LC Greenwood obit

Steeler great LC Greenwood was not on the list.

L.C. Greenwood dies at 67

L.C. Greenwood, who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s and was a member of the famed "Steel Curtain" defensive line, died of natural causes Sunday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

He was 67.

Greenwood is second on the Steelers' all-time sacks list (73.5), made four Pro Bowls, and was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection during a career that spanned from 1969-1981. He had four sacks in the Steelers' 21-17 win against the Cowboys in Super Bowl X.

His death leaves Joe Greene as the lone surviving member of the "Steel Curtain," which also included Dwight White and Ernie Holmes.

"L.C. was one of the most beloved Steelers during the most successful period in team history and he will be missed by the entire organization," Steelers president Art Rooney II and chairman emeritus Dan Rooney said in a joint statement released by the team Sunday.

"He will be forever remembered for what he meant to the Steelers both on and off the field."

A 10th-round draft pick out of Arkansas AM&N (now Arkansas Pine-Bluff) in 1969, Greenwood is one of a number of small-school prospects who rose to prominence while helping the Steelers go from perennial also-rans to world champions. Four players from that defense and nine players from those teams, as well as coach Chuck Noll, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Greenwood has long been prominent on the list of players that had Hall of Fame credentials but never made it to Canton, Ohio.

Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount said recently that Greenwood is among a handful of Steelers from the 1970s teams who should be in the Hall of Fame.

"Why is Larry Brown not in there? Why is L.C Greenwood not in there," Blount said. "I think once they get so many in they start saying, 'Well, we've got enough Steelers.' "

Knee problems forced Greenwood to retire before the 1982 season. His 13 years in Pittsburgh are tied for the third-longest tenure with the team in franchise history.

Greenwood remained in Pittsburgh after his retirement, working as an entrepreneur and a motivational speaker.

Bob Kurland obit

Bob Kurland, 88, Pioneer for Basketball’s Big Men, Dies

HE WAS NOT ON THE LIST


Bob Kurland, a forerunner of basketball’s dominant “big man,” who led Oklahoma A&M to two consecutive N.C.A.A. championships in the mid-1940s, then starred for two gold-medal-winning United States Olympic teams, died on Sunday at his home on Sanibel Island, Fla. He was 88.

His family announced the death.


When Kurland, a lanky redhead, arrived on the college basketball scene in 1942, players taller than 6 feet 5 inches were viewed as oddities who could do little but tower over their opponents. Labeled the first 7-footer (though he said he was actually 6-10 ½), Kurland gained renown for his athleticism in blocking shots, rebounding and scoring — a rejoinder to the Kansas coach Phog Allen, who had ridiculed him as a “glandular goon.”


Playing for the Hall of Fame coach Hank Iba, Kurland took Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) to N.C.A.A. tournament championships in 1945 and 1946. He was voted the tournament’s most valuable player each time. A three-time all-American, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1961.


In his heyday Kurland vied for supremacy with George Mikan, DePaul’s 6-10 center, who outweighed him by 20 pounds. These celebrated giants of their era faced each other in 1945 at the old Madison Square Garden for what was seen as a symbolic national collegiate championship; Oklahoma A&M had just beaten New York University in the N.C.A.A. finals, and DePaul had won the National Invitation Tournament.


Mikan fouled out late in the first half with only 9 points. Kurland, scoring 14 points, led Oklahoma A&M to a 52-44 victory in what was a wartime contest benefiting the Red Cross.


Kurland was credited with giving national exposure to the slam dunk, often called the duffer when he was stuffing the ball. But he was known chiefly for his defensive presence. The goaltending rule, adopted by college basketball in 1944 and still in effect, was designed primarily to keep Kurland — but Mikan as well — from swatting away shots as the ball headed downward to the basket.


Mikan ultimately overshadowed Kurland, leading the Minneapolis Lakers to five N.B.A. championships as the marquee figure in the professional game.


Viewing the business world as promising a secure future, Kurland shunned the pros and joined the Phillips Petroleum Company of Bartlesville, Okla., as an executive. But he kept playing, leading the United States Olympic basketball team to gold medals in 1948 in London and in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland, and taking the Phillips 66ers to three national Amateur Athletic Union basketball championships.


Kurland, who retired from the Phillips company in the mid-1980s, is survived by his wife, Barbara; two sons, Alex and Ross; two daughters, Dana Warner and Barbara Rintala; and seven grandchildren. The family also had a home in Bartlesville.


Hailing from a school known as the Aggies and nicknamed Foothills by an Oklahoma A&M publicity man, Kurland seemed the embodiment of the country boy when he played at the Garden in 1945. But as he told The Daily Oklahoman 50 years later, he had grown up in the St. Louis area.


“I was no more from the foothills than I was from Cambodia,” he said.


Robert Albert Kurland was born on Dec. 23, 1924, in St. Louis and grew up in Jennings, Mo., a suburb of the city. His basketball skills were raw in high school, but he towered over everyone else — he was 6-6 as a freshman — and after the armed forces deemed him too tall for wartime duty, Iba took a chance on him.


As Kurland told The Tulsa World in 2007: “He said: ‘I’ve never seen anyone like you before. I don’t know if you can play basketball or not, but if you come to school here, enroll and stay eligible, I’ll see that you get a college education.’ ”


At Iba’s insistence, Kurland jumped rope for 30 minutes after each practice to improve his agility, and he gained a knack for swatting opponents’ shots off the rim. His teammates would then bring the ball downcourt, run a weave and look to feed him the ball.


Kurland was voted college basketball’s most outstanding player by the Helms Foundation for the 1945-46 season, when he led the nation in scoring with 643 points, for an average of 19.5 a game, when there was no shot clock and the game was played at a relatively slow pace. (Mikan averaged 23.1 points but played in nine fewer games.)


But scoring did not come naturally for Kurland. “He worked hard to become good,” Iba once said. “I can remember one specific afternoon when he must have tried 600 hooks with his left hand. The first 100 didn’t hit either the rim or the backboard. The next 100 didn’t go in. After that he started to connect.”


In February 1946, Kurland scored 58 points against St. Louis University, victimizing the 6-8 freshman Ed Macauley, who went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics and the St. Louis Hawks.


Macauley kept a newspaper clipping from that game in a billfold throughout his pro career, he told The Tulsa World in 1996. “Every time I thought I needed to be humble,” he said, “I would look at that box score and remember I was the guy who held Bob Kurland to 58 points.”

Phyllis Davis obit

Actress Phyllis Davis dies

She was not on the list.


Film and television actress Phyllis Davis died of cancer on September 27, 2013 in Henderson, Nevada. She was 73 years old. She was born Phyllis Ann Davis on July 17, 1940 in Port Arthur, Texas. (She was purportedly billed as "Phyllis Elizabeth Davis" in some of her acting appearances as a tribute to her idol Elizabeth Taylor.) The oldest of three siblings, Davis's parents ran a mortuary business in Nederland, Texas where she grew up. While her two younger brothers reportedly followed in their parents' footsteps and also became morticians, Davis aspired to become an actress from an early age and studied acting at Lamar College in Beaumont, Texas for one semester before moving to Los Angeles to study at the Pasadena Playhouse. After a brief stint as a flight attendant for Continental Airlines, Davis's show business career began after her roommate, choreographer Toni Basil, helped her land appearances in theatrical variety shows as well as some small roles in feature films. By the time her career was underway, Davis was already in her mid-20s. Her deep voice and comparatively earthy maturity allowed Davis to standout from her conventionally youthful peers. Davis's big-screen appearances throughout the 1960s included parts in "Lord Love a Duck" (1966), "The Oscar" (1966), "The Last of the Secret Agents" (1966), "Spinout" (1966), "The Swinger" (1966), "Live a Little, Love a Little" (1968), and "The Big Bounce" (1968). She also appeared in numerous guest roles on popular television shows like "Petticoat Junction," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Wild, Wild West," "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." and "Adam-12.


Davis's career prospects took a turn for the better when she landed a major role in Russ Meyer's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (1970), playing fashion editor Susan Lake, a role that was originally meant to be a continuation of the Anne Welles role played by Barbara Parkins in the original "Valley of the Dolls" (1967) back when the film was planned as a direct sequel to the earlier film. Despite Davis's disappointment that the role had been modified, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" allowed Davis an opportunity to play a mature, intelligent character that she was not always given an opportunity to essay in her earlier decorative parts in the 1960s. During this time, Davis also landed a recurring role as one of the repertory of actors used in the "blackout" sections of the popular "Love American Style" anthology sitcom. Davis appeared regularly on the show for about four seasons, and even landed featured roles in several of the actual scripted vignettes during her time on the series. Phyllis Davis's participation in "Love American Style" allowed her to demonstrate her talents in light comedy, which helped further distinguish her from her peers and contemporaries.



Phyllis Davis reportedly was originally cast as Bond Girl Plenty O'Toole in "Diamonds are Forever" (1971). However, sometime after she had signed the contracts, but before she was to report for work in Las Vegas, she was replaced by Lana Wood. Davis mentioned in a 1992 interview for "Femme Fatales" magazine that she was deeply disappointed in missing out on the Bond movie, but maintained that she still received residual checks whenever the film airs on television or cable due to having signed the contracts before being replaced. Instead of appearing in the Bond movie, Davis made a memorable lead in the Costa Rica-shot women's prison film "Sweet Sugar" (1972), playing a sassy, quick witted prostitute named Sugar who has been railroaded into working on a corrupt banana republic sugar cane plantation prison run by a psychotic doctor. Despite the abundance of nudity required, Davis maintains her dignity throughout by projecting qualities of wit, intelligence and decency in the title role. Sugar continually stands up to the amoral, corrupt men running the prison plantation both for herself and for her fellow inmates. In one of Davis's most impressive scenes, she comes to the defense of a fellow inmate too sick to cut cane and volunteers to cover her workload while maintaining her own quota. The scene allows the audience to recognize that Sugar isn't out for herself. Davis's unusually deep voice, which always distinguished her from her contemporaries, allows her to project confidence and authority throughout the film, particularly in the finale where the machine gun-brandishing Sugar leads a revolt and breakout among her fellow inmates. As the trailer narrator memorably and accurately intones, Davis and her accomplices were ".38 caliber kittens spitting death as they claw their way to freedom!" In fact, Davis's performance in "Sweet Sugar" is so good, it makes one sense that she should have been considered for the Tiffany Case, and not Plenty O'Toole, role in "Diamonds are Forever," which was ultimately played by the unimpressive Jill St. John.



Davis continued in the women-in-prison genre the next year with the futuristic drama "Terminal Island" (1973), directed by Stephanie Rothman. In "Terminal Island," Davis plays one of four female prisoners condemned to live out her existence on an island, after the death penalty has been abolished, along with other death row prisoners, both male and female, where there are no guards and no law and the prisoners are free to do as they wish except leave. As with "Sweet Sugar," Davis's character actively participates in a civil war revolt against the tyrannical prisoners who intimidate and enslave the more docile prisoners on the island. However, Davis was purportedly later forced to bring legal action against the producers of a compilation video, called "Famous T & A" (1982), comprised of well-known actresses' nude scenes. To her dismay, Davis learned that those producers had used, without obtaining her consent, unedited footage of Davis in her skinny dipping scene that was much more graphic than what ended up in the final cut of "Terminal Island." On a happier note, the other lasting legacy of "Terminal Island" was that it established a lifelong friendship with co-star Tom Selleck, who later cast her in a recurring role in "Magnum P.I." in the late 1980s.



Throughout the 1970s, Davis appeared in other feature films including "The Day of the Dolphin" (1973), the quirky period musical comedy "Train Ride to Hollywood (1975) where she humorously spoofed Vivien Leigh's role as Scarlett O'Hara, and Robert Aldrich's "The Choirboys" (1977), based on Joseph Wambaugh's novel. In the latter part of the decade, Davis landed her most notable role as Bea Travis, the assistant to Robert Urich's Dan Tanna, on the Aaron Spelling detective series "Vega$" (1978-81). A former showgirl and single mother, the character of Bea, Tanna's Girl Friday, allowed Davis an opportunity to demonstrate a maternal, sympathetic warmth, as well as qualities of loyalty and courage in the episodes that allowed Bea to get in on the action, that made her an appealing presence on the series. What was notable about Davis's work on "Vega$" was the seemingly effortless chemistry that underscored the platonic, caring friendship between Dan Tanna and Bea. Urich and Davis both did good work to sell that friendship with TV audiences and it became one of the human elements that made "Vega$" an entertaining series.



After "Vega$" was unexpectedly cancelled after three seasons, Davis continued working in prime time television throughout the 1980s. In addition to her aforementioned recurring role on "Magnum P.I.," she became a favorite of "Vega$" producer Aaron Spelling, for whom she appeared eight times on "Fantasy Island," four times on "The Love Boat," as well as the Spelling produced "Finders of Lost Loves," "Matt Houston," and "Hotel." "Fantasy Island" in particular allowed Davis an opportunity to essay a variety of different kinds of characters. In one episode, she played a plain-looking woman whose fantasy of becoming glamorous and attractive has unintended consequences. In another episode, her character has her fantasy fulfilled of becoming Mata Hari. In yet another episode, her character has an opportunity of becoming the singer/stage actress Lillian Russell. Davis also made a memorable guest appearance in the 2-hour pilot movie for "Knight Rider" (1982), playing the villainous Tanya Walker, an industrial spy whose wounding and disfigurement of police officer Michael Long leads to his new identity as crime fighter Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff). She appeared on the December 1980 "Battle of the Network Stars" special and became a staple on game shows throughout the decade including "The Hollywood Squares," "Match Game PM" and "Family Feud." She wrapped up her career in the early 1990s with appearances in the Andy Sidaris action film "Guns" (1990), as well as small roles in "Exit to Eden" (1994), "Beverly Hills Cop III" (1994), and "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (1995) before calling it a day and retiring from acting for good.


Phyllis Davis, who never married, was in a long term relationship with legendary actor/entertainer Dean Martin in the late 1970s. Martin's daughter Deana wrote warmly about Davis in her 2010 memoir "Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes." In the book, Ms. Martin recalled how the Martin family liked Davis very much and that she became good friends with the actress, who she described as "funny, beautiful, and down to earth." Years later, in the late 1980s, Davis was in another long term relationship with flat racing jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. While doing a rare radio interview on actor Larry Manetti's CRN network radio show on May 15, 2012, Davis shared that her retirement years in her post-acting life were filled with extensive travel where she lived in countries like Thailand for periods of time, as well as fostering and finding forever homes for animals. As she explained on air, "I enjoyed my life being away from acting, I think, better than acting...Afterwards, I don't know, I think I grew as a person because I went to Asia by myself and went up into the jungle by myself and learned about other people, instead of just thinking about yourself." Survivors include Davis's brother Weldon Davis of Austin, Texas.

Jay Robinson obit

PASSINGS: Jay Robinson dies at 83; gained brief fame as Caligula in ‘The Robe’

 He was not on the list.

Jay Robinson, 83, a character actor who had a burst of fame after his film debut as Caligula in the 1953 biblical epic “The Robe” but saw his career take a downturn following his arrest for drug possession, died Friday at his home in Sherman Oaks, said longtime friend Lee Brandon. Robinson had congestive heart failure and had been in poor health since suffering a fall last year.

Robinson, a New York native, was routinely labeled the “boy genius” of Broadway after a string of noteworthy performances in the early 1950s, highlighted by his role as the fop Le Beau in a 1950 production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” that starred Katharine Hepburn.

He was 23 when “The Robe,” starring Richard Burton, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature, was released, and his performance as the tyrannical Roman Caesar earned praise from critics. He reprised the part of Caligula the next year in a follow-up film, “Demetrius and the Gladiators.”

But Robinson’s life took a turn in the late ‘50s. He was arrested in December 1959 at his home in Bel-Air and charged with possessing and selling heroin. He was found guilty the next spring, sentenced to a year in jail, released on bond expecting probation and began the appeals process.

He said years later that frustration at being typecast led to his drug use. But after his arrest, there was no work at all.

“I lost everything in Hollywood,” Robinson told The Times.

He took menial jobs, working as a short-order cook and a veterinarian’s assistant. In 1966 he was arrested on a bench warrant for failing to appear for a retrial of his original case and was sent to the state prison in Tracy, where he was put to work as a firefighter. Paroled after 15 months in the spring of 1968, he began to rebuild his life and career.

He won guest spots on “Bewitched,” “Mannix,” “The Waltons” and other TV series, landed a regular role on the daytime soap “Days of Our Lives” and was cast in small parts in “Shampoo,” “Big Top Pee-wee” and a handful of other movies.

“I feel like the ultimate survivor,” he told United Press International in 1988.

 

Filmography

 

The Robe (1953) – Caligula

Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) – Caligula

The Virgin Queen (1955) – Chadwick

The Wild Party (1956) – Gage Freeposter

My Man Godfrey (1957) – Vincent

Tell Me in the Sunlight (1965) – Barber

Bunny O'Hare (1971) – John C. Rupert

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) – The Priest

This Is a Hijack (1973) – Simon Scott

Three the Hard Way (1974) – Monroe Feather

Nightmare Honeymoon (1974) – Ruskin

Shampoo (1975) – Norman

Train Ride to Hollywood (1975) – Dracula

I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975) – Insane Actor

Born Again (1978) – David Shapiro

The Man with Bogart's Face (1980) – Wolf / Zinderneuf

Partners (1982) – Halderstam

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) – King Charles

The Malibu Bikini Shop (1986) – Ben

Big Top Pee-wee (1988) – Cook

Transylvania Twist (1989) – Uncle Ephram

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) – Mr. Hawkins

Ghost Ship (1992) – Crusoe – pirate

Skeeter (1993) – Drake

Jane Connell obit

Jane Connell, Agnes Gooch of ‘Mame,’ Is Dead at 87

 The veteran comic actress played Agnes Gooch in the original stage musical "Mame," then returned for the film version opposite Lucille Ball.

She was not on the list.

Jane Connell, who played secretary Agnes Gooch in Jerry Herman’s original Broadway musical production of Mame, then reprised the famous role for the 1974 film starring Lucille Ball, has died. She was 87.

Connell, who was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actress in a musical for 1986’s Me and My Girl, died Monday, the website BroadwayWorld.com reported.

The 4-foot-11-inch Connell worked on Broadway with Angela Lansbury in Mame, in Herman’s Dear World (1969) and again in a revival of Mame that opened in 1983.

Her other stage credits include New Faces of 1956 with Maggie Smith; Drat! The Cat! (1965); Lysistrata (1972); Crazy for You (1982); Lend Me a Tenor (1989); Moon Over Buffalo (1995) opposite Carol Burnett; and the musical version of The Full Monty (2000), in which she replaced the late Kathleen Freeman midway through its run.

For a London production of Once Upon a Mattress in 1960, Connell starred as the wacky Princess Winifred, the role that brought Burnett stardom on Broadway.

Her big break came with Mame in 1966. “We knew the show would be a smash. Jerry’s songs, Gene Saks’ direction. It had strokes of genius,” she told the Houston Chronicle in 2004. She opened the musical with a hymn as she led the orphan Patrick to his Auntie Mame. (Also in the cast: Bea Arthur, then the wife of Saks.)

For the film version, also directed by Saks and featuring Arthur, Connell replaced Madeline Kahn, who was fired.

A native of Berkeley, Calif., Connell appeared on many TV series, including All in the Family (in the first part of the memorable “Edith’s 50th Birthday” two-part episode), The Patty Duke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, That Girl, Green Acres, Bewitched, CPO Sharkey, M*A*S*H* and Law & Order. She was a regular on the short-lived NBC sitcom The Dumplings, starring James Coco and Geraldine Brooks.

She starred in director Frank Perry’s Cold War drama Ladybug Ladybug (1963) and also appeared in such films as Kotch (1971), Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, House Calls (1978), the Joan Rivers-scripted and directed Rabbit Test (1978) and Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995).

Connell was married to actor and musician Gordon Connell.

Actress (40 credits)

 1999 Great Performances (TV Series)

Mother

- Crazy for You (1999) ... Mother

 1998 Law & Order (TV Series)

Mrs. Hodge

- Burden (1998) ... Mrs. Hodge

 1995 Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde

Aunt Agatha

 1993 Robot in the Family

Mrs. Miller

 1990 Big Brother Jake (TV Series)

Miss Roberta Domedian (1991-1994)

 1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Woman

 1985 Another World (TV Series)

Peg

- Episode #1.5359 (1985) ... Peg

 1985 Tales from the Darkside (TV Series)

Grandma

- Grandma's Last Wish (1985) ... Grandma

 1980 Getting There (TV Movie)

Grandma

 1980 M*A*S*H (TV Series)

Red Cross Worker Betty Halpern

- Old Soldiers (1980) ... Red Cross Worker Betty Halpern

 1980 Paris (TV Series)

- Fitz's Boys (1980)

 1979 Visions (TV Series)

Vinny

- Ladies in Waiting (1979) ... Vinny

 1978 Rabbit Test

Anthropologist

 1978 CPO Sharkey (TV Series)

Mrs. Holland

- Captain's Right Hand Man (1978) ... Mrs. Holland

 1978 Good Times (TV Series)

Mrs. Flicker

- Write On, Thelma (1978) ... Mrs. Flicker

 1978 House Calls

Mrs. Conway

 1977 All in the Family (TV Series)

Sybil Gooley

- Edith's 50th Birthday (1977) ... Sybil Gooley

 1977 The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa (TV Movie)

Ida Griffith

 1976 All's Fair (TV Series)

Mother

- Happy Anniversary: Part 1 (1976) ... Mother

 1976 Maude (TV Series)

Sally

- The Game Show (1976) ... Sally

 1976 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (TV Series)

Nurse / Nurse #1

- Episode #2.5 (1976) ... Nurse #1 (credit only)

- Episode #2.1 (1976) ... Nurse (uncredited)

- Episode #1.100 (1976) ... Nurse (credit only)

- Episode #1.99 (1976) ... Nurse (uncredited)

 1976 Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

Waitress

 1976 The Dumplings (TV Series)

Bridget McKenna

- Joe Takes a Fall (1976) ... Bridget McKenna

- The Foundling (1976) ... Bridget McKenna

- The Other Woman (1976) ... Bridget McKenna

- Cully's Sister (1976) ... Bridget McKenna

- Sweetzer's Image (1976) ... Bridget McKenna

1974-1976 ABC Afterschool Specials (TV Series)

Aunt Peggy / Duenna

- The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon (1976) ... Aunt Peggy

- Cyrano (1974) ... Duenna (voice)

 1974 Mame

Agnes Gooch

 1972-1973 Love, American Style (TV Series)

Rita Baker (segment "Love and the Suspicious Husband") / Sadie (segment "Love and the Disappearing Box")

- Love and the Comedienne/Love and the Lie/Love and the Lifter/Love and the Suspicious Husband (1973) ... Rita Baker (segment "Love and the Suspicious Husband")

- Love and the Confession/Love and the Disappearing Box/Love and the Hip Arrangement/Love and the Old Flames (1972) ... Sadie (segment "Love and the Disappearing Box")

 1967-1972 Bewitched (TV Series)

Martha Washington / Hepzibah / Mother Goose / ...

- George Washington Zapped Here: Part 2 (1972) ... Martha Washington

- George Washington Zapped Here: Part 1 (1972) ... Martha Washington

- Salem, Here We Come (1970) ... Hepzibah

- To Go or Not to Go, That Is the Question (1970) ... Hepzibah

- Sam's Double Mother Trouble (1969) ... Mother Goose

Show all 6 episodes

 1971 Kotch

Miss Roberts

 1970-1971 Green Acres (TV Series)

Woman On The Plane / Woman / Clara Burton

- Hawaiian Honeymoon (1971) ... Woman On The Plane

- The Wedding Deal (1971) ... Woman

- The Picnic (1970) ... Clara Burton

 1971 That Girl (TV Series)

Laura

- Chef's Night Out (1971) ... Laura

 1970 The Mary Tyler Moore Show (TV Series)

Karen Norris

- Divorce Isn't Everything (1970) ... Karen Norris

 1970 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series)

Guest Performer

- Guest Starring Milton Berle (1970) ... Guest Performer (uncredited)

- Guest Starring Carl Reiner (1970) ... Guest Performer (uncredited)

 1969 Trilogy

Mrs. Connolly (segment "Miriam")

 1966 Sedgewick Hawk-Styles: Prince of Danger (TV Movie)

Queen Victoria

 1964 Mister Mayor (TV Series)

- Episode #1.1 (1964)

 1964 The Nut House!! (TV Movie)

 1963 Ladybug Ladybug

Mrs. Maxton - the Dietician

 1963 The Patty Duke Show (TV Series)

Mrs. Coglan

- The Conquering Hero (1963) ... Mrs. Coglan

 1960-1961 Play of the Week (TV Series)

Baby Doll Dalls

- New York Scrapbook (1961)

- The Grass Harp (1960) ... Baby Doll Dalls

 1956-1957 Stanley (TV Series)

Jane / Ruth / Mary

- Work Follies (1957) ... Jane

- The Fight (1957) ... Jane

- Married Friends (1957) ... Jane

- The Celebrity (1957) ... Ruth

- The New Year's Party (1956) ... Mary

Gary Brandner obit

Rest in Peace Author Gary Brandner

 

He was not on the list.

Sad news has hit the literary world today as Gary Brandner, author of The Howling, has passed away. Details are a bit on the scant side at the moment, but you can read on for what we do know.

The news came from a message from Brandner’s wife over on his Facebook page.

“From his wife, Martine, to all fans of Gary Brandner, I must tell you he died Sunday morning of cancer of the esophagus. All those marvelous e-mails and quips will no longer be forthcoming. A bright light has certainly gone out.”

Gary wrote several print sequels to The Howling, and that book spawned one of the greatest modern werewolf movies of our time, which was then turned into a lengthy film franchise. His contributions to the genre will always be appreciated, and he will be greatly missed. We here at Dread Central would like to take this time to offer our sincerest of condolences to Gary’s friends, family, and constituents.

Godspeed, good sir.

Born in the Midwest and much traveled during his formative years, Brandner published more than 30 novels, more than 100 short stories, and also wrote a few screenplays. He attended college at the University of Washington where he was a member of fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa. After graduating in 1955, he worked as an amateur boxer, bartender, surveyor, loan company investigator, advertising copywriter, and technical writer before turning to fiction writing. Brandner lived with his wife, Martine Wood Brandner, and several cats in Reno, Nevada.

best known for his werewolf themed trilogy of novels, The Howling. The first book of the series was adapted loosely as a motion picture in 1981. Brandner's second and third Howling novels, published in 1979 and 1985 respectively, have no association with the film series, though he was involved with writing the screenplay for the second Howling film, Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf. The fourth film of the Howling series, Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, is actually the closest adaptation of Brandner's original novel, though this too varies to some degree.

Brandner's novel Walkers was adapted and filmed for television as From The Dead Of Night. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1988 horror film Cameron's Closet.

Hiroshi Yamauchi obit

Hiroshi Yamauchi, Mariners owner, dies at 85

He was not on the list.

Seattle Mariners principal owner Hiroshi Yamauchi, the retired chairman of Nintendo, has passed away. He was 85.

Yamauchi died Thursday morning of pneumonia at a hospital in central Japan, the Mariners confirmed.

"The Seattle Mariners organization is deeply saddened by the passing today of Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi," the club said in a statement. "His leadership of Nintendo is legendary worldwide. His decision in 1992 to purchase the Mariners franchise and keep Major League Baseball in Seattle as a 'gesture of goodwill to the citizens of the Pacific Northwest' is legendary in this region.

"Mr. Yamauchi will be remembered for his role in moving forward the opportunity for Japanese baseball players to play in the United States. He will forever be a significant figure in Mariners Baseball history."

Yamauchi helped keep the Mariners in Seattle when he stepped in and purchased the team in 1992 at a time former owner Jeff Smulyan was looking to move the club to Tampa Bay.

Yamauchi got involved as a favor to the Seattle area, which was home to his Redmond, Wash., based Nintendo of America.

"On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am saddened by the passing of Hiroshi Yamauchi," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "This visionary businessman quietly played a pivotal role in preserving Major League Baseball in the Pacific Northwest for generations, and we are grateful for his selfless gesture to help the fans of Seattle following a period of uncertainty for their local baseball Club.

"We are proud not only that he made the Mariners the first Major League Club with international ownership, but also that the franchise continues to represent its region with such distinction and strong global roots. I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Yamauchi's family, friends and business associates."

Under Yamauchi's ownership, the Mariners built a strong relationship with Japan and had several outstanding Japanese players sign with the club, including 10-time All-Star right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and current standout right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma. Other Japanese players during Yamauchi's tenure have included former closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, catcher Kenji Johjima and infielder Munenori Kawasaki.

Yamauchi's purchase of the Mariners made Seattle the first MLB club to have non-North American ownership. He passed day-to-day control of the ballclub in 2004 to Nintendo of America, led by Howard Lincoln, who is chairman & chief executive officer of the Mariners.

Yamauchi is most notable for his accomplishments at Nintendo, which he ran from 1949 to 2002, turning it from a playing-card company into an international video-game giant. Yamauchi helped bring about Nintendo's growth, developing the Family Computer and Game Boy consoles.

One of the richest men in Japan, Yamauchi stayed on as an adviser at Nintendo after 2002, but his role at the company had diminished over time.