, and the Peripheral Artery Disease Caucus.

Payne is survived by his wife, Beatrice, and their triplets: Donald III, Jack, and Yvonne.

He is also survived by his uncle, William Payne, and his cousin, Craig Stanley, both former assemblymen from Essex County.  He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Wanda.

Bob Cole obit

Bob Cole, the play-by-play voice of countless NHL games, dies at 90 

Inspired by Foster Hewitt, Cole called hockey games for 5 decades for CBC

 

He was not on the list.

Bob Cole, whose voice and lively language were the Saturday night soundtrack to hockey games over a broadcasting career that spanned more than half a century, has died. He was also a competitive curler.

Cole, who was 90, died Wednesday night in St. John's surrounded by his family, said his daughter, Megan Cole.

"Thank you for decades of love for his work, love of Newfoundland and love of hockey," Megan Cole told CBC News on Thursday.

Cole said her father had been healthy "up until the very end."

Cole's trademark call — "Oh, baby!" — was one of many signposts he brought to play-by-play commentaries that earned him the love of fans and even players themselves. 

"His legacy will be that the players adored him. That's not easy," longtime Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean said in an interview Thursday.

"He always said the game's the thing, not the show, but the players so respected him… He was comfortable. He was professional. He was talented."

Cole, who said he still got goosebumps in his mid-80s when he stepped into an arena broadcasting booth, called one of the most famous plays in Canadian sports history: Paul Henderson's Summit Series goal in 1972, against the Soviet Union.

"His voice is iconic. It's all I associated with watching hockey growing up. He has a close spot in a lot of Canadians' hearts over the years," Steven Stamkos, captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, said in 2019, when Cole called his final game — a classic Original Six matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.

"That was the guy you grew up listening to," Leafs captain John Tavares said at the time.

As Cole wound down his career in 2019, players paid tribute, such as teams skating with their sticks raised high in the air.

"Well, well, well — Ottawa, pretty classy. Thanks very much," an emotional Cole said as he commented on a Senators tribute made just for him.

Fixture on Hockey Night in Canada

Already a prominent figure in St. John's broadcasting, Cole leapt to national broadcasts in 1969 when he started calling NHL games for CBC Radio.

He moved to television in 1973 and would be a staple of Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts for decades to come. He called many Stanley Cup final series over the years, and gave sports fans thrills with on-the-spot comments, some of which have resonated for generations.

"They're going home," he repeatedly said on Jan. 11, 1976, when Russia's Red Army hockey team temporarily headed to the changing room during a heated match with the Philadelphia Flyers, then the reigning Stanley Cup champs.

The incident occurred during the first period, when Flyers defenceman Ed Van Impe, who had just finished serving a penalty, delivered a hard check on Valeri Kharlamov. The Russian star lay prone on the ice for several minutes, prompting Red Army coach Konstantin Loktev to pull his team off the ice in protest when no penalty was called. The Russian team would eventually return to finish the game.

Drawn to 'the feel of the game'

Rooted in radio, Cole knew that what hockey fans heard could add to their enjoyment of the game.

"I get a great charge out of making exciting sound, if you want to call it that," he told The Canadian Press in a 2022 interview, after he received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

"It's the feel of the game that got me started and I managed to hang onto that, I think, or tried to for so long."

For guidance on how to call a hockey game, Cole once went straight to the top with an audition tape: legendary broadcaster Foster Hewitt.

Inspired by Hewitt in his childhood — "radio was my everything," he told Ian Hanomansing in a 2019 interview — Cole in his early 20s tracked down Hewitt in Toronto.

Hewitt not only agreed to listen to the tape but took Cole into the studio to give him feedback on the spot.

"It was a dream you would never imagine could happen — Foster Hewitt is talking to me about how he does, how he thinks about a hockey game," Cole said in 2016 interview with CBC to promote Now I'm Catching On: My Life On and Off the Air, a memoir he wrote with sportswriter Stephen Brunt.

Hockey was not the only sport Cole loved. He curled for many years, twice skipping teams that represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the Brier in the 1970s.

During his lengthy broadcasting career, he anchored the news for Here & Now, CBC's flagship TV news program in Newfoundland and Labrador, and was also quiz master on CBC's Reach for the Top in Newfoundland and Labrador.

His voice appeared outside sports, too. Actor and producer Allan Hawco asked Cole to voice the recap intro heard at the beginning of most episodes of the series Republic of Doyle.

Barb Williams, executive vice-president of CBC, said in a statement that the public broadcaster is mourning the loss of Cole.

"What a gift he had. And what a loss to the entire hockey community," Williams said in a statement. "Like every hockey fan across the country, we are deeply saddened.… Bob will always hold a special place in our hearts at CBC.

Donald Peterson obit

Donald Petersen, CEO Who Turned Around Ford Motor, Dies at 97

 

He was not on the list.

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Petersen, the Ford Motor Co. chief executive officer who helped pull the automaker out of a financial crisis in the 1980s with the introduction of the Taurus sedan, the best-selling car in America for four years, has died. He was 97.

Petersen died of natural causes April 24 at his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, according to his niece Laura Peterson.

Only the second Ford CEO who wasn’t a Ford himself, Petersen ushered in a period of prosperity while leading the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker from 1985 to 1990. During his tenure, Ford posted record profits after overhauling its lineup with more fuel-efficient offerings such as the Taurus. But his legacy was complicated by friction with the Ford family.

The Taurus represented Ford’s most successful response to an onslaught of competition from Japanese automakers when it debuted in 1985. Its aerodynamic look, which some called “jelly-bean styling,” sprang from Petersen challenging designers to come up with a car they’d be proud to have in their driveways.

That is “a standard to which we still hold ourselves,” Ford said in a statement, adding that Petersen “insisted on teamwork and excellence in the name of customers and guided Ford through a period of revitalization and intense competition in the global auto industry.” 

Petersen sought the counsel of W. Edwards Deming, the renowned statistician and quality expert whose ideas heavily influenced Japanese manufacturing after World War II. That led to a push to improve the reliability of Ford’s cars to try to compete with higher-quality offerings from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Under Petersen, Ford’s ad slogan became “Quality is Job One.”

“More than anything, he would want to be remembered by the impact he had on how people work together, while focusing on quality and the customer with the driver’s car,” Laura Peterson, his niece and a former Boeing executive, told Bloomberg News a few years ago. “Taurus is such a symbol of all those things.”

As CEO, Petersen endeavored to change a corrosive culture at Ford that he blamed for abuses he said he endured in his 40-year career there. Culture change was hard for Ford — and for Petersen himself, who was a product of the company’s rigidly hierarchical management structure.

“Time and again, Petersen would tell interviewers and audiences he didn’t want Ford employees to be subjected to the same abusive treatment that he himself had encountered during his climb up the corporate ladder,” Paul Ingrassia and Joseph B. White wrote in Comeback: The Fall and Rise of the American Automobile Industry (1994).

But Petersen sometimes had trouble practicing what he preached, Ingrassia and White wrote, citing anecdotes of him dressing down subordinates. “You can live with a tendency to anger and at the same time have a real caring about people,” Petersen told the authors. “The two are not incompatible.”

Petersen was the second consecutive CEO in the company’s then-82-year history who wasn’t a member of the company’s founding family, taking the helm after Philip Caldwell retired. He ultimately encountered tension with the Ford clan — which still controls the automaker through a special class of stock — after limiting the board duties of two of its scions: Edsel Ford II and William Clay Ford Jr., now Ford’s executive chair.

Family members went public with their concerns about Petersen and his management team in a Fortune magazine story published in early 1989.

Severance Package

“I’ve made it clear on one or two occasions to Mr. Petersen that it does seem a bit odd to me that there are three classes of directors: inside, outside and Billy and me,” Edsel Ford II told Fortune.

Soon thereafter, the CEO departed with a $10 million severance package, Ingrassia and White wrote.

Petersen said he retired voluntarily. “It’s time to repot myself,” he said at a news conference at Ford headquarters.

In 2006, he was among the prominent voices who recommended Alan Mulally to succeed Bill Ford as Ford’s CEO. Mulally went on to become one of the company’s most successful leaders, steering it through the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

Donald Eugene Petersen was born on Sept. 4, 1926, in Pipestone, Minnesota, to William and Mae Petersen. The family moved to Long Beach, California, when he was 2 years old. Later they settled in Portland, Oregon, where he went to high school, according to a 1984 New York Times story.

Marine Corps

He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington in 1946 and served in the US Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.

He joined Ford in 1949, the same year he received a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University, according to a Ford biography.

He held a variety of senior-level positions and became executive vice president of international automotive operations in 1977. He joined Ford’s board that same year and worked as president and chief operating officer from 1980 until 1985.

After leaving Ford, Petersen became a member of Boeing Co.’s board. He also served as a director for Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dow Jones & Co.

Petersen married the former Jo Anne Leonard in 1948. They had two children, Leslie and Donald, according to Marquis Who’s Who.

Terry Carter obit

Terry Carter, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘McCloud’ Actor, Dies at 95

 

He was not on the list.

Terry Carter, who played sergeant Joe Broadhurst on the TV series “McCloud” and detective Colonel Tigh on the original “Battlestar Galactica,” died at his home in New York, N.Y., Tuesday morning. He was 95.

Born John Everett DeCoste in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 16, 1928, to parents of Dominican, Argentine and African American descent, Carter would go on to become the first Black TV news anchor for Boston’s WBZ-TV Eyewitness News, where he also became their first opening night drama and movie critic. He was also one of the first Black regulars on the 1956 TV sitcom series “The Phil Silvers Show,” in which he played Private Sugarman.

Carter’s other credits include the 1970 TV movie “Company of Killers,” in which he starred alongside Van Johnson and Ray Milland, and the 1974 film “Foxy Brown” with Pam Grier.

Carter gained theatre experience in several productions on the Broadway and off-Broadway stage. His Broadway credits include playing the male lead opposite Eartha Kitt in the play Mrs. Patterson and performing the title role in the musical extravaganza Kwamina.

In 1979 Carter formed the Council for Positive Images, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing intercultural and interethnic understanding through media. Under the organization, he produced and directed several documentary programs for PBS focusing on cultural and historical topics.

In 1988, Carter produced and directed the Emmy-nominated TV musical documentary “A Duke Named Ellington,” about the jazz titan.

Carter served two terms on the board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was inducted in 1983 into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and he served on the documentary committee and the foreign films committee for the Oscars. In 1985, Carter was awarded a Los Angeles Emmy for “K*I*D*S,” a TV miniseries he created, directed and produced about a diverse group of teenagers who struggle to navigate the intense conflicts confronting American youth at the time.

From 1965 to 1968, Carter worked as a weekend newscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, where he became an anchor-reporter. Some sources said he was the world's first black TV newsman. During his three-year stint, he also served as New England television's first black opening-night movie and theater critic. Although WBZ said he resigned from the station, Carter told the black press that he had been fired, because Westinghouse (which owned WBZ) objected to his personal involvement in numerous community projects. His departure left Boston without any black TV news reporters.

In 1975, Carter started a small Los Angeles corporation, Meta/4 Productions, Inc. for which he produced and directed industrial and educational presentations on film and videotape for the federal government.

Carter was twice widowed and is survived by his wife Etaferhu Zenebe-DeCoste, and his two children Miguel and Melinda. 

 

Actor

Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation (2012)

Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation

6.3

Josef Bekele

2012

 

Galacticon

8.0

Video

Colonel Tigh

2003

 

Peter Stormare in Hamilton (2001)

Hamilton

6.4

TV Mini Series

Texas Slim

2001

3 episodes

 

Richard Hatch in Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming (1999)

Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming

7.1

Short

President Tigh

1999

 

Hamilton (1998)

Hamilton

5.8

Texas Slim

1998

 

One West Waikiki (1994)

One West Waikiki

6.8

TV Series

Dr. Carter Reeves

1994

1 episode

 

The Return of Sam McCloud (1989)

The Return of Sam McCloud

6.2

TV Movie

Chief Joe Broadhurst

1989

 

Sam J. Jones in The Highwayman (1987)

The Highwayman

6.6

TV Series

Lt. Broadside

1988

1 episode

 

Marla Gibbs and Jackée Harry in 227 (1985)

227

6.7

TV Series

Fred Dalton

1988

1 episode

 

Mr. Belvedere (1985)

Mr. Belvedere

6.5

TV Series

Mr. Bark

1987

1 episode

 

The Fall Guy (1981)

The Fall Guy

7.1

TV Series

Stephen Bates

1982–1985

2 episodes

 

Falcon Crest (1981)

Falcon Crest

6.2

TV Series

Frank Taggert

1984

1 episode

 

Marla Gibbs, Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Sherman Hemsley, Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, and Berlinda Tolbert in The Jeffersons (1975)

The Jeffersons

7.5

TV Series

Carl Davis

1982

1 episode

 

Noah Hathaway, Lorne Greene, Dirk Benedict, Richard Hatch, and Laurette Spang in Battlestar Galactica (1978)

Battlestar Galactica

7.2

TV Series

Colonel Tigh

1978–1979

21 episodes

 

Battlestar Galactica (1978)

Battlestar Galactica

6.7

Colonel Tigh

1978

 

Dennis Weaver in McCloud (1970)

McCloud

6.9

TV Series

Sgt. Joe Broadhurst

Sergeant Joe Broadhurst

Det. Joe Broadhurst ...

1970–1977

42 episodes

 

Charles Durning, Lucille Benson, Terry Carter, Arlene Golonka, Patsy Kelly, Marc McClure, William Pierson, Sharon Spelman, Tierre Turner, and Curtiz Willis in The Cop and the Kid (1975)

The Cop and the Kid

5.7

TV Series

Joe

1976

2 episodes

 

Abby (1974)

Abby

5.5

Rev. Emmett Williams

1974

 

Higgins in Benji (1974)

Benji

6.1

Officer Tuttle

1974

 

Pam Grier in Foxy Brown (1974)

Foxy Brown

6.5

Michael Anderson

1974

 

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping (1973)

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping

6.7

TV Movie

Mel Bristo

1973

 

Brother on the Run (1973)

Brother on the Run

4.8

Prof. Grant 'Boots' Turner

1973

 

Anthony Franciosa, Doug McClure, and Hugh O'Brian in Search (1972)

Search

8.1

TV Series

Hawley Mattson

1973

1 episode

 

Patty Duke and Ted Bessell in Two on a Bench (1971)

Two on a Bench

5.9

TV Movie

Kingston

1971

 

Ralph Bellamy, George Maharis, and Yvette Mimieux in The Most Deadly Game (1970)

The Most Deadly Game

6.6

TV Series

Purt

1970

1 episode

 

Company of Killers (1970)

Company of Killers

5.6

TV Movie

Max Jaffie

1970

 

Diahann Carroll and Marc Copage in Julia (1968)

Julia

7.7

TV Series

Bert Morrow

Ray Ulmering

1968–1970

3 episodes

 

Mike Connors in Mannix (1967)

Mannix

7.4

TV Series

Marcus Fair

1970

1 episode

 

Bracken's World (1969)

Bracken's World

6.9

TV Series

Perry Lee Wilson

1969

1 episode

 

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969)

The Bold Ones: The New Doctors

6.9

TV Series

Mike Carter

1969

1 episode

 

Marlo Thomas in That Girl (1966)

That Girl

7.3

TV Series

J.J. Johnson

1969

1 episode

 

Attraction (1969)

Attraction

5.2

American

1969

 

Robert Reed and E.G. Marshall in The Defenders (1961)

The Defenders

8.0

TV Series

Sam Mitchell

Detective #1

1961–1965

2 episodes

 

Combat! (1962)

Combat!

8.4

TV Series

Archie

1965

1 episode

 

William Shatner in For the People (1965)

For the People

7.5

TV Series

Superior Clerk

1965

1 episode

 

Dr. Kildare (1961)

Dr. Kildare

7.0

TV Series

Ernie Mann

1964

1 episode

 

Breaking Point (1963)

Breaking Point

7.4

TV Series

Rosie Palmer

1964

1 episode

 

Naked City (1958)

Naked City

8.2

TV Series

Jack Lubin

1961

1 episode

 

Troy Donahue, Sharon Hugueny, Diane McBain, and Connie Stevens in Parrish (1961)

Parrish

6.5

Cartwright (uncredited)

1961

 

Walter Matthau in Play of the Week (1959)

Play of the Week

7.1

TV Series

Rufe Apley

1960

1 episode

 

First Person (1960)

First Person

TV Series

Solomon

1960

1 episode

 

Playhouse 90 (1956)

Playhouse 90

8.4

TV Series

2nd Guard

Wesley

1958–1960

3 episodes

 

The Phil Silvers Show (1955)

The Phil Silvers Show

8.4

TV Series

Pvt. Sugie Sugarman

Pvt. Sugarman

Pvt. 'Sugie' Sugarman ...

1955–1959

92 episodes

 

The Green Pastures

TV Movie

Gabriel

1959

 

The Green Pastures

7.7

TV Movie

Gabriel

1957

 

The Big Story (1949)

The Big Story

6.5

TV Series

Bob Thomas

1957

1 episode

 

Playwrights '56 (1955)

Playwrights '56

6.6

TV Series

1955

1 episode

 

Director

American Masters (1985)

American Masters

8.2

TV Series

Director

1988

1 episode

 

Music Department

Troy Donahue, Sharon Hugueny, Diane McBain, and Connie Stevens in Parrish (1961)

Parrish

6.5

work songs

1961

 

Selected projects

Katherine Dunham Technique – Library of Congress

A 2-½ hour presentation of the dance technique of anthropologist-choreographer Katherine Dunham. Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, this video documentary is designed to serve as a study guide for dance teachers, scholars and dancers, as part of the Katherine Dunham Legacy Project of the Library of Congress. In 2012, Terry Carter released The Katherine Dunham Technique as a DVD.

A Duke Named Ellington - WNET-TV (PBS), American Masters Series (1988)

This two-hour musical documentary features Ellington, reminiscing and performing, as soloist and with his orchestra. A Duke Named Ellington offers a retrospective of Ellington's half-century career, focusing primarily on his music and method, his artistic accomplishments and his role in the development of modern music. A Duke Named Ellington had its world premiere on the PBS American Masters series, to critical acclaim. A Duke Named Ellington was selected as the official US entry in international television festivals in countries such as the People's Republic of China, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Poland, and Bulgaria. A Duke Named Ellington has been telecast in most countries of Europe, as well as in Japan, Australia, and South Africa. The program has been awarded the CINE Golden Eagle and the Golden Antenna. A Duke Named Ellington was nominated for an Emmy Award as "Outstanding Informational Special". In 2007, Carter released A Duke Named Ellington, the documentary he produced for PBS American Masters in 1988, as a DVD.

Once Upon A Vision - KET-TV (PBS) (1991)

This one-hour television documentary reveals the history of Berea, Kentucky, a unique 19th Century inter-racial colony founded in the midst of the slave-holding South. Before the Civil War, a group of abolitionists and former slaves began building a community based on unconditional racial and gender equality and participatory democracy. For more than half a century, withstanding persecution from slavers, pro-slavery politicians, and the Ku Klux Klan, these poor white and black settlers lived, and died for, their vision of multi-racial democracy. This program has become part of the secondary-school American History curriculum in Kentucky. Hosted and narrated by historian and author Alex Haley.

JazzMasters - TV2/Denmark (1988)

This series of 13 television portraits features musical artists in the world of jazz. An international co-production, JazzMasters was the first program series ever commissioned by TV2/Denmark. The JazzMasters series has been telecast in Scandinavia, France, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan. The series features programs about Chet Baker, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Bobby Hutcherson, Carmen McRae, Palle Mikkelborg, James Moody, Clark Terry, Randy Weston, Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

K*I*D*S - KCET-TV (PBS), US Department of Education (1984)

This dramatic television miniseries was designed for public broadcasting to promote interracial and interethnic understanding among adolescents. K*I*D*S is the story of a multi-racial group of teenagers struggling to cope with some of the adult-sized conflicts confronting youth in America today. Endorsed by the National Education Association, K*I*D*S, accompanied by a teachers' guide, was also distributed on videocassette to secondary schools throughout the nation. K*I*D*S received an Emmy award in Los Angeles as "Best Series for Children and Youth".

Awards