Leonard Termo obit

Character Actor Leonard Termo Dies at 77

He played opposite his pal Mickey Rourke in a handful of 1980s movies and sold an aphrodisiac mango in a classic episode of "Seinfeld."

 

He was not on the list.

Leonard Termo, a streetwise character actor who appeared in five 1980s films with soulmate Mickey Rourke and guest starred in a memorable episode of Seinfeld, has died, his friend, actor Elias Koteas, confirmed Friday. He was 77.

Koteas told The Hollywood Reporter that Termo died peacefully in his sleep Oct. 30 at his home in Santa Clarita, Calif.

The Brooklyn-born Termo had a role as a gay waiter opposite Rourke in The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) and also played against the future Oscar nominee in Michael Cimino‘s Year of the Dragon (1985), Barbet Schroeder’s Barfly (1987), A Prayer for the Dying (1987) and Homeboy (1988).

Termo left his job as a businessman in New York’s garment district in the mid-’70s to become an actor. To join the profession, he “left it all — my wife, my kid, my money, everything,” he told New York magazine in a profile of Rourke that was published in November 1983. “I love acting. I’m broke. I sleep on a cot.”

Rourke became friends with Termo after seeing him in a Los Angeles theater production, and the two were constant companions for years.

“If they told me they’d chuck a few years off my life, but I knew when I went that Lenny would go with me, I’d do it in a second,” Rourke said in a 1987 Playboy interview.

The pair also were set to appear in a Cimino biopic at Embassy Pictures about “Legs” Diamond that never got made, with Rourke as the legendary 1930s gangster and Termo playing his bodyguard.

Attempts to reach Rourke were unsuccessful.

In 1993, on the fifth-season premiere of Seinfeld, an episode titled “The Mango,” Termo played the owner of Joe’s Fruits who bans Kramer (and later Jerry) from his store when Michael Richards‘ character complains about a bad peach. Later, George (Jason Alexander) eats one of Joe’s mangoes, which seems to cure his erectile dysfunction. “I think it moved!” George exclaims.

Termo made his film debut in Heart Like a Wheel (1983) and later found his way into such films as Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Cotton Club (1984), Johnny Dangerously (1984), Turk 182! (1985), Ruby (1992), as a makeup man in Tim Burton‘s Ed Wood (1994), David Lynch‘s Lost Highway (1997), Fight Club (1999) and Ali (2001).

He also appeared on such TV series as Wiseguy and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Actor Matt Dillon was honored Friday at the Savannah Film Festival and dedicated his award to Termo.

Koteas said a memorial service is planned for Jan. 15, with details to be announced.

Actor (42 credits)

 2003 Gods and Generals

Glazier Estabrook (uncredited)

 2001 Ali

Madison Square Garden Reporter

 2001 Double Bang

Al Lucito

 2001 Clay Pride: Being Clay in America (Short)

Steve's Dad (voice)

 2001 The Huntress (TV Series)

Lester Dole

- Generations (2001) ... Lester Dole

 1999 Blood Type

Chauffeur

 1999 Family Tree

Vince

 1999 Fight Club

Desk Sergeant

 1999 Ballad of the Nightingale

Tony the Tank

 1998/I Godzilla

Homeless Guy

 1997 Lover Girl

Mr. Johnny (as Lenny Termo)

 1997 Gone Fishin'

Vending Worker #1

 1997 Lost Highway

Judge (voice)

 1996 Mojave Moon

Shorty

 1995 Can't Hurry Love (TV Series)

Bagelman

- A Fish Called Gregg (1995) ... Bagelman

 1995 Serial Killer (Video)

Loft Manager

 1994 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV Series)

Pete

- The Prankster (1994) ... Pete

 1994 Ed Wood

Makeup Man Harry

 1993 Gettysburg

Cpl. George F. Estabrook

 1993 Seinfeld (TV Series)

Joe

- The Mango (1993) ... Joe

 1993 Nowhere to Run

Bus Guard

 1992 Ruby

Tony Ana

 1991 29th Street

Dr. Puccini

 1991 Lies of the Twins (TV Movie)

Tattoo Man

 1991 Mobsters

Joe Palermo

 1990 Midnight Cabaret

Lt. McMurphy

 1990/I My Blue Heaven (unconfirmed)

 1989 Hider in the House

George / Exterminator

 1989 Wiseguy (TV Series)

Tiny

- The Reunion (1989) ... Tiny (as Lenny Termo)

 1989 The Preppie Murder (TV Movie)

Griggs

 1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway

Goodtime Nate Fishkin

 1988 Zits

KGB Chief (as Lenny Termo)

 1987 Barfly

Harry

 1987 A Prayer for the Dying

Bonati

 1985 Year of the Dragon

Angelo Rizzo

 1985 Turk 182

Barricade Cop

 1984 Johnny Dangerously

Tony Scarano

 1984 The Cotton Club

Danny

 1984 The Pope of Greenwich Village

Fat Waldo

 1984 Just My Luck (Short)

Teddy

 1983 Blood Feud (TV Movie)

L.A. Teamster

 1983 Heart Like a Wheel

Good Joe

 

Archive footage (1 credit)

 2005 Seinfeld: Inside Look (TV Series documentary short)

Joe

- The Mango (2005) ... Joe

Jan Crutchfield obit

“Statue of a Fool” Composer Jan Crutchfield Dead at 74

 

He was not on the list.

Jan Crutchfield, writer of the endlessly revived country hit, “Statue of a Fool,” died Thursday (Nov. 1) at Nashville’s St. Thomas Hospital at age 74.

Born Feb. 26, 1938, in Paducah, Ky., Crutchfield migrated to Nashville in the early 1960s, following the trail of his older brother, Jerry, who would soon distinguish himself as a producer and music publisher.

Faron Young charted three of Jan Crutchfield’s songs: the Top 10 “Down by the River” (1962), “We’ve Got Something in Common” (1963) and the Top 5 “This Little Girl of Mine” (1972). In 1965, crooner Perry Como had a modest pop hit with Crutchfield’s “Dream on Little Dreamer.”

But the songwriter’s big break came in 1969 when Grand Ole Opry star Jack Greene recorded his “Statue of a Fool,” which stayed No. 1 for two weeks. The song was subsequently covered in 1974 by Brian Collins (No. 10), in 1979 by the Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley (No. 91) and in 1989 by Ricky Van Shelton (No. 2). Former Temptations member David Ruffin also recorded the song as an album cut in 1975.

Crutchfield struck gold again in 1981 when Lee Greenwood, whom his brother Jerry was producing for MCA Records, firmly established himself as a country artist with “It Turns Me Inside Out.” Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers and the Seldom Scene also recorded the song.

Greenwood would chart three more Crutchfield compositions: “She’s Lying” (1982, No. 7), “Going, Going, Gone” (1983, No. 1) and “It Should Have Been Love by Now,” a duet with Barbara Mandrell (1985, No. 19). Among Crutchfield’s other cuts were “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger” (Charley Pride, 1967), “Sweet Misery” (Ferlin Husky, 1970) and “Ridin’ Rainbows” (Tanya Tucker, 1976).

Bob Brunner obit

‘Happy Days’ Writer-Producer Bob Brunner Dies at 78

A longtime colleague of Garry Marshall, the Emmy nominee had a hand in the show's landmark "jump the shark" episode.

 

 He was not on the list.

Bob Brunner, a writer-producer on the classic ABC sitcom Happy Days who named Henry Winkler‘s “Fonzie” but also — as legend has it — suggested the character jump a shark in a now-infamous 1977 episode, has died. He was 78.

Brunner, who teamed often with Happy Days creator Garry Marshall — the two met in 1959 while working as copyboys for The New York Daily News — died Oct. 28 of a heart attack near his home in Northridge, Calif., according to Heather Hall, a longtime Marshall staffer at his Henderson Production Company and the Falcon Theatre in Burbank.

Born in New York City on Aug. 3, 1934, Brunner launched his career as a publicist in the early ’60s working with such entertainers as Tony Bennett and Louis Armstrong and others, then jumped into TV by writing for ABC’s The Odd Couple, executive produced by Marshall.

After writing for Laverne & Shirley and the short-lived Blansky’s Beauties — two other series created by Marshall — Brunner penned 15 episodes of Happy Days and produced 37, at times serving as the showrunner for the All-American comedy that was set in Milwaukee in the 1950s.

Brunner invented the nickname “Fonzie” for Winkler’s suave biker character, whose birth name was Arthur Fonzarelli. He also came up Fonzie’s insulting comeback catch phase “Sit on It!” which wildly caught on in America as the show became a huge ratings hit.

With TV’s No. 1 show returning in 1977, the show decided to set the season-opening three-part episode in Hollywood, where Fonzie is invited to take a screen test. In one storyline, he engages in a water-skiing challenge with a local kid and, as a tiebreaker, has to jump a shark in a netted area in the ocean. (Of course, Fonzie is wearing his trademark black leather jacket as he attempts the feat.)

The phrase “jump the shark,” coined by radio personality Jon Heim and his college roommate, has since come to signify the precise moment when a popular TV show begins its inevitable decline.

In a September 2010 article for the Los Angeles Times, Happy Days writer-producer Fred Fox Jr. wrote about who came up with the shark idea.

“Amazingly, I can’t remember — which is frustrating, as I can usually watch a Happy Days episode from any season, hear a joke and recall who wrote it,” he wrote. “My friend Brian Levant, then a talented new member of the writing staff, believes that Garry Marshall, the show’s co-creator and executive producer, and Bob Brunner, the showrunner at the time, made the suggestion. But what I definitely remember is that no one protested vehemently; not one of us said, ‘Fonzie, jump a shark? Are you out of your mind?'”

 Fox wrote that the Sept. 20, 1977, episode attracted 30 million viewers and was the No. 3-rated show on TV that week. Happy Days remained on the air for another six seasons.

Later, Brunner co-created and executive produced the series Brothers and Sisters and Working Stiffs, co-developed The Bad News Bears for television and executive produced Diff’rent Strokes, Webster and Love, Sydney. For the latter, he shared an Emmy nomination in 1982 in the outstanding comedy series category.

For the big screen, Brunner co-wrote with Marshall the critically acclaimed film The Other Sister (1999), starring Juliette Lewis as a mentally challenged girl, and co-wrote Marshall’s erotic comedy Exit to Eden (1994). He also had a bit part in Marshall’s Frankie and Johnny (1991).

Brunner’s survivors include children Robert Jr., Elizabeth and Jennifer and grandchildren Ashley, Mikayla, Anna, Aaron, Matthew and Robert III. A private service was held Tuesday for the family at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, where Bob’s wife Ann was laid to rest in 1987.

Merry Anders obit

Merry Anders has died

 She was not on the list.

Anders was born in Chicago in 1934, the only child of Charles, a contractor, and Helen Anderson. Anders was of German, Irish and Swedish descent. In 1949, Anders and her mother visited Los Angeles for two weeks. They decided to remain in Los Angeles permanently while Charles Anderson remained in Chicago. While she was a student at John Burroughs Middle School, Anders met former actress Rita Leroy who encouraged her to begin a modeling career. While working as a junior model, Anders began studying acting at the Ben Bard Playhouse. It was there that a talent scout from 20th Century Fox spotted her and signed her to a film contract in 1951.

Anders made her film debut in the 1951 musical Golden Girl. For the next two years, she appeared in small and supporting roles in several 20th Century Fox films. In 1954, Fox dropped her. Later that year, Anders joined the cast of The Stu Erwin Show. She remained with the series until its cancellation in 1955. Anders was then cast in the CBS sitcom It's Always Jan, starring Janis Paige. That series was canceled after one season.

Shortly after the birth of her daughter in 1956, Anders took over the role of "Rita Malone" (popularized by Jayne Mansfield) in the West Coast touring production of the Broadway hit Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. In 1957, Anders had a much-publicized leading role in Paramount Pictures film Hear Me Good, opposite Hal March. She starred in four low-budget films that same year, The Dalton Girls, Calypso Heat Wave, The Night Runner and Escape from San Quentin.

Also in 1957, Anders landed the role of Mike McCall in the NTA Film Network and syndicated sitcom How to Marry a Millionaire. The series was based on the hit 1953 film of the same name (in which Anders appeared in a bit role) starring Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall. Anders co-starred in the series with Barbara Eden and Lori Nelson. The first season of How to Marry a Millionaire was fairly successful and it was renewed for a second, abbreviated season. It was cancelled in 1959.

During the early to mid 1960s, Anders continued her career with mainly supporting film roles and guest spots on television. In 1960, she appeared in the horror film The Hypnotic Eye followed by a role in the Western Young Jesse James. Anders went on to land guest roles on Surfside 6, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Hawaiian Eye, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip, and Perry Mason. In 1962 Anders appeared as Ruth Graham/Fay Pierce on Cheyenne in the episode titled "The Long Rope."

In 1962, Anders was cast in the first English-language live action film adaptation of the 18th century French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. In 1965, she appeared opposite Elvis Presley in the musical comedy Tickle Me. The following year, she appeared in the recurring role of "Alice" in the teen soap opera Never Too Young. Later that year, Anders had a supporting role in the B movie Women of the Prehistoric Planet.

From 1967 to 1968, she appeared in seven episodes of Jack Webb's Dragnet series on NBC, in which she played policewoman Dorothy Miller. She appeared in a recurring role on Lassie.

By the late 1960s, Anders' acting career had begun to wane. In 1968, she appeared as uncredited "glorified extra" in the film Airport (1970). To supplement her income between acting jobs, Anders took a job as a receptionist at Litton Industries.[10] Her final acting role was a guest spot in the two part Gunsmoke episode "Waste", which aired late September and early October 1971.

Anders retired from acting in 1972 in order to "live a normal life." She eventually became a customer relations coordinator at Litton Industries, where she remained until her retirement in 1994.

She also appeared on The Addams Family as a Cosmetics salesperson ("Fester's Punctured Romance").

On March 25, 1955, Anders married producer John Stephens. They separated on July 12, 1955, due to his physical abuse. Two weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant with the couple's first child. Their daughter, Tina Beth Paige Anders, was born in March 1956. Anders and Stephens were divorced in June 1956. In 1986, Anders married engineer Richard Benedict; the couple remained married until his death in 1999.

Filmography

Film Year             Title       Role       Notes

1951      Golden Girl         Chorine                Uncredited

1952      Belles on Their Toes        Student / Graduate         Uncredited

1952      Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie    Adeline Halper / Adeline Burdge                Uncredited

1952      Les Misérables Cicely    Uncredited

1953      Titanic   College Girl         Uncredited

1953      The Farmer Takes a Wife               Hannah               

1953      How to Marry a Millionaire          Model   Uncredited

1954      Three Coins in the Fountain         Girl         Uncredited

1954      Princess of the Nile          Handmaiden     

1954      Phffft!   Marsha                 Uncredited

1955      All That Heaven Allows Mary Ann           

1957      The Night Runner             Amy Hansen      

1957      Desk Set               Cathy    

1957      Calypso Heat Wave          Marti Collins      

1957      No Time to Be Young      Gloria Stuben    

1957      Escape from San Quentin              Robbie

1957      Death in Small Doses      Amy "Miss Diesel of 1958" Phillips           

1957      Hear Me Good   Ruth Collins       

1957      The Dalton Girls                Holly Dalton      

1958      Violent Road      Carrie - The Girl in the Convertible           

1960      The Hypnotic Eye             Dodie Wilson    

1960      Five Bold Women             Missouri Lady Ellen Downs          

1960      Young Jesse James          Belle Starr          

1960      The Walking Target         Susan Mallory   

1960      Spring Affair       Dorothy               

1961      The Police Dog Story       Terry Dayton     

1961      The Gambler Wore a Gun             Sharon Donovan              

1961      When the Clock Strikes Ellie       

1961      20,000 Eyes        Karen Walker    

1961      Secret of Deep Harbor    Janey Fowler     

1962      Patty      Mary     Alternative titles: The Shame of Patty Smith

Doctor Please Help Me

Gang Rape

1962      Beauty and the Beast      Sybil      

1962      Air Patrol             Mona Whitney

1963      FBI Code 98        Grace McLean  

1963      House of the Damned    Nancy Campbell               

1963      Police Nurse       Joan Olson         

1964      A Tiger Walks     Betty Collins      

1964      The Quick Gun   Helen Reed        

1964      The Time Travelers          Carol White       

1964      Young Fury          Alice     

1964      Raiders from Beneath the Sea     Dottie Harper    

1965      Tickle Me             Estelle Penfield

1966      Women of the Prehistoric Planet               Lt. Karen Lamont             

1970      Airport Mrs. Burt Ball - Passenger            Uncredited

1971      Will to Die           Laura Dean         Alternative titles: Legacy of Blood

Blood Legacy

Television Year Title       Role       Notes

1954      The Public Defender       Agnes Fay            Episode: "The Last Appeal"

1954      The Ford Television Theatre         Various                 2 episodes

1954–1955          The Stu Erwin Show         Joyce Erwin         26 episodes

1955      TV Reader's Digest           Sally       Episode: "Honeymoon in Mexico"

1955–1956          It's Always Jan   Val Marlowe       5 episodes

1955–1961          The Loretta Young Show               Various                 2 episodes

1956      The Millionaire Helen Forrester                 Episode: "The Jay Powers Story"

1957      Broken Arrow    Amy Breece        Episode: "Smoke Signal"

1957–1959          How to Marry a Millionaire          Mike McCall       52 episodes

1957–1959          Sugarfoot            Various                 2 episodes

1957–1960          Cheyenne           Various                 2 episodes

1958      Decision               Lucy Hamilton   Episode: "Man on a Raft"

1958–1962          77 Sunset Strip Various                 5 episodes

1959      State Trooper    Mrs. Wallace      Episode: "The Case of the Barefoot Girl"

1959      Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer                Harriet Britton   Episode: "Swing Low, Sweet Harriet"

1959      Tales of Wells Fargo        Laurie Hammer Episode: "The Tall Texan"

1959      The Ann Sothern Show Myrna   Episode: "Katy and the Cowboy"

1959      Richard Diamond, Private Detective         Claudia Reed      Episode: "Bookie"

1959      The Real McCoys              Miss McLean      Episode: "The Lawsuit"

1960      Bonanza               Virginia Keith     Episode: "Bitter Water"

1960–1961          Bronco Various                 2 episodes

1960–1961          The Case of the Dangerous Robin                              2 episodes

1960–1961          Maverick              Various                 4 episodes

1960–1962          Hawaiian Eye     Various                 4 episodes

1961      Surfside 6            Chris Karns          Episode: "Yesterday's Hero"

1961      Bringing Up Buddy           Diane Mitchell   Episode: "Buddy and the Amazon"

1961      Michael Shayne                Ginger Dennis    Episode: "Dead Air"

1961      Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Lena      Episode: "Maria"

1961      The New Bob Cummings Show                   Episode: "The Ox-Tail Incident"

1961      Ichabod and Me                Leona    Episode: "Bob's Redhead"

1961–1964          Perry Mason       Various                 3 episodes

1962      Straightaway      Barbara                Episode: "Tiger By the Tail"

1963      The Jack Benny Program               Kidnapper aka Florence Nightingale         Episode: "Jack Is Kidnapped"

1963–1964          The Joey Bishop Show    Various                 2 episodes

1964      Arrest and Trial Various                 2 episodes

1964      The Virginian      Donna Durrell    Episode: "A Man Called Kane"

1964      The Addams Family         Miss Carver         Episode: "Fester's Punctured Romance"

1966      Get Smart            Joanna Sloan      Episode: "All in the Mind"

1966      Never Too Young              Alice      11 episodes

1967–1968          Dragnet                Policewoman Dorothy Miller       7 episodes

1967–1968          Lassie    Carol Dawson     4 episodes

1971      Gunsmoke          Shirley 2 episodes, (final appearance)