Jim LaRue obit

Ex-Arizona coach Jim LaRue dies

He was not on the list.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Jim LaRue, who coached Arizona's football team for eight seasons and guided the Wildcats to an 8-1-1 record in 1961 and a share of the Western Athletic Conference championship in 1964 before becoming an NFL assistant, has died. He was 89.

The university announced LaRue's death Monday.

The Arizona Daily Star reported LaRue died Sunday night at an assisted living facility in Tucson. A cause of death wasn't immediately released.

LaRue coached the Wildcats from 1959-66 and had a 41-37-2 record.

He led the team to a 6-3-1 mark in 1964 and a share of the WAC title as Arizona, Utah and New Mexico all had 3-1 conference records that year.

But the Wildcats went 3-7 in each of the next two seasons and LaRue was replaced.

"We are saddened to hear the news of Coach LaRue's passing," Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne said in a statement. "He was a positive representative of our department and our football program. His teams and his legacy are an important part of our football program's history."

LaRue later was an NFL assistant coach with Buffalo in 1976 and Chicago from 1978-89 and was on the staff of the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl championship team.

Born in Clinton, Oklahoma, LaRue was a halfback at Carson-Newman, Duke and Maryland from 1942-49 before getting into coaching.

He was a running backs coach at Houston in 1955-56 and took the Arizona job after a couple years away from football.

LaRue later was an assistant at Utah (1968-73) and Wake Forest (1974-75) and then headed to the NFL.

With the Bears, LaRue coached the secondary. Chicago went 15-1 in the 1985 regular season and shut out both playoff opponents to reach the Super Bowl in New Orleans, where the Bears beat New England 46-10.

Funeral services are scheduled for April 6 at Christ Church United Methodist in Tucson.

 

Playing career

1942            Carson–Newman

1943–1944            Duke

1947–1949            Maryland

Position(s)            Halfback

Coaching career (HC unless noted)

1950            Maryland (freshmen)

1951    Kansas State (backfield)

1954    Kansas State (backfield)

1955–1956            Houston (backfield)

1959–1966            Arizona

1968–1973            Utah (DC)

1974–1975            Wake Forest (assistant)

1976    Buffalo Bills (WR)

1978–1989            Chicago Bears (DB)

Head coaching record

Overall 41–37–2

Accomplishments and honors

Championships

1 WAC (1964)

Richard L. Bare obit

Richard L. Bare, ‘Green Acres’ Director, Dies at 101

 He was not on the list.

Richard L. Bare, who wrote and directed hundreds of episodes of classic TV shows including “Green Acres” and “Twilight Zone,” died March 28 in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 101.

Most episodes of TV series “Green Acres” were directed by Bare, who also directed episodes of “Maverick” — he’s credited with the discovery of James Garner. Bare also directed the “Twilight Zone” episode titled “To Serve Man,” one of the series’ most famous installments. He directed the pilot of “77 Sunset Strip” as well as episodes of “Route 66,” “Maverick,” “Petticoat Junction” and “Nanny and the Professor,” as well as dozens of other series.

Born in Modesto, California, Bare was a film enthusiast from an early age, even building a small theater in his home as a young man. Bare graduated from USC film school, where he would later teach.

Bare began his career in the 1940s at Warner Bros., where he was contracted to write and direct a collection of short films about character Joe McDoakes, with titles such as “So You Want to Be a Detective” and “So You’re Going to Be a Father.”

Out of the director’s chair, Bare channeled his Hollywood experiences into a guide to directing, authoring the book “The Film Director.”

Born in Turlock, California, he attended USC School of Cinematic Arts where he directed his most notable student film, The Oval Portrait, an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's story. He became notable post-graduation for writing and directing the Joe McDoakes series of short films for Warner Brothers between 1942 and 1956, featuring George O'Hanlon in the title role.

On television, he directed seven classic The Twilight Zone episodes: "To Serve Man", "What's in the Box?", "The Fugitive", "Third from the Sun", "The Purple Testament", "Nick of Time" and "The Prime Mover". He directed almost every episode of the 1960s-1970s CBS television series Green Acres. He also directed feature films, including Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend and Wicked, Wicked. On May 2, 2014, he acquired the rights with producer Phillip Goldfine to produce a movie and Broadway play based on Green Acres. He was once married to actress Phyllis Coates.

His memoir, Confessions of a Hollywood Director discusses his directorial work, as well as behind-the-scenes information, and his service as a captain in the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit. Bare also wrote The Film Director: A Practical Guide to Motion Picture and Television Techniques (1971; ISBN 0-02-012130-X), a text to teach the craft of directing to aspiring filmmakers. On November 19, 2007, Bare announced that he was working on a revival of Green Acres.

Filmography

 

Two Gun Troubador (1939)

Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948)

Flaxy Martin (1949)

The House Across the Street (1949)

Return of the Frontiersman (1950)

This Side of the Law (1950)

‘’So You Want To Be A Plumber’’(1951)

So You Want to Learn to Dance (1953)

Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957)

Girl on the Run (1958)

I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1968)

Wicked, Wicked (1973)

Bek Nelson obit

 Actress Bek Nelson Has Died

She was not on the list.

She was a model and showgirl who turned to acting at age 29, making seven films and two dozen television shows in her first three years.

She was born Doris Dee Stiner in Goin, Tennessee. Her parents were Ralph Stiner and Mae Cole Stiner. She had four younger brothers and a younger sister.

The family moved from Tennessee to Canton, Ohio, when Stiner was 18 months old. Her father worked as a metal sander and then later as an inspector for Timken Roller Bearing Company. At age 10, Stiner won a "Cutest Child" contest. She attended Lincoln High School from 1941 thru 1945. While in high school, she was active in dramatics, chorus, and student government, and had roles in the junior- and senior-class plays.

After graduation, Stiner and a girlfriend moved to New York City, where Stiner found work as a Powers model. Her specialty was modeling swimsuits, for which she became well known through newspaper photos and ads. She first lived in Manhattan, then moved to Newark, New Jersey, as her swimsuit career built up. She won a number of small, local beauty contests, which again brought her newspaper publicity. She also served as a model for publicizing events and trade shows.

By 1951, however, she decided to take on a regular performing gig as a dancer with the Copacabana chorus line. Her first night was a disaster, as the presence of the audience rattled her. She credited the nightclub's manager for her recovery:

I went completely to pieces when I saw the audience, but Mr. Entratter, an understanding man, told me to sit at a table and watch the show. The next night I went on and performed like a pro, otherwise my career would have ended before it began.

Stiner did well enough to hold her job for two years. While at the Copacabana, comic strip artist Milton Caniff picked her out to be his model for the character Miss Mizzou in Steve Canyon. Years later, the Knoxville Journal ran an old photo of her posing for Caniff, with a large sketch of the character and the artist's hands and distinctive signature visible in the foreground.

In 1953, new owners took over the Copacabana, and Entratter left to be general manager of the Sands Hotel. Stiner and four other Copacabana dancers were let go, and all five decided to follow Entratter to Las Vegas to be showgirls. Entratter billed them as the "CopaGirls", using them for publicity that encouraged other young women to try out for a contest to become a CopaGirl at $150 a week.

Stiner was at the Sands for at least three years. According to her later recounting with interviewers, she was performing there when Cinerama filmed the floor show. A talent scout for Columbia Pictures saw the film, noticed her, and signed her to a contract with that studio. However, her first work with Columbia, filming Pal Joey, did not start until April 1957, while newspaper photos from one year earlier show her doing a modeling assignment in Los Angeles as "Bek Nelson". This is the earliest verifiable use of her stage name. Columnist Lowell E. Redelings said "there's quite a story to how she got that unusual first name", but didn't see fit to share it with his readers.

Bek Nelson appeared on camera for an episode of a ZIV-produced television program, Science Fiction Theatre, which was first broadcast in August 1956. She had no lines and the two-minute part was uncredited, but it clearly establishes that her screen debut came prior to her contract with Columbia. She also did TV commercials prior to being signed by Columbia.

While filming Pal Joey during April and May 1957, Bek was used for an uncredited bit as a nurse in Operation Mad Ball, which was also in production on the Columbia lot. She then co-starred in a Columbia comedy short Tricky Chicks with Muriel Landers, playing nightclub hostesses suspected of being foreign agents. According to columnist Hedda Hopper, Columbia head Harry Cohn was "giving Bek Nelson a big, big build-up."

Cohn had Columbia cast her in four more films made in 1957, to be released in 1958. She had a small, uncredited part as a dance-hall girl in Cowboy, then a feature role as a stewardess in the disaster film Crash Landing. Bek told the Knoxville Journal that the ocean rescue scene was filmed at the studio lake, with the director requesting "Please don't anyone stand up in the water... we don't want anyone to know our ocean is only three feet deep." Next came another comedy short, with The Three Stooges in Flying Saucer Daffy. Finally, she went back to an uncredited dance-hall girl bit in Gunman's Walk

Bek's next film for Columbia, Bell, Book and Candle, was made and released in 1958. It was also her last film; Harry Cohn died of a heart attack at the end of February that year. His successors let her contract finish up in 1958 with lending her out for television shows.

When she was not making films, Columbia lent Bek out to television production companies, including the associated Screen Gems. As 1957 was top-heavy with film work, she did only two TV programs that year, but 1958 had her doing 15 episodes, a large number for anyone not playing a series regular. Included among these were 9 episodes of the ABC series Lawman, where she had a recurring role as a widowed restaurant owner. Columnist Jack Gaver mused, "It is difficult to decide which name is odder -- Bek Nelson or Dru Lemp. The former plays the latter ..." An unknown TV Key Mailbag editor found the name confusing. A letter writer asked who played the mean guy, "tall, with strange eyes, and an unusual face" on "The Deputy" episode of Lawman. The editor replied, "the villain on that show was an actor named Bek Nelson".

By 1959, Bek Nelson was an independent actress, represented by the Harold L. Gefesky Agency, with whom she remained throughout her show-business career. Once again she appeared on 15 episodes of shows, including another small recurring bit on four episodes of The Third Man. Guest star, feature player, and bit part were all represented in her resume of parts that year, and for years to come. She had no professional vanity about her billing status, but like other television actresses of the time, found doing Westerns to be limiting.

A girl in a television horse opera can be typed as a dance-hall hostess, a rancher's wife, a rancher's daughter, a gambling-hall queen, or a gal from the East visiting the rugged West. And the last choice is that of the frontier town's restaurant owner, which I currently fill.

For 1960 and 1961, the number of television roles she accepted were reduced to half or less of previous years. She was married now, her husband had a successful acting career, and they were hoping to start a family. Subsequent years had her sometimes do only two shows a year. Her career did pick up some in 1964 and 1965; she had a small part in her husband's award-winning indie film The Lollipop Cover and a brief recurring role on Peyton Place, for most episodes of which she was shown just talking on the phone, without directly interacting with the other actors. Her final acting job was a pro bono bit in 1966 for Insight, a syndicated show usually shown on Sundays.

According to an article in TV Guide, Bek was married shortly after moving to New York in 1945, with the marriage being annulled.

Reporting the aftermath of a fire in Laurel Canyon during July 1959, the Los Angeles Times cited a Mrs. Bek Nelson Gordon as saying several houses near hers on Willow Glen Road had been lost. However, actor Don Gordon and Bek Nelson did not take out a marriage license until much later. They were married under her birth name on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles. At that time, a cohabitating single actress could suffer a serious career setback if the situation became widely known.

This was Gordon's third marriage and Bek's second. Gordon told an interviewer in October 1960, "she doesn't want to be an actress, and I'm glad. I think women should stay home, keep house, and have babies." Bek evidently agreed, for she stopped acting after the couple adopted a daughter in 1966. The couple remained married for 20 years, divorcing in 1979.

Actress

Insight (1960)

Insight

7.5

TV Series

Carole

1970

1 episode

 

Peyton Place (1964)

Peyton Place

7.3

TV Series

Phyllis Sloan

Phyllis Sloane

1965–1966

4 episodes

 

Invisible Diplomats

7.1

Short

Jackie

1965

 

Don Gordon in The Lollipop Cover (1965)

The Lollipop Cover

6.5

Waitress

1965

 

Burke's Law (1963)

Burke's Law

7.3

TV Series

Miss Smith

1964

1 episode

 

Shelley Fabares, Donna Reed, Carl Betz, and Paul Petersen in The Donna Reed Show (1958)

The Donna Reed Show

7.4

TV Series

Mrs. Gayley

1964

1 episode

 

Raymond Burr in Perry Mason (1957)

Perry Mason

8.3

TV Series

Dana Kent

Janice Edley

Miriam Coffey

1961–1964

3 episodes

 

Ben Casey (1961)

Ben Casey

7.1

TV Series

Christine Stevens

1964

1 episode

 

Breaking Point (1963)

Breaking Point

7.4

TV Series

Mady

1964

1 episode

 

Whitney Blake, Shirley Booth, Bobby Buntrock, and Don DeFore in Hazel (1961)

Hazel

7.2

TV Series

Dr. Phyllis Gordon

1963

1 episode

 

Sam Benedict (1962)

Sam Benedict

7.9

TV Series

Beverly Reade

1963

1 episode

 

The Marquis Chimps in The Hathaways (1961)

The Hathaways

7.1

TV Series

1962

1 episode

 

Cain's Hundred (1961)

Cain's Hundred

7.9

TV Series

Frances Colerane

1962

1 episode

 

The Joey Bishop Show (1961)

The Joey Bishop Show

6.6

TV Series

Annabelle Johnson

1961

1 episode

 

Bat Masterson (1958)

Bat Masterson

7.3

TV Series

Martha Yale

1961

1 episode

 

Howard Duff and Barbara English in Dante (1960)

Dante

7.6

TV Series

Cara Chandler

1961

1 episode

 

Lock Up (1959)

Lock Up

7.7

TV Series

Naomi Matson

1961

1 episode

 

Westinghouse Playhouse (1961)

Westinghouse Playhouse

8.2

TV Series

Airline Stewardess

1961

1 episode

 

The Best of the Post (1960)

The Best of the Post

7.6

TV Series

Mrs. Kearns

1960

1 episode

 

The Brothers Brannagan (1960)

The Brothers Brannagan

7.3

TV Series

Nancy Randolph

1960

1 episode

 

Andrew Duggan, Arlene Howell, Richard Long, and Van Williams in Bourbon Street Beat (1959)

Bourbon Street Beat

7.8

TV Series

Myra Norton

1960

1 episode

 

Henry Fonda in The Deputy (1959)

The Deputy

7.0

TV Series

Claudia

1960

1 episode

 

Edd Byrnes, Roger Smith, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in 77 Sunset Strip (1958)

77 Sunset Strip

7.7

TV Series

Marie Lang

1960

1 episode

 

Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958)

Wanted: Dead or Alive

8.0

TV Series

Hannah

1960

1 episode

 

Shotgun Slade (1959)

Shotgun Slade

6.8

TV Series

Kathy

1959

1 episode

 

Men Into Space (1959)

Men Into Space

7.8

TV Series

Jane Farrow

1959

1 episode

 

Bachelor Father (1957)

Bachelor Father

7.2

TV Series

Sheila Maybrook

1959

1 episode

 

Man with a Camera (1958)

Man with a Camera

7.3

TV Series

Nurse Purdy

1959

1 episode

 

Mike Connors in Tightrope (1959)

Tightrope

8.2

TV Series

Judy

1959

1 episode

 

Bonanza (1959)

Bonanza

7.3

TV Series

Glory

1959

1 episode

 

Michael Rennie in The Third Man (1959)

The Third Man

7.8

TV Series

Linda

Janet

1959

4 episodes

 

Craig Stevens in Peter Gunn (1958)

Peter Gunn

8.0

TV Series

Virginia Carter

1959

1 episode

 

Buckskin (1958)

Buckskin

7.9

TV Series

Melissa Jankins

1959

1 episode

 

Rod Cameron in State Trooper (1956)

State Trooper

7.8

TV Series

Sara Williams

1959

1 episode

 

Mike Hammer (1958)

Mike Hammer

8.0

TV Series

Dorothy Webb

Sergeant Maureen Hurley

1959

2 episodes

 

John Payne in The Restless Gun (1957)

The Restless Gun

7.5

TV Series

Dixie Starr

1958

1 episode

 

Lawman (1958)

Lawman

8.1

TV Series

Dru Lemp

1958

9 episodes

 

Lee Marvin in M Squad (1957)

M Squad

8.1

TV Series

Ruby Angel

1958

1 episode

 

Flight (1958)

Flight

7.8

TV Series

Lorraine

1958

1 episode

 

James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak, Elsa Lanchester, Hermione Gingold, Ernie Kovacs, and Janice Rule in Bell Book and Candle (1958)

Bell Book and Candle

6.8

Tina - Shep's Secretary

1958

 

Behind Closed Doors (1958)

Behind Closed Doors

7.7

TV Series

Kitty

1958

1 episode

 

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, and Jules White in Flying Saucer Daffy (1958)

Flying Saucer Daffy

6.0

Short

Tyrin

1958

 

Panic! (1957)

Panic!

8.3

TV Series

1958

1 episode

 

Gunman's Walk (1958)

Gunman's Walk

7.0

Dance Hall Girl (uncredited)

1958

 

Crash Landing (1958)

Crash Landing

5.4

Nancy Arthur

1958

 

Greer Garson and Florenz Ames in Telephone Time (1956)

Telephone Time

7.1

TV Series

1958

1 episode

 

Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford in Cowboy (1958)

Cowboy

6.7

Charlie's Girl (uncredited)

1958

 

Playhouse 90 (1956)

Playhouse 90

8.3

TV Series

Fran Pauling

1957

1 episode

 

Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak in Pal Joey (1957)

Pal Joey

6.6

Lola (uncredited)

1957

 

Tricky Chicks

5.1

Short

Bek

1957

 

Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955)

Tales of the Texas Rangers

8.1

TV Series

Claire Tatum

1957

1 episode

 

Operation Mad Ball (1957)

Operation Mad Ball

6.5

Nurse (uncredited)

1957

 

Science Fiction Theatre (1955)

Science Fiction Theatre

8.1

TV Series

Assistant in Truman Bradley Intro (uncredited)

1956

1 episode

George Wang obit

RIP George Wang

 

He was not on the list.

Chinese actor George Wang died of heart failure in Taipei, Taiwan, China on March 27, 2015. He was 88.

In 1935 he was admitted to the Department of Economics, Northeastern University, Department of History, and there changed his name to Wang Jue. After the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, he dropped out of school to join the national salvation movement and appeared in drama performances throughout the north in anti-Japanese propaganda plays. In 1938 he joined the "China Film Studio", the following year, he appeared in Chongqing's first film "Paul’s Home." In addition to Chongqing movies he also made dramatic performances on stage.

After World War II he moved to Shanghai finding work in a factory. In 1947 he appeared in the Taiwan film "Hualien Harbor", the following year he returned to Taiwan to narrate an experimental film "Myanmar Dang". Little filming was going on and in 1949 the Chinese film studios, actors, crews and equipment moved to Taiwan. Wang appeared in drama performances at Zhongshan Hall and operated a Sichuan restaurant with his wife called Sichuan Garden. In 1950 he is appointed head of Taiwan's studio technology department, and appeared in several films during the early 1950s.

Wang went to Italy in 1959 to shoot a joint production called the "Great Wall" (later renamed "Last Train to Shanghai". After filming was completed he chose to stay in Italy where motion picture filming was thriving, and participated in “The Mongols” (1961), "55 Days at Peking” (1963) and eventually appearing in nearly fifty films. Now billed as George Wang he was almost the only active Oriental film actor in Europe, and became very influential in the Italian film industry, even contributing to the cooperation with Shaw Brothers Pictures. During his stay in Italy he became one of the Euro-western genre’s premiere villains and appeared in over a dozen Euro-westerns including “A Taste of Killing” (1966) with Craig Hill, “Blood and Guns” (aka “Tepepa”) (1968) with Tomas Milian, “Have a Nice Funeral” (1970) with Gianni Garko, “Shanghai Joe” (1973) with Chen Lee and “A Colt in the Hands of the Devil” (1973).

Thanks to his good knowledge of English, he was also active in a number of English language productions, notably appearing in Nicholas Ray's 55 Days at Peking. After portraying Machete, a Mexican antagonist in the 1967 film Taste of Killing, Wang claimed that he was the first Asian actor to play a non-Asian role in a non-Asian country. 

In 1976 he returned to Hong Kong and had been involved in films with his own film production company "Wang Film Company," such as “Along Comes the Tiger” (1977) and “Hot, Cool and Vicious” (1978). In 1978 he returned to Taiwan, performing in "Coldest Winter", where he won a Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continued acting in such films as "Xinhai Double Ten","Guningtou Wars" and other films. In 2009 he was awarded a Special Contribution Award at the 46th Golden Horse Awards. His last appearance was in 2010’s “Close to You”. He was married to actress Luo Yang His and his son is Tao Wang [1945- ] who is also an actor.

WANG, George (Wang Chunyang)

Born: 11/12/1926, Liao Ning Andong Province, China

Died: 3/27/2015, Taipei, Taiwan

George Wang’s westerns – actor:

Cisco - 1966 (Capobanda/Torro/Tuscerora)

A Taste for Killing – 1966 (Mingo)

A Colt in the Hand of the Devil - 1967 (El Condor/Il Capataz)

Blood and Guns - 1968 (Mr. Chu)

Have a Nice Funeral - 1970 (Peng/Lee Tse Tung)

Kill Django… Kill First – 1971 (Lupe Martinez)

Jesse and Lester, Two Brothers in a Place Called Trinity - 1972 (Chinaman)

The Judgment of God - 1972 (Ramon Orea)

The Long Ride of Vengeance – 1972 (Ling Fu) [as Georgie Wang]

Six Bounty Killers for a Massacre – 1972 (Ming/Messinas)

When the Devil Grips a Colt – 1972 (Warner)

Shanghai Joe – 1973 (Master Yang)

The Son of Zorro – 1973 (Pedro Garincha/Garcia

Filmography

 

    E meng chu xing (1951) as Luo Ping

    The Dam on the Yellow River (1960) as Wang (as Wang Jie)

    Mi yue feng bo (1960) as Chin CHun-Hsiung

    The Mongols (1961) as Subodai

    55 Days at Peking (1963) as Boxer Chief (uncredited)

    The Pirates of Malaysia (1964) as Sho Pa

    008: Operation Exterminate (1965) as Tanaka

    Spy in Your Eye (1965) as Ming

    The 10th Victim (1965) as Chinese hunter

    James Tont operazione U.N.O. (1965) as Kayo

    The Almost Perfect Crime (1966) as Chinese Driver

    Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966) as Fong (uncredited)

    Taste for Killing (1966) as Ming

    Black Box Affair (1966) as Chinese agent

    Mi vedrai tornare (1966) as Prince Hiro Toyo

    El Cisco (1966) as Capobanda

    Colt in the Hand of the Devil (1967) as El Condor / Capataz

    Scorpions and Miniskirts (1967) as Dr. Kung

    Your Turn to Die (1967) as Chang

    Tepepa (1969) as Mr. Chu

    36 Hours to Hell (1969) as Major Koshiro

    Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay (1970) as Lee Tse Tung / Peng

    Kill Django... Kill First (1971) as Martinez

    Desert of Fire (1971) as El Marish

    Roma Bene (1971) as Che Fang (uncredited)

    Two Brothers in Trinity (1971) as Chinaman

    La tecnica e il rito (1972, TV Movie) as Hun

    La lunga cavalcata della vendetta (1972) as Ling Fu

    Sotto a chi tocca! (1972) as Koyo the Balls Thrower

    Colt in the Hand of the Devil (1973) as Warner

    Even Angels Eat Beans (1973) as Naka Kata (uncredited)

    The Big Game (1973) as Wong

    The Executioner of God (1973) as Ramon Orea

    Super Fly T.N.T. (1973) as Poker Player #1

    Studio legale per una rapina (1973) as Lino

    They Were Called Three Musketeers ... But They Were Four (1973) as Kungfu Master

    Mr. Hercules Against Karate (1973) as Ming

    Seven Hours of Violence (1973) as a Chinese Thug

    The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe (1973) as Master Yang

    Man with the Golden Winchester (1973) as Pedro Garincha

    Six Bounty Hunters for a Massacre (1973) as Ming / Messinas

    Milarepa (1974)

    This Time I'll Make You Rich (1974) as Wang

    Il Sergente Rompiglioni diventa... caporale (1975) as Chang

    Nan quan bei tui zhan yan wang (1977) as Mayor Yuen

    Yuan (1980)

    The Battle for the Republic of China (1981)

    The Coldest Winter in Peking (1981)

    Jing hun feng yu ye (1982)

    I Shall Return (1982)

    Yan wang de xi yan (1982)

    Zui chang de yi ye (1983)

    Hei bai zhu (1983)

    Da Niu Yue hua bu feng yun (1985)

    Ri nei wa de huang hun (1986)

    Jin zai zhi chi (2010) as Ta-Chieh's Grandfather

    The Grandmaster (2013) as Third Elder (final film role)

 

Hot Rod Hundley obit

‘Hot Rod’ Hundley dies at 80

 

He was not on the list.

SALT LAKE CITY -- The voice of the Utah Jazz, "Hot Rod" Hundley, has died at age 80.

Hundley passed away at his home in Phoenix while surrounded by family, the Utah Jazz confirmed to FOX 13 on Friday night. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in recent years. He was born Rodney Clark Hundley.

Hundley, known for his signature catch phrase "You Gotta Love It, Baby!" was the broadcast voice of the organization beginning in 1974, when the Jazz were located in New Orleans. He followed the team to Salt Lake City in 1979. Hundley retired as the voice of the Jazz in 2009.

According to a press release from the Utah Jazz, Hundley broadcast "many of the most memorable" moments in Jazz history during the span of the 3,051 games he called. He was the play-by-play voice of the Jazz's simulcast radio and television broadcasts for 31 years and the radio voice for his final four seasons.

“Hot Rod was the voice of the Utah Jazz for 35 years and his voice was synonymous with Jazz radio,” said Gail Miller, owner of the franchise, in the press release. “The expressions he used throughout the game broadcasts are legendary. He had the unique ability to make the game come to life so that you felt as though you could see what was happening on the floor when listening to him call the games. Rod was a very special talent and will be missed by our family as well as Jazz fans everywhere. Our thoughts and condolences are with the Hundley family.”

Hundley joined the team while it was still in New Orleans, and he is the only member of the original New Orleans Jazz staff to remain with the team for its first 35 seasons. A banner honoring Hundley hangs in Energy Solutions Arena, and in 2010 the team's media center at the arena was dedicated to Hot Rod.

Randy Rigby, Utah Jazz President, said he considers himself blessed that he was able to see Rod on his last trip to Phoenix, where he said he was able to give the man a hug and express his love.

"Rod was struggling," Rigby said. "He was really fighting and was challenged with this very ugly disease of Alzheimer's,  and it was very hard to see a man that I loved and revered and respected fighting a whole different battle in his life."

Jazz legend Mark Eaton was active for the team during Hot Rod's tenure, and he said Hundley was a "huge part" of Jazz history.

"My rookie year I think we only had 17 games that were shown on television out of 82, so the remaining games, if you were listening as a fan, you were reliant on Hot Rod's description of what was occurring to give you a sense of the game," he said. "And I think that's where Hot Rod developed a lot of the jargon that people had come to know him by. And as players we always hoped he portrayed us in a good light because what he said about us was exactly what fans would think."

Rigby also spoke of Hundley's gift for description.

"I would get, many times, letters from people who were blind and would express how much how Rod Hundley made the game of basketball come alive for them," he said.

Eaton said Hundley's 35-year career is impressive.

"He covered my entire career," he said. "Every game I ever played, he announced. And like you said, he outlasted me and outlasted John [Stockton] and Karl [Malone] and everyone else. A true legend."

Hundley appeared in the 2006 movie Church Ball starring Fred Willard and Clint Howard. He had also been in talks for a movie that would have showcased his early childhood and basketball career.

A native of Charleston, West Virginia, Hundley showed evident talent for the game during his youth. At Charleston High School in West Virginia he averaged 30 points per game, breaking the state's four-year scoring record in just three years. He was offered many scholarships to universities.

Hundley played for WVU from 1954 to 1957. The Mountaineers made their first NCAA appearance and three total appearances between 1955 and 1957. During his junior year, Hundley averaged 26.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. He scored more than 40 points in a game six times, which led to the Mountaineers scoring over 100 points in nine games. The Mountaineers were ranked No. 20 in the nation in 1955 and No. 4 in 1956. Hundley holds a varsity school record with 54 points in a single game against Furman and holds a freshman team record of 62 points against Ohio.

Hundley was the fourth player in NCAA history to score more than 2,000 points during his career—and he did it in three years, because freshman then could not play varsity basketball. He averaged 24.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game for three seasons and finished his collegiate career with 2,180 points. He was a two-time, first team All-American and currently holds eight school records. He is one of only two Mountaineers to be drafted first overall in an NBA draft, with Mark Workman going first overall to the Milwaukee Hawks five years earlier in the 1952 NBA draft. Once on a trip back to West Virginia to play in a charity game at the WVU Coliseum, constructed more than 10 years after he left WVU, Rod was said to have told Basketball Hall of Famer and fellow WVU alumnus Jerry West: "I built this building." West retorted, "Yeah but I paid it off.

In 1957, the Cincinnati Royals made Hundley the first pick of the NBA draft and immediately traded his rights to the Minneapolis Lakers. Hundley and Mark Workman, who also attended West Virginia, (1957 NBA draft) are the only No. 1 overall draft picks to come from the same high school.

Hundley played for the Lakers in Minneapolis and Los Angeles from 1957 until 1963, averaging 8.4 points per game and recording over 1,400 assists. He also played in two All Star games. His best season came in the 1959–60 season, when he averaged 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. On February 1, 1960, Hundley recorded a triple-double, a feat even more notable in his era, with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. On February 28, he scored a career high 33 points in a loss against the Philadelphia Warriors. That postseason, Hundley and the Lakers nearly made it back to the NBA Finals for the second year in a row, but lost in a tough seven-game series to Bob Pettit and the St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division Finals, where Hundley averaged 10.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game. The following year, during the 1960-61 NBA season, Hundley got teamed up with fellow Mountaineer legend Jerry West, as he was drafted in that year's draft.

Hundley finished his six-year professional career at age 28 (in 1963) due to his bad knees. His career totals were 3,625 points, 1,420 rebounds and 1,455 assists in his six seasons.

After his retirement, Hundley moved to the broadcast booth, working four seasons for the Phoenix Suns and four seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the early 1970s, he also teamed with Dick Enberg to call syndicated college basketball for TVS. Hundley was an NBA announcer for five years for CBS, where he called four All-Star Games; he worked two All-Star Games on ABC Radio.

 

Career history

1957–1963            Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers

Career highlights and awards

2× NBA All-Star (1960, 1961)

Consensus first-team All-American (1957)

Consensus second-team All-American (1956)

SoCon Player of the Year (1957)

No. 33 retired by West Virginia Mountaineers