Gloria Pall obit

Gloria Pall dies at 85; Voluptua character deemed too sexy for TV

 

She was not on the list.

Valley Village resident Gloria Pall, who was taken off television in the 1950s for being too sexy, died Dec. 30 of heart failure at a Burbank hospital, according to the Los Angeles Times. She was 85.

Patch first met Gloria Pall back in November of 2010 when our Faith and Charity columnist Linda Rubin interviewed her for a story about Temple Beth Hillel's 10th Annual Thanksgiving Feast.

The following information Patch reported in July of 2011 in a story about Pall:

Pall starred in a TV show in 1954 and 1955 called Voluptua, which aired on KABC in Los Angeles for seven weeks before it was cancelled due to conservative outrage, with one group dubbing it "Corruptua."

Voluptua was a bit of a takeoff on the show Vampira, but instead of horror movies, Pall hosted romance movies. But the fact that she was scantilly clad and would often undress behind a translucent screen while purring seductively at the camera caused a commotion with some housewives and conservative groups. As Pall pointed out in an interview with KPCC, this was at the same time Ricky and Lucy on I Love Lucy couldn't even be seen to be sleeping in the same bed.

Pall also had a successful modeling career and had many small roles in films and TV shows, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Jailhouse Rock.

Pall was getting new recognition over the last few years for her past work and was interviewed on KPCC about her career.

"She was quite openly in touch with her sexuality, and that was an incredibly dangerous thing to do," said R.H. Greene, a Los Angeles author and documentary filmmaker that put together the KPCC story, according to the L.A. Times. "We don't have too many stories for that time that illustrate that, and Gloria's does."

In 1947, she entered and won a "Miss Flatbush" contest which opened the door to work as a model. She worked as a showgirl in both Reno and Las Vegas, as well as in Hollywood, where for a time she was chosen to be "Miss Earl Carroll" from the huge cast of beauties. This was at the Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Blvd. in 1952. She dated Howard Hughes for a time.

Pall got her first acting job on television in 1951 and went on to a successful career as an actress for 10 years, primarily in secondary and minor roles. In 1958, she was cast as Blanche Golden in "Abracadabra" of the western aviation adventure series, Sky King. She had a small role in The Twilight Zone episode, "And When the Sky Was Opened". She had small roles in feature films such as Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), The French Line (1954), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Jailhouse Rock (1957), The Brothers Karamazov (1958), The Crimson Kimono (1959), and Elmer Gantry (1960).

She appeared on the cover of several national celebrity magazines and twice was a centerfold in Esquire.

In late 1954 and early 1955, she developed a television show called Voluptua for KABC-TV that caused a furor for what was then seen as obscenity. In a 2011 radio interview with author and broadcaster R. H. Greene, Pall reminisced about the Voluptua program, explaining the show's format, re-enacting character dialogue, and explaining how Christian and PTA groups labelled the character "Corruptua" and pressured KABC to take her off the air. Cancelled after seven weeks, Voluptua got Pall feature stories in Life and Playboy magazines. In 1959, Pall began developing a career in real estate, and in 1962 opened her own office on Sunset Strip. Her final known screen credit is the 1964 TV short Low Man on a Totem Pole.

 

Actress

Low Man on a Totem Pole

9.2

TV Movie

Girl

1964

 

Susan Hayward and Dean Martin in Ada (1961)

Ada

6.6

Party Girl (uncredited)

1961

 

Angela Cartwright, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson, Marjorie Lord, and Danny Thomas in The Danny Thomas Show (1953)

The Danny Thomas Show

7.1

TV Series

Hatcheck Girl

1960

1 episode

 

Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, and Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry (1960)

Elmer Gantry

7.7

Girl in Brothel (uncredited)

1960

 

Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone (1959)

The Twilight Zone

9.0

TV Series

Girl in Bar (uncredited)

1959

1 episode

 

The Crimson Kimono (1959)

The Crimson Kimono

6.8

Sugar Torch

1959

 

Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters in Sky King (1951)

Sky King

7.7

TV Series

Blanche Golden

1958

1 episode

 

The Brothers Karamazov (1958)

The Brothers Karamazov

6.7

Girl (uncredited)

1958

 

Have Gun - Will Travel (1957)

Have Gun - Will Travel

8.4

TV Series

Della

1958

1 episode

 

Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Jailhouse Rock

6.5

Striptease Woman (uncredited)

1957

 

The Spike Jones Show (1954)

The Spike Jones Show

7.6

TV Series

Gabby Lane

1957

1 episode

 

Jean Simmons, Paul Douglas, and Anthony Franciosa in This Could Be the Night (1957)

This Could Be the Night

6.7

New Girl (uncredited)

1957

 

The Garment Jungle (1957)

The Garment Jungle

6.6

Model (uncredited)

1957

 

The People's Choice (1955)

The People's Choice

7.9

TV Series

Finan Haddie Model

1957

1 episode

 

December Bride (1954)

December Bride

7.9

TV Series

1957

1 episode

 

Stanley Clements, Huntz Hall, Joi Lansing, and Phil Phillips in Hot Shots (1956)

Hot Shots

5.5

Party Guest (uncredited)

1956

 

Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters in The Night of the Hunter (1955)

The Night of the Hunter

8.0

Burlesque Dancer (uncredited)

1955

 

Kathleen Crowley and Victor McLaglen in City of Shadows (1955)

City of Shadows

5.5

Waitress

1955

 

Mari Blanchard, Sally Forrest, Dale Robertson, and Lili St. Cyr in Son of Sinbad (1955)

Son of Sinbad

5.2

Raider (uncredited)

1955

 

The Bob Cummings Show (1955)

The Bob Cummings Show

7.7

TV Series

Texan's Mistress

1955

1 episode

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

7.2

Blonde Girlfriend (uncredited)

1954

 

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in The Abbott and Costello Show (1952)

The Abbott and Costello Show

8.1

TV Series

Contestant #9 (uncredited)

1954

1 episode

 

Where's Raymond?

7.3

TV Series

Cuddles

1954

3 episodes

 

Space Patrol (1950)

Space Patrol

6.8

TV Series

Zamba

1954

3 episodes

 

Jane Russell in The French Line (1953)

The French Line

5.1

Model in Musical Number (uncredited)

1953

 

Eva Gabor, Paulette Goddard, Robert Hutton, Barbara Lawrence, and Marilyn Maxwell in Paris Model (1953)

Paris Model

4.8

Credits Girl (uncredited)

1953

 

Teresa Brewer in The George Jessel Show (1953)

The George Jessel Show

TV Series

Showgirl Sketches #10

1953

1 episode

 

Marry Me Again (1953)

Marry Me Again

7.1

Blonde (uncredited)

1953

 

Anita Ekberg, Bud Abbott, Mari Blanchard, Lou Costello, and Jean Willes in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

5.9

Tall Girl in New York (uncredited)

1953

 

All Ashore (1953)

All Ashore

5.0

Lucretia

1953

 

Judd Holdren in Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953)

Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe

5.7

The Moon Girl

1953

 

Percy Kilbride, Marjorie Main, and Bodil Miller in Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1952)

Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation

6.6

French Girl Walking Poodle (uncredited)

1952

 

Racket Squad (1950)

Racket Squad

7.4

TV Series

Symphony Smith

1952

1 episode

 

Self

The Extra (2017)

The Extra

7.1

Self

2017

 

Vampira and Me (2012)

Vampira and Me

7.3

Self

2012

 

Shelley Winters and Skip E. Lowe in Skip E. Lowe Looks at Hollywood (1978)

Skip E. Lowe Looks at Hollywood

5.2

TV Series

Self

2009

1 episode

 

Moviewatch (1993)

Moviewatch

8.1

TV Series

Self

1994

1 episode

 

The A-B-C's of Love

6.3

Self (Comedienne)

1953

 

All Star Revue (1950)

All Star Revue

8.2

TV Series

Self - Showgirl in Sketches

1952

1 episode

 

The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)

The Colgate Comedy Hour

7.7

TV Series

Self

1951

1 episode

 

Bob Barker in The All New Truth or Consequences (1950)

The All New Truth or Consequences

7.3

TV Series

Self - Girl in William Bendix skit

1951

1 episode

Harry Carey Jr. - #38

Western actor Harry Carey Jr. has died. He was number 38 on the list. There seems to be a rash of famous deaths as the year ends.

Harry Carey Jr. dies, character actor was 91

Harry Carey Jr., a character actor who starred in such Westerns as “3 Godfathers” and “Wagon Master,” has died. He was 91.

His daughter, Melinda Carey, said he died Thursday of natural causes surrounded by family at a hospice facility in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“He went out as gracefully as he came in,” she said Friday.

Carey’s career spanned more than 50 years and included such John Ford classics as “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” ‘’The Searchers” and “The Long Gray Line.” Later in life, he appeared in the movies “Gremlins” "Tombstone" and “Back to the Future Part III.”

His memoir, “Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company,” was published in 1994.

While he lacked the leading-man stature of longtime friend and co-star John Wayne, Carey’s boyish looks and horse-riding skills earned him roles in many of Ford’s films.

He and fellow character Ben Johnson famously learned to stand simultaneously on two galloping horses — a trick known as roman riding — for the 1950 film “Rio Grande” starring Wayne.

“My journey has been that of a character actor,” he wrote in his memoir. “I’ve worked with the great and the not-so-great. But mostly I’ve worked with men and women who loved their profession, and who like me, had kids to raise and houses to pay for.”

Carey was the son of silent-film Western star Harry Carey Sr. and actress Olive Carey. He was born on May 16, 1921, on his family’s ranch and graduated from Hollywood’s Black-Foxe Military Institute.

During World War II, he served in the Navy and worked with Ford on films for the Navy.

He acted later in Disney films such as Run, Cougar, Run and in the television series The Adventures of Spin and Marty.

He is survived by his wife, a son, two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.




Selected filmography

Film



Desperate Trails (1921) as Young Baby (uncredited)

Rolling Home (1946) as Dobey

Pursued (1947) as Prentice

Red River (1948) as Dan Latimer

Moonrise (1948) as Jimmy Biff

Blood on the Moon (1948) as Cowboy (uncredited)

3 Godfathers (1948) as William Kearney ("The Albilene Kid")

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) as 2nd Lt. Ross Pernell

Wagon Master (1950) as Sandy Owens

Copper Canyon (1950) as Lt. Ord

Rio Grande (1950) as Trooper Daniel 'Sandy' Boone

Warpath (1951) as Capt. Gregson

Cattle Drive (1951) as Train Passenger (uncredited)

The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) as Sgt. Shaker Schuker

Monkey Business (1952) as Reporter (uncredited)

Niagara (1953) as Taxi Driver (uncredited)

San Antone (1953) as Dobe Frakus

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) as Winslow - Olympic Team (uncredited)

Sweethearts on Parade (1953) as Jim Riley, aka James Whitcomb Riley

Island in the Sky (1953) as Ralph Hunt

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) as Griff Rhys

Silver Lode (1954) as Johnson

The Outcast (1954) as Bert

The Long Gray Line (1955) as Dwight Eisenhower

House of Bamboo (1955) as John (uncredited)

Mister Roberts (1955) as Stefanowski

Spin and Marty: The Movie (1955) as Bill Burnett

The Searchers (1956) as Brad Jorgenson

The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) as William Bensinger

Gun the Man Down (1956) as Deputy Lee

7th Cavalry (1956) as Cpl. Morrison

The River's Edge (1957) as Chet

Kiss Them for Me (1957) as Lt. Chuck Roundtree (uncredited)

From Hell to Texas (1958) as Trueblood

Escort West (1958) as Trooper Travis

Rio Bravo (1959) as Harold (scenes deleted)

Noose for a Gunman (1960) as Jim Ferguson

The Great Impostor (1961) as Dr. Joseph Mornay

Two Rode Together (1961) as Ortho Clegg

A Public Affair (1962) as Bill Martin

The Raiders (1963) as Jellicoe

Cheyenne Autumn (1964) as Trooper Smith (uncredited)

Taggart (1964) as Lt. Hudson (uncredited)

Shenandoah (1965) as Jenkins (rebel soldier)

The Rare Breed (1966) as Mabry

Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) as Ben Dooley

Cyborg 2087 (1966) as Jay C

Alvarez Kelly (1966) as Corporal Peterson

The Way West (1967) as Mr. McBee

The Ballad of Josie (1967) as Mooney

The Devil's Brigade (1968) as Capt Rose

Bandolero! (1968) as Cort Hayjack

Death of a Gunfighter (1969) as Rev. Rork

The Undefeated (1969) as Solomon Webster

One More Time (1970) (uncredited)

The Moonshine War (1970) as Arley Stamper

Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) as Charles Stuart

One More Train to Rob (1971) as Red

Big Jake (1971) as Pop Dawson

Trinity Is Still My Name (1971) as Father

Something Big (1971) as Joe Pickins

Man of the East (1972) as Holy Joe

Run, Cougar, Run (1972) as Hank

Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) as Hank

White Fang (1973) as John Tarwater

Take a Hard Ride (1975) as Dumper

Nickelodeon (1976) as Dobie

The Long Riders (1980) as George Arthur

Endangered Species (1982) as Dr. Emmer

The Shadow Riders (1982) as Pa Travern

Gremlins (1984) as Mr. Anderson

Mask (1985) as Red

UFOria (1985) as George Martin

Crossroads (1986) as Bartender

The Whales of August (1987) as Joshua Brackett

Cherry 2000 (1987) as Snappy Tom

Once Upon a Texas Train (1988, TV movie) as Herald Finch

Illegally Yours (1988) as Wally Finnegan

Breaking In (1989) as Shoes, Poker Player

Bad Jim (1990) as J.C. Lee

Back to the Future, Part III (1990) as Zeke, Saloon Old-Timer #2

The Exorcist III (1990) as Father Kanavan

Tombstone (1993) as Marshal Fred White

Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994) as Digger Phelps

Sunchaser (1996) as Cashier

Last Stand at Saber River (1997, TV movie) as James Sanford



Television



The Lone Ranger - "Return of Dice Dawn" - Dice Dawson, Alias, Jay Thomasson (1955)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Road to Wickenburg" - Sheriff Jack (1958) Goodfellow

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" - Bud Sorenson (1958)

The Grey Ghost - "The Picnic" - Caldwell (1958)

Mackenzie's Raiders - "Uprising" - Ed Gary (1959)

Gunsmoke - "Horse Deal" - Deesha (1959)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Posse" - Sheriff (1959)

Bonanza - "Vendetta" - Zack Morgan (1959)

Wagon Train - "Chuck Wooster, Wagon Master" - Willkins (1959)

Rawhide - "Incident of the Shambling Man" - Tanner (1959)

The Rifleman - "The Deserter" - Lt. Paul Rolfe (1960)

Bonanza - "The Mission" - Corporal Burton (1960)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Sanctuary" - Jonas Quincy (1960)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Legacy" - Banker Burton (1960)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Marshal's Boy" - Frank Gulley (1960)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Misguided Father" - Sheriff Stander (1960)

The Rifleman - "The Journey Back" - Lt. Vaughn (1961)

Laramie - "The Debt" - Harry Markle (1961)

Gunsmoke - "Bad Sheriff" - Bill Turloe (1961)

Whispering Smith - "Safety Valve" - Sgt. Curt Stringer (1961)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Revenger" - Sheriff Conlon (1961)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "The Tax Gatherer" - Jess Turner (1961)

Perry Mason - "The Case of the Roving River" - District Ranger Frank Deane (1961)

Wagon Train - "The George B. Hanrahhan Story" - Tim Hogan (1962)

Laramie - "Time of the Traitor" - Hobey (1962)

Gunsmoke - "Abe Blocker" - Jake (1962)

Laramie - "Lost Allegiance" - Whitey Banister (1962)

Checkmate - "The Bold and the Tough" - Phil Cassidy (1962)

Lawman - episode - Cort - Mitch Evers (1962)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "Jonah and the Trout" - Jonah Quincy (1962)

Laramie - "The Barefoot Kid" - Dan Emery (1962)

Gunsmoke - "Quint Asper Comes Home" - Grant (1962)

Alcoa Premiere - "Flashing Spikes" - Man in the Dugout (1962)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "Taylor's Woman" - Thad Taylor (1962)

Rawhide - "The Deserters' Patrol" - Walsh (1962)

Ripcord - Carl Devlin - Para Nurse (1962)

Ripcord - Cheyenne Bronson - A Free Falling Star (1963)

Have Gun - Will Travel - "Face of a Shadow" - Earl Tibner (1963)

Wagon Train - "The Martin Gatsby Story" - Jeb Colton (1963)

Have Gun - Will Travel "Sweet Lady of the Moon" - Ben Murdock (1963)

Gunsmoke -" The Quest for Asa Janin" - Sheriff Hank Colridge (1963)

Wagon Train - "The Molly Kincaid Story" - Charlie Hankins (1963)

Wagon Train - "The Sam Pulaski Story" - John Jay Burroughs (1963)

Bonanza - "The Flannel-Mouth Gun" - Phil Shelton (1965)

Wagon Train - "The Silver Lady" - Walt Thompson (1965)

Gunsmoke - "Bank Baby" - Jim Fisher (1965)

Branded - "Leap Upon Mountains" - Lt. John Pritchett (uncredited) (1965)

Branded - "The Vindicators" - Lt. John Pritchett (1965)

The Virginian - "The Modoc Kid" - Bob Archer (1967)

Gunsmoke - "Baker's Dozen" - Will Roniger (1967)

Bonanza - "Judgement at Red Creek" - Mapes (1967)

Gunsmoke - "Waco" - Nathan Cade (1968)

Mannix - "Missing: Sun and Sky" - Floyd Brand (1969)

The Virginian - "Follow the Leader" - Thad Miley (1970)

Gunsmoke - "Gold Train: The Bullet" parts 1-3 - Kelliher (1971)

Banacek - "Horse of a Slightly Different Color" - Dean Barrett (1974)

Hec Ramsey - "Scar Tissue - Prospector" (1974)

Gunsmoke - "Trail of Bloodshed" - Amos Brody (1974)

Police Woman - "Sons" (1978)

B.J. and the Bear - "Fire in the Hole" - Joe Pogovich (1980)

Little House on the Prairie - "A New Beginning" - Sheriff Pike (1980)

Dallas - "End of the Road: Part 1" - Red (1981)

Knight Rider - "Not a Drop to Drink" - Josh Morgan (1982)

CHiPs - "Flare Up" - Grandfather Cross (1982)

Hollywood Greats - TV series documentary - "John Wayne" - himself (1984)

Biography - TV series documentary - "John Wayne: The Unquiet American" - himself (1987)

Cowboys: Ben Johnson & Harry Carey Jr. - documentary (1988)

John Wayne Standing Tall - TV movie - himself (1989)

B.L. Stryker - "Auntie Sue" - Jones (1989)

Thank Ya, Thank Ya Kindly - TV movie documentary - himself (1991)

Omnibus - TV Series documentary - "John Ford: Part One" - himself (1992)

Legends of the American West - video documentary - himself (1992)

John Ford - TV movie documentary - himself (1993)

Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right - documentary - himself (1996)

Howard Hawks: American Artist - TV movie documentary - himself (1997)

G.I. Joe: The Ernie Pyle Story - TV movie documentary (1998)

American Masters - TV series documentary - "John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend" - himself (2006)

Harry Carey Jr Hosts John Wayne Meets Lucy - video documentary short -himself (host) (2009)

Harry Carey Jr's Tribute to John Wayne Producer - video short - himself (2010)

Mike Auldridge obit

RIP Mike Auldridge

 

He was not on the list.

The word “legend” gets tossed around pretty casually these days, but it does apply to Mike Auldridge, who died of cancer Saturday morning, one day short of his 74th birthday.

Mike was a founding member of the Seldom Scene, a band that expanded the reach and style of bluegrass music and is still going strong 42 years later. But more importantly, he was a revolutionary with the resophonic guitar, clearing the way for, and mentoring, Rob Ickes, Jerry Douglas and other top players.

“The music industry lost a GIANT,” said former bandmate Lou Reid, who still performs with the Scene. “Mike was an innovator, a class act and one of the funniest people I have ever met. Anytime I saw him, we immediately went back to where we left off in the old Scene days. No one made me laugh harder than Mike. I will miss him so much.”

The Scene’s Dudley Connell noted that Mike “had the unique ability to place a metal bar on metal strings and strike them with metal picks and produce a pure and beautiful tone. It would seem an impossible task, but Mike accomplished this feat for over 40 years.”

Mike’s work with the Scene was a centerpiece of his accomplishment, but there was much, much more. He delivered nine solo albums, toured and recorded with Darren Beachley and Legends of the Potomac and was a first-call picker for Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, among many others.

He could have done much more, but decided against a move to Nashville in the early 1970s and stayed in the Washington, DC, area. He never looked back on what might have been. “Who knows?” he told The Washington Post with his trademark humor a few years ago. “Had we moved to Nashville, I might have wound up playing steel guitar in a band and dying in a plane crash.” There was some irony in that statement, too. Mike hated to fly.

Mike started to play at 13, influenced by Josh Graves. He won a Grammy, played in a band that is in the International Bluegrass Music Association’s hall of fame, received a lifetime achievement award from IBMA and was honored earlier this year with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. None of that went to Mike’s head. He was one of the most humble, down-to-earth men you could hope to meet – in any walk of life.

“I’ve never run across another musician who garners as much respect as Mike,” said Rob Ickes of Blue Highway. “I’ve met a lot of people who remember where they were when they first heard that guy play.”

Rob counts himself in that number. He was 13 years old, coming back from his first bluegrass festival, when his brother popped Mike’s first recording into the car stereo.

“I said, ‘What is that?’ My brother told me, and that night, I started playing as soon as I got home. It set me on a path. I said, ‘Whatever this is, I like it.’” For days, Rob fell asleep to the sounds of Mike’s record, and he hit the play button again as soon as he woke up. Just before he moved into hospice care, Mike wrapped up an all-Dobro album with Rob and Jerry Douglas. That’s one I can’t wait to hear. Three masters, with Mike serving as the bridge from Josh Graves, who was his mentor, to Rob and Jerry. It’ll be out in 2013.

It’s easy, at a time like this, to be sad. But Mike, who always smiled,  wouldn’t want it that way. A year ago, discussing his long illness, he told Rob: “I could go tomorrow, but I have no regrets. I’ve been able to play music my whole life.

And, fortunately, we’ve been able to listen. Today, I’ll remember Mike Auldridge by playing some classic Seldom Scene tunes, being wowed by his oh-so-smooth picking and singing along with equally smooth baritone harmonies.

And Monday night, I’ll ring in the New Year listening to the Seldom Scene at the Birchmere Music Hall in suburban D.C. Somewhere, I think, Mike Auldridge will be smiling.

Norman Schwarzkopf - #37

Norman Schwarskoph has died. He was number 37 on the list.

Desert Storm Commander Norman Schwarzkopf Dies

Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn’t care much for his popular “Stormin’ Norman” nickname.

The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander’s reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 from complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: “The Bear.”

That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children’s charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.

He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he’d served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.

Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991 — but he’d managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.

Schwarzkopf was named commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base in 1988, overseeing the headquarters for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly two dozen countries stretching across the Middle East to Afghanistan and the rest of central Asia, plus Pakistan.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait two years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf — a self-proclaimed political independent — rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

While focused primarily on charitable enterprises in his later years, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early 2003 he told The Washington Post that the outcome was an unknown: “What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That’s a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan.”

Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.

He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004 he sharply criticized Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included erroneous judgments about Iraq and inadequate training for Army reservists sent there.

“In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. … I don’t think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war),” he said in an NBC interview.

Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case. That investigation ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for murdering famed aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son

Jon Finch obit

Jon Finch obituary

Charismatic star of Polanski's Macbeth and Hitchcock's Frenzy

 

He was not on the list.

In the 1970s, it seemed a sure bet that the actor Jon Finch, who has died aged 70, would become a durable film star of some magnitude. He had the dark good looks, the voice, the charisma and the opportunities. At the beginning of his film career, he played the title role in Roman Polanski's The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971) and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972). Around the same time he was offered the chance to replace Sean Connery as James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973). The fact that Finch turned the part down stupefied many commentators.

That Finch never achieved the level of stardom that was anticipated may be attributed to his dislike of the kind of media publicity that goes with it and his self-proclaimed lack of ambition. "I never wanted to be a big star," Finch once said. "I usually do one film a year, so I always have enough money to enjoy myself and keep myself out of the public eye. It's a very pleasant life, not one of great ambition." Actually, leaving aside the great expectations, Finch's career was a reasonably successful one by normal standards.

Finch was born in Caterham, Surrey, the son of a merchant banker. He first started acting at school, later gaining experience in amateur theatre groups. After serving in a parachute regiment during his military service, he joined an SAS reserve regiment. "I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the SAS and I'm still very proud of having been a member," he recalled. "But eventually I had to leave because I was becoming more and more involved in the theatre and the SAS demands most of your weekends and several nights a week."

Finch had started acting professionally with several different repertory companies around the UK before he got a part in Crossroads, the popular daytime soap, during its first run in 1964. Finch then appeared in Z-Cars (1967-68) and in 10 episodes of Counterstrike (1969), a short-lived BBC sci-fi series about an alien (Finch) sent to Earth to save it from extinction.

His film career began in two hammy Hammer horrors, The Vampire Lovers and The Horror of Frankenstein (both 1970). Polanski, who had made his own comic horror movie, The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), thought Finch had the credentials to play Macbeth.

There were those who thought it in bad taste that Polanski made a film of the most blood-soaked of all Shakespeare's plays just two years after his wife, Sharon Tate, had been murdered by the followers of Charles Manson. Finch and Francesca Annis, as the Macbeths, were impressively youthful, tortured and impassioned.

Equally outraged and baffled as a bitter ex-RAF hero down on his luck, Finch subtly avoided the temptation to be sympathetic as "the wrong man" accused of being the "neck-tie strangler" in Frenzy, Hitchcock's first film shot in England for 16 years.

He was quietly authoritative as the cuckolded politician Lord Melbourne in Robert Bolt's Lady Caroline Lamb (1973), in a role that had first been offered to Timothy Dalton, a future James Bond. Around the same time, Finch declined the Bond offer, as well as one from Richard Lester to play Aramis in The Three Musketeers. He preferred real-life derring-do – motor racing and parachuting.

But in 1976, Finch discovered that he had diabetes. A few years later, he remarked: "I am over all the trauma of it now and, apart from motor racing, parachuting and a few other things, I can still do what I want. I have plenty of energy for the parts I play and I just thank God for the discovery of insulin, otherwise I'd be dead."

Although he turned down the part of Doyle (eventually taken by Martin Shaw) in London Weekend's The Professionals (1977), claiming curiously that he "couldn't possibly play a policeman," Finch continued to appear regularly on television and in films. These included Death on the Nile (1978), based on Agatha Christie, in which he played a Marxist who resents the wealth of some of the other suspects. However, he had to drop out when he fell ill on the first day of filming of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and was replaced by John Hurt.

Regarded by Finch as the highlight of his career was his powerful portrayal of Henry Bolingbroke in Richard II (1978), and Henry IV (parts one and two) (1979) in the BBC's Shakespeare History Cycle. He was later a nobly played and spoken Don Pedro in the BBC's Much Ado About Nothing (1984).

In 1980, Finch married the actor Catriona MacColl, with whom he co-starred in a minor Spanish film, Power Game (1983). They divorced in 1987. Finch was seen in various television series throughout the 90s. His last film role was as the Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven (2005); in which he finally got to work for Ridley Scott.

Finch is survived by his daughter, Holly.

Filmography

    The Vampire Lovers (1970) – Carl Ebhardt

    The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) – Lt. Henry Becker

    Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) – Scotsman

    Macbeth (1971) – Macbeth

    Frenzy (1972) – Richard Blaney

    Lady Caroline Lamb (1972) – William Lamb

    The Final Programme (1973) (U.S. title: The Last Days of Man on Earth) – Jerry Cornelius

    Ben Hall (1975, TV series) – Ben Hall

    Diagnosis: Murder (1975) – Det. Insp. Lomax

    Une femme fidèle (1976) – Comte Charles de Lapalmmes

    The Second Power (1976) – Juan de Sacramonte

    The Standard (1977) – Major Charbinsky

    Death on the Nile (1978) – Mr. Ferguson

    Richard II (1978, TV film) – Henry Bolingbroke

    La Sabina (1979) – Michael

    Henry IV, Part I (1979, TV film) – King Henry IV

    Henry IV, Part II (1979, TV film) – King Henry IV

    Breaking Glass (1980) – Woods

The Martian Chronicles (1880) – Jesus Christ

    Gary Cooper, que estás en los cielos (1980) – Mario Pérez

    Peter and Paul (1981, TV film) – Luke

    Doktor Faustus (1982) – Adrian Leverkühn

    Giro City (1982) – O'Mally

    Power Game (1983)

    Much Ado About Nothing (1984, TV film) – Don Pedro

    Pop Pirates (1984) – Coastguard

    The Rainbow (1988, TV miniseries) — Uncle Tom

    Plaza Real (1988) – David

    The Voice (1988) – Miller

    Streets of Yesterday (1989)

    La più bella del reame (1989) – Jeremy

    The Lurking Fear (1994) – Bennett

    Darklands (1996) – David Keller

    Bloodlines: Legacy of a Lord (1998) – Derek Jarvis

    Anazapta (2002) – Sir Walter de Mellerby

    New Tricks (2003, TV series) – Roddy Wringer

    Kingdom of Heaven (2005) – Patriarch Heraclius (final film role)