Peter Mayhew - # 206

 Chewbacca was number 206 on the list. He is the 4th member of the original main cast members of Star Wars to pass on. Alec Guiness, Carrie Fisher and Kenny Baker preceded him in death, while Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse and James Earl Jones are still with us.

Peter Mayhew, actor who played Chewbacca in the ‘Star Wars’ films – obituary 

Peter Mayhew, best known for playing Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" films, has died at 74 – and celebrities are taking to social media to remember the legendary actor.

Mayhew's family announced on Twitter Thursday that the actor died Tuesday: "He left us the evening of April 30, 2019 with his family by his side in his North Texas home."

Lucasfilm also confirmed Mayhew's death to USA TODAY.

Harrison Ford, whose Han Solo flew the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, praised "the wit and grace" of his film co-pilot in a statement provided by his publicist.

"We were partners in film and friends in life for over 30 years and I loved him. He invested his soul in the character and brought great pleasure to the 'Star Wars' audience," Ford said. "Chewbacca was an important part of the success of the films we made together. (Peter) knew how important the fans of the franchise were to its continued success and he was devoted to them. I and millions of others will never forget Peter and what he gave us all."

Fellow "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill took to Twitter to share photos of Mayhew along with a sweet message.

"He was the gentlest of giants. A big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile & a loyal friend who I loved dearly. I'm grateful for the memories we shared & I'm a better man for just having known him. Thanks Pete," he wrote.

J.J. Abrams, who directed Mayhew in "The Force Awakens," tweeted a photo of the two together, along with a heartfelt, handwritten note.

"Peter was the loveliest man ... kind and patient, supportive and encouraging. A sweetheart to work with and already deeply missed," wrote Abrams, who is directing the upcoming "Star Wars" film, "The Rise of Skywalker."

Billy Dee Williams, who joined the original "Star Wars" trilogy as Lando Calrissian, tweeted pictures and condolences: "Much more than Chewie to me...My heart hurts...I will miss you my dear friend...thanks for the great memories!"

Joonas Suotamo, who took over the Chewbacca role in 2017's "The Last Jedi" and the "Rise of Skywalker," praised Mayhew for his support and tutelage when he came aboard as Chewbacca's double for "The Force Awakens."

"Studying the character he helped create was always a daunting task, but one that was made easier by his tutelage and kindness as we sought to bring Chewbacca to life for a new generation," Suotamo wrote. "He was an absolutely one-of-kind gentleman and a legend of unrivaled class and I will miss him."

George Takei, a veteran of another beloved space franchise, "Star Trek," shared the news along with a short message: "A sad day for millions of fans."

Elijah Wood, who starred in "The Lord of the Rings" films, also tweeted about the news.

"Sad to hear of Peter Mayhew's passing," he wrote. "So long, Chewie, may the force be with you."

Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger tweeted about the man who played the legendary character in a franchise that is now part of Disney.

"The @WaltDisneyCo mourns the loss of our beloved #chewbacca portrayer, #PeterMayhew. Peter was larger than life in so many ways...a gentle giant playing a gentle giant. Rest in peace," he wrote.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.

1977 Star Wars Chewbacca

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger Minotaur Uncredited

1978 Terror The Mechanic

1980 The Empire Strikes Back Chewbacca

1982 Return of the Ewok Video

1983 Return of the Jedi

1987 Star Tours Short, Uncredited

2004 Comic Book: The Movie Himself

2005 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith Chewbacca

2008 Yesterday Was a Lie Dead Man

2009 Fanboys Himself Uncredited

2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Chewbacca Shared role with Joonas Suotamo Final film role

Television

Year Title Role Notes

1977 Donny & Marie Chewbacca Guest

1978 Star Wars Holiday Special TV Special

1980 The Muppet Show Episode: The Stars of Star Wars

1981 Dark Towers The Tall Knight

1985 The Kenny Everett Television Show Various Episode #3.3

2004 Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy Susha (Gettō) Voice; English dub, TV Special

2011 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Chewbacca Voice; Episode: Wookiee Hunt

Glee Episode: Extraordinary Merry Christmas

John Singleton obit

John Singleton, "Boyz N the Hood" director, has died at age 51

He was not on the list.



John Singleton’s powerful directorial 1991 debut, Boyz n the Hood, earned him two Oscar nominations and was considered groundbreaking for its humane depiction of the lives of young black men on the violent streets of South Central Los Angeles.

Singleton, who has died aged 51, was the first African American and the youngest-ever Academy Award nominee for Best Director. He wrote the Boyz n the Hood screenplay, which was also an Oscar contender, as a student at the University of Southern California. In college, he had won scriptwriting prizes, which led to a three-picture deal with Columbia Pictures and $6.5m (£5m) to make Boyz n the Hood.

He was 22, had never made a movie before and insisted on directing the film. He proved persuasive in negotiations with studio executives.

“I’m a writer first, and I direct in order to protect my vision,” he told The New York Times. “It’s my story, I lived it. What sense would it have made to have some white boy impose his interpretation on my experience?”

Singleton grew up in a rough part of Los Angeles and said his love of movies – his mother’s apartment was next to a drive-in theatre – saved him from a life of delinquency. Boyz n the Hood reflected many disparate influences, including François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959) and Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me (1986), both of which featured children forced by tragic circumstance to confront the starker world of adult realities.

He assembled a cast that included Cuba Gooding Jr, Angela Bassett, Tyra Ferrell, Morris Chestnut and Laurence Fishburne. He also recruited Ice Cube, then known primarily as a hip-hop performer and who was skeptical of the eager young director who pursued him for a leading role as a neighborhood enforcer who seeks to avenge a gang-related killing.


“You know, I just felt this dude was a little delusional,” Ice Cube told Vanity Fair in 2016, reflecting on Singleton’s single-minded determination. “It’s just a pipe dream – that’s what I was thinking.”

But Singleton exuded such confidence that the singer read the script and showed up for a second audition, which made Columbia executives more enthusiastic about the film’s potential.

Singleton filmed on location in neighbourhoods beset by violence, in which drugs and police brutality were rife, yet he described the movie as “my American Graffiti, my coming-of-age story.” He enlisted local gang members to add an extra edge of realism to the clothes and dialogue.

Boyz focused on three black teenagers on the cusp of adulthood: a football star named Ricky Baker (Chestnut); his half brother, Doughboy (Ice Cube); and Tre Styles (Gooding), Singleton’s alter ego and the only young man in the film with a father present in his life.

The film sought to portray the complicated bonds of male friendship – and the sorrow of the boys’ mothers – in a society in which, as a graphic at the beginning of the film pointed out, one in every 21 young African American men would die by gunfire.

Critic Roger Ebert pronounced the movie not just a “brilliant directorial debut, but an American film of enormous importance”. The characters, he wrote, “live in a neighbourhood where violence is a fact of life, where the searchlights from police helicopters are like the guard lights in a prison camp, where guns are everywhere, where a kid can go down to the corner store and not come home alive”.


When Boyz n the Hood was released, it was considered a breakthrough in its depiction of a world previously overlooked by Hollywood filmmakers, even though the movie-making capital was only miles away. Singleton joined a group of other African-American directors – among them Spike Lee, Robert Townsend and Mario Van Peebles – who were making films about racial justice and the ordinary lives of black people.

But Singleton’s huge mainstream success – Boyz reportedly grossed $100m – vaulted him to the top of the pecking order. He was 24 when he was nominated for his Academy Awards, two years younger than Orson Welles was when he received a Best-Director nomination in 1942 for Citizen Kane.

Singleton lost the directing Oscar to Jonathan Demme for Silence of the Lambs and the screenplay Oscar to Callie Khouri for Thelma and Louise, but his prospects seemed limitless.



“I got out of film school in spring 1990, so they were looking for the next Spike Lee, the next black filmmaker with the vision to make a mark in commercial Hollywood,” Singleton told The Guardian in 2018. “So I was the guy. They gave me a chance, gave me $6m to make a movie, and I knocked it out of the park!”

To far more mixed critical results, Singleton went on to direct films including Poetic Justice (1993) with Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson, and Rosewood (1997), about the massacre of residents in a black town in 1920s Florida.

Singleton was criticised for turning to blatantly commercial filmmaking, such as a 2000 remake of the “blaxploitation” action hit Shaft starring Samuel L Jackson, Baby Boy (2001) with Tyrese Gibson and Taraji Henson, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), a sequel to the car-chase cop thriller The Fast and the Furious, and Four Brothers, starring Mark Wahlberg about four adopted brothers – both black and white – who avenge the death of their mother.

“While you can’t blame a director for giving up on the sort of serious movies that didn’t make any money,” film critic Stephen Whitty wrote in the Newark Star-Ledger, “there’s a feeling that a smart director has dumbed himself down. Yes, he works. But there’s no longer any real message to that work.”

In 2005, Singleton bankrolled and produced the box-office hit Hustle & Flow, the story of a Memphis pimp and aspiring rap star written and directed by Craig Brewer, and in 2017 he was executive producer of A&E’s documentary LA Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later, which examined racial violence in Los Angeles. The same year, Singleton created the FX television series Snowfall, set amid the 1980s crack cocaine era in Los Angeles, which is still airing.

“I want to become much more than a filmmaker,” he told Ebony magazine in 1995. “My ultimate goal is to run my own studio.”

John Daniel Singleton was born on 6 January 1968, in Los Angeles. His father managed a pharmacy and later became a mortgage broker; his mother worked in pharmaceutical sales. He lived alternately with both parents, who were not married.

Drawn to movies at an early age, Singleton recalled accompanying his mother to see Cooley High, a 1975 film about high school friends with a tragic ending.

“I looked at my mother and I said, ‘Why are you crying?,’ “ he told Vanity Fair. “And she said, ‘Because it’s such a good movie.’ So I start thinking, when I get to make a movie, I got to make people cry. I got to make them feel something.”

He was 9 when he saw Star Wars for the first time, and from then on he was determined to become a filmmaker. In addition to Stand by Me and Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, another touchstone for Singleton was writer-director John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club.

“I didn’t feel alienated by the fact that they were all white kids,” Singleton told writer David Kamp in 2018 for the Criterion Collection, a video distribution outlet. “They were just teens finding their way into adulthood – like I was.”

He had a short-lived marriage to actress Akosua Busia, the daughter of a prime minister of Ghana. Survivors include a daughter from his marriage and six children from other relationships; his parents, Danny Singleton and Shelia Ward, who acted as her son’s business manager; a brother; and a grandfather.

Singleton never recaptured the early acclaim of Boyz n the Hood – which the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry placed on its list of culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films – but he said his filmmaking dreams had been fulfilled.

“I wanted to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, and my first film was taken so seriously”, he said in 2005, “so I kept feeling like each film had to be more serious than the last one. Finally I said, you know what, I’m in this business because movies saved me from delinquency, movies saved my life. I just want to make movies. It doesn’t matter if they’re serious or not.”

Gino Marchetti obit

Hall of Fame DE Gino Marchetti dies at 93

He was not on the list.

Gino Marchetti, a Hall of Fame defensive end who helped the Baltimore Colts win consecutive NFL championships in the late 1950s, has died.


The Pro Football Hall of Fame said Marchetti was 93. He died Monday at Paoli Hospital in Paoli, Pennsylvania, hospital spokeswoman Mary Kate Coghlan said.

Marchetti was named to the Pro Bowl during 11 of his 14 NFL seasons. Though undersized for the position by today's standards, the 6-foot-4, 244-pound Marchetti effectively tracked down quarterbacks and stuffed the run.

"I was small, but big guys never scared me," he once said. "I was quick and agile."

"He was quick, he had great athleticism and he would just throw you," former NFL general manager Ernie Accorsi said.

Marchetti was born in Smithers, West Virginia, the son of Italian immigrants Ernesto and Maria. He enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating high school in Antioch, California, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a machine gunner during World War II.

Reflecting upon his World War II experience in a 2009 interview, Marchetti said "If I had not gone to the Army, what probably would have happened to me is, I would have gone to one of the factories, worked until I was 65, retired, and that would have been my life. That's what they did in Antioch. Because the war was coming to an end, I could have probably stayed home, graduated [from high school] and never had to go. But it was the best thing I ever did. It gave me the discipline that I needed in my life." Upon returning home to California after the war, he attended Modesto Junior College for a year before joining the football program at the University of San Francisco, where his team enjoyed an undefeated season in 1951. He was selected in the second round of the 1952 NFL draft (14th overall) by the New York Yanks. In 2004, Marchetti was voted to the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame
He broke into the NFL as an offensive lineman in 1952 with the Dallas Texans, who became the Colts in 1953.

After being moved to the other side of the line, Marchetti became a star.

With Marchetti charging from the left side, the Colts were NFL champions in 1958 and 1959. He broke his leg in the fourth quarter of the so-called "Greatest Game Ever Played" -- the sudden-death duel between the Colts and New York Giants in 1958 -- but refused to be taken into the locker room.

He watched from behind the end zone until agreeing to being taken to the locker room early in overtime, a concession to the freezing temperatures and fear that the crowd would rush onto the field at game's end.

Not long after that, Johnny Unitas guided the Colts to the winning touchdown to end a 23-17 duel.

Though sacks were not recognized as a statistic in those days, Marchetti brought fear to quarterbacks.

"I've been asked the most sacks I had in one game. I know I had nine," he once said. "It's a great feeling because it was a challenge, one-on-one. You feel like, 'Man, I got him. I got him.'"

Marchetti was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 along with college teammate Ollie Matson.

Colts owner Jim Irsay paid tribute to Marchetti on Twitter:

Marchetti fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II before playing for the 1951 University of San Francisco team that went 9-0. The roster had eight players who would go to the NFL, including two African Americans, Matson and Burl Toler. After the season, the squad unanimously voted to reject a bid from the Orange Bowl that was contingent on USF participating without its African American players.

"Nobody on that team ever said that they regretted the decision that we had made," Marchetti said. "It was 100 percent in favor of not playing. So we didn't go. I went home and went back to work."

Not long after that, he was drafted by the Texans. Though the team went 1-11, Marchetti caught a touchdown pass during a brief stint as a tight end.

Marchetti retired after the 1964 season to start a hamburger chain that became a huge success. Its best-selling burger was aptly named "The Gino Giant."

Marchetti's biggest paydays came from the restaurant business. He made millions of dollars before Gino's Hamburgers was sold to Marriott Corporation in 1982.

Colts coach Don Shula persuaded Marchetti to return in 1966. He played in four games at age 39 before retiring for good.

"Gino Marchetti dominated the football field during his career in the 1950s and '60s as a leader of the great Baltimore Colts teams of that era," said David Baker, president and CEO of the Hall of Fame.

"His ferocious style of play defined the character of a man who possessed a strong desire to succeed, passion, and determination that made him a great teammate."

He remained popular in Baltimore long after his retirement, and while the city embraced its newest team, the Ravens, who relocated from Cleveland in 1996.

The Ravens posted on Twitter: "A giant of a man with a giant heart who helped many in need, Gino Marchetti is at or near the top in Baltimore athletic and football history. Beloved in Baltimore, this Pro Football Hall of Famer loved our community and the fans who were so special to him."

John Llewellyn Moxey obit

Director John Llewellyn Moxey Has Died

He was not on the list.

He was an Argentinian-born British film and television director. He was known for directing the horror film The City of the Dead (also known as Horror Hotel, 1960) and directing episodes of The Saint, Mission: Impossible, Magnum, P.I., and Murder, She Wrote. He was sometimes credited as John L. Moxey or John Moxey.

Moxey was born in Argentina in 1925. His family operated a coal and steel business out of South America at the time. He attended Rose Hill School, Banstead, Ottershaw College, Bradfield College, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Before entering the film industry, he served in the Second World War in the British Army's 53rd Division Reconnaissance Corps. Beginning his career as an editor, he subsequently went on to direct episodes of the British series London Playhouse and The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.

Moxey's feature film directorial debut was The City of the Dead (also known as Horror Hotel, 1960). He also directed the film Circus of Fear (1966).

For much of his career he focused on directing television, including episodes of the British series Man of the World, The Edgar Wallace Mysteries, Armchair Theatre, The Baron, The Saint, The Avengers and the American series Judd, for the Defense, Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Kung Fu, Miami Vice, Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote and the pilot episode of Charlie's Angels. He also directed a number of television films, including A Taste of Evil (1971), Home for the Holidays (1972), The Night Stalker (1972), Genesis II (1973), Where Have All the People Gone? (1974), No Place to Hide (1981), and Desire, the Vampire (1982).

Director

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)

Murder, She Wrote

7.2

TV Series

Director

1984–1991

18 episodes

 

William Conrad and Joe Penny in Jake and the Fatman (1987)

Jake and the Fatman

6.4

TV Series

Director

1989

1 episode

 

Lady Mobster (1988)

Lady Mobster

4.9

TV Movie

Director

1988

 

Outback Bound (1988)

Outback Bound

5.7

TV Movie

Director

1988

 

Jerry Orbach and Barbara Babcock in The Law and Harry McGraw (1987)

The Law and Harry McGraw

7.5

TV Series

Director

1988

1 episode

 

Sadie and Son (1987)

Sadie and Son

6.1

TV Movie

Director

1987

 

Deadly Deception (1987)

Deadly Deception

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1987

 

Andy Griffith in Matlock (1986)

Matlock

7.1

TV Series

Director (as John L. Moxey)

1986

1 episode

 

Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I. (1980)

Magnum, P.I.

7.5

TV Series

Director

1984–1986

6 episodes

 

Hal Linden and Harry Morgan in Blacke's Magic (1986)

Blacke's Magic

7.2

TV Series

Director

1986

1 episode

 

When Dreams Come True (1985)

When Dreams Come True

5.2

TV Movie

Director

1985

 

Tracy Scoggins, Robert Ginty, and Jeff McCracken in Hawaiian Heat (1984)

Hawaiian Heat

5.8

TV Series

Director

1984

1 episode

 

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas in Miami Vice (1984)

Miami Vice

7.6

TV Series

Director (directed by)

1984

1 episode

 

Bruce Greenwood and John Terlesky in Legmen (1984)

Legmen

6.9

TV Series

Director

1984

1 episode

 

Masquerade (1983)

Masquerade

6.9

TV Series

Director

1984

2 episodes

 

Through Naked Eyes (1983)

Through Naked Eyes

5.7

TV Movie

Director

1983

 

Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983)

Scarecrow and Mrs. King

7.0

TV Series

Director

1983

1 episode

 

The Cradle Will Fall (1983)

The Cradle Will Fall

5.1

TV Movie

Director

1983

 

I, Desire (1982)

I, Desire

5.7

TV Movie

Director (directed by)

1982

 

Killjoy (1981)

Killjoy

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981)

The Violation of Sarah McDavid

5.8

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

No Place to Hide (1981)

No Place to Hide

6.2

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

The Mating Season (1980)

The Mating Season

6.7

TV Movie

Director

1980

 

The Children of an Lac (1980)

The Children of an Lac

6.9

TV Movie

Director

1980

 

Michelle Pfeiffer and Earl Holliman in The Solitary Man (1979)

The Solitary Man

6.0

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

Ebony, Ivory and Jade (1979)

Ebony, Ivory and Jade

4.9

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

The Power Within (1979)

The Power Within

5.8

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

Sanctuary of Fear (1979)

Sanctuary of Fear

5.5

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

The Courage and the Passion (1978)

The Courage and the Passion

6.8

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

Beau Bridges in The President's Mistress (1978)

The President's Mistress

4.7

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

ABC Weekend Specials (1977)

ABC Weekend Specials

7.8

TV Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

Intimate Strangers (1977)

Intimate Strangers

6.5

TV Movie

Director

1977

 

Panic in Echo Park (1977)

Panic in Echo Park

5.3

TV Movie

Director

1977

 

Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976)

Smash-Up on Interstate 5

6.0

TV Movie

Director

1976

 

Nightmare in Badham County (1976)

Nightmare in Badham County

6.1

TV Movie

Director

1976

 

Jaclyn Smith in Charlie's Angels (1976)

Charlie's Angels

7.0

TV Movie

Director

1976

 

Conspiracy of Terror (1975)

Conspiracy of Terror

5.4

TV Movie

Director

1975

 

Max Gail in Foster & Laurie (1975)

Foster & Laurie

7.0

TV Movie

Director

1975

 

Archer (1975)

Archer

5.5

TV Series

Director

1975

1 episode

 

Where Have All the People Gone (1974)

Where Have All the People Gone

6.0

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974)

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

Kung Fu (1972)

Kung Fu

7.6

TV Series

Director

1973–1974

4 episodes

 

Mike Connors in Mannix (1967)

Mannix

7.4

TV Series

Director

1968–1974

10 episodes

 

Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police Story (1973)

Police Story

7.5

TV Series

Director

1973

1 episode

 

Richard Roundtree in Shaft (1973)

Shaft

6.5

TV Series

Director

1973

1 episode

 

Monte Markham in The New Perry Mason (1973)

The New Perry Mason

5.4

TV Series

Director

1973

1 episode

 

Polly Bergen, Donna Mills, Paul Burke, Judy Carne, and Barbara Feldon in The Wide World of Mystery (1973)

The Wide World of Mystery

7.2

TV Series

Director

1973

1 episode

 

Genesis II (1973)

Genesis II

5.9

TV Movie

Director

1973

 

Home for the Holidays (1972)

Home for the Holidays

6.2

TV Movie

Director (directed by)

1972

 

Clint Walker in The Bounty Man (1972)

The Bounty Man

6.0

TV Movie

Director

1972

 

Circle of Fear (1972)

Circle of Fear

7.5

TV Series

Director (directed by)

1972

1 episode

 

Hardcase (1972)

Hardcase

6.1

TV Movie

Director

1972

 

The Night Stalker (1972)

The Night Stalker

7.4

TV Movie

Director

1972

 

Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, and Greg Morris in Mission: Impossible (1966)

Mission: Impossible

7.9

TV Series

Director

1969–1972

7 episodes

 

Peggy Lipton, Michael Cole, and Clarence Williams III in Mod Squad (1968)

Mod Squad

6.9

TV Series

Director

1971

2 episodes

 

Bearcats! (1971)

Bearcats!

7.5

TV Series

Director

1971

1 episode

 

Rosemary Forsyth and Doug McClure in The Death of Me Yet (1971)

The Death of Me Yet

7.1

TV Movie

Director

1971

 

Barbara Parkins in A Taste of Evil (1971)

A Taste of Evil

6.3

TV Movie

Director (directed by)

1971

 

Michael Cole and Janet Margolin in The Last Child (1971)

The Last Child

6.7

TV Movie

Director

1971

 

Escape (1971)

Escape

6.1

TV Movie

Director

1971

 

Kam Fong, Al Harrington, Jack Lord, and James MacArthur in Hawaii Five-O (1968)

Hawaii Five-O

7.4

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1970

2 episodes

 

Kitty Winn in The House That Would Not Die (1970)

The House That Would Not Die

5.6

TV Movie

Director

1970

 

San Francisco International Airport (1970)

San Francisco International Airport

2.6

TV Series

Director

1970

1 episode

 

The Name of the Game (1968)

The Name of the Game

7.6

TV Series

Director

1969–1970

4 episodes

 

Darren McGavin in The Outsider (1968)

The Outsider

7.9

TV Series

Director

1969

1 episode

 

Alexandra Bastedo, Stuart Damon, and William Gaunt in The Champions (1968)

The Champions

7.5

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1968

1 episode

 

Carl Betz and Stephen Young in Judd for the Defense (1967)

Judd for the Defense

7.7

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1968

2 episodes

 

Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life (1965)

Run for Your Life

7.6

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1968

1 episode

 

Peter Falk, Sandy Dennis, Herschel Bernardi, and Michael Parks in A Hatful of Rain (1968)

A Hatful of Rain

7.0

TV Movie

Director

1968

 

George Sanders, Arlene Francis, and Lee Radziwill in Laura (1968)

Laura

6.8

TV Movie

Director

1968

 

The Solarnauts (1967)

The Solarnauts

6.1

Short

Director (as John Moxey)

1967

 

N.Y.P.D. (1967)

N.Y.P.D.

7.4

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1967

2 episodes

 

Laurence Harvey and Hugh O'Brian in Dial M for Murder (1967)

Dial M for Murder

7.6

TV Movie

Director

1967

 

Roger Moore in The Saint (1962)

The Saint

7.5

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1963–1967

7 episodes

 

The Avengers (1961)

The Avengers

8.3

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1967

1 episode

 

ITV Play of the Week (1955)

ITV Play of the Week

7.1

TV Series

Director

1955–1966

27 episodes

 

Steve Forrest in The Baron (1966)

The Baron

7.1

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1966

5 episodes

 

Patrick Wymark in The Power Game (1965)

The Power Game

8.3

TV Series

Director

1966

1 episode

 

Edward Judd and Caroline Mortimer in Intrigue (1966)

Intrigue

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1966

1 episode

 

Diane Cilento in Blackmail (1965)

Blackmail

8.0

TV Series

Director

1966

1 episode

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1959–1966

16 episodes

 

Psycho-Circus (1966)

Psycho-Circus

5.4

Director (english language version, as John Moxey)

1966

 

Strangler's Web (1965)

Strangler's Web

6.7

Director (as John Moxey)

1965

 

The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959)

The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre

7.8

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1962–1965

6 episodes

 

Michael Rennie in The Third Man (1959)

The Third Man

7.8

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1965

1 episode

 

ITV Sunday Night Drama (1959)

ITV Sunday Night Drama

7.1

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1965

1 episode

 

Gideon C.I.D. (1964)

Gideon C.I.D.

8.1

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1964–1965

2 episodes

 

Face of a Stranger (1964)

Face of a Stranger

7.0

Director (as John Moxey)

1964

 

Downfall (1964)

Downfall

6.8

Director (as John Moxey)

1964

 

John Gregson in First Night (1963)

First Night

8.7

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1964

2 episodes

 

Earl Cameron, Lee Grant, and Fred Sadoff in The Respectful Prostitute (1964)

Festival

7.7

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1963

1 episode

 

Bob Dylan, David Warner, Ursula Howells, Reg Lye, and Maureen Pryor in The Madhouse on Castle Street (1963)

BBC Sunday-Night Play

8.9

TV Series

Director

1963

1 episode

 

Craig Stevens in Man of the World (1962)

Man of the World

7.7

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1963

2 episodes

 

William Mervyn and Edwin Richfield in The Odd Man (1960)

The Odd Man

8.0

TV Series

Director

1963

1 episode

 

ITV Television Playhouse (1955)

ITV Television Playhouse

8.2

TV Series

Director

1956–1963

10 episodes

 

Ricochet (1963)

Ricochet

6.6

Director (as John Moxey)

1963

 

Hold My Hand, Soldier

TV Movie

Director

1963

 

Death Trap (1962)

Death Trap

6.3

Director (as John Moxey)

1962

 

James Ellis and John Slater in Z Cars (1962)

Z Cars

7.0

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1962

3 episodes

 

Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)

Coronation Street

5.6

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1961

4 episodes

 

The Cheaters (1960)

The Cheaters

8.2

TV Series

Director (as John Moxey)

1960–1961

2 episodes

 

Gloria Mestre in Foxhole in Cairo (1960)

Foxhole in Cairo

5.8

Director (as John Moxey)

1960

 

Christopher Lee in The City of the Dead (1960)

The City of the Dead

6.7

Director (as John Moxey)

1960

 

Murder Bag (1957)

Murder Bag

TV Series

Director

1957–1958

4 episodes

 

Minerva Urecal in The Adventures of Tugboat Annie (1957)

The Adventures of Tugboat Annie

7.9

TV Series

Director (1957)

1957

 

London Playhouse

TV Series

Director

1955

2 episodes

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

The Avengers (1961)

The Avengers

8.3

TV Series

second assistant director (uncredited)

1967

1 episode

 

Michael Rennie in The Third Man (1959)

The Third Man

7.8

TV Series

associate director (as John Moxey)

1963–1964

2 episodes

 

David Hannaford, Robin Netscher, and Hilary Rennie in The Dragon of Pendragon Castle (1953)

The Dragon of Pendragon Castle

8.0

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1953

 

Michael Gough in No Resting Place (1951)

No Resting Place

6.2

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1951

 

The Second Mate (1950)

The Second Mate

5.9

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1950

 

Paul Temple's Triumph (1950)

Paul Temple's Triumph

5.7

first assistant director (uncredited)

1950

 

If This Be Sin (1949)

If This Be Sin

6.4

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1949

 

Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray in The Glass Mountain (1949)

The Glass Mountain

6.6

assistant director (uncredited)

1949

 

The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948)

The Story of Shirley Yorke

5.9

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1948

 

Calling Paul Temple (1948)

Calling Paul Temple

6.0

assistant director (as John Moxey)

1948

 

Bad Sister (1947)

Bad Sister

7.1

third assistant director (uncredited)

1947

 

The Hills of Donegal (1947)

The Hills of Donegal

4.6

second assistant director (uncredited)

1947

 

Frank Randle, Leslie Sarony, and Leslie Holmes in When You Come Home (1947)

When You Come Home

5.7

third assistant director (uncredited)

1947

 

Producer

The Violation of Sarah McDavid (1981)

The Violation of Sarah McDavid

5.8

TV Movie

co-producer

1981

 

Michael Rennie in The Third Man (1959)

The Third Man

7.8

TV Series

producer (as John Moxey)

1959–1965

 

ITV Play of the Week (1955)

ITV Play of the Week

7.1

TV Series

producer

1957–1958

2 episodes

 

ITV Television Playhouse (1955)

ITV Television Playhouse

8.2

TV Series

producer

1957

1 episode

 

Wednesday Theatre

TV Series

producer (as John Moxey)

1953

1 episode

Dan Conners obit

A former super bowl champion with local roots has died

 

 He was not on the list.

Super Bowl-winning football player with roots in our region died today.

Dan Conners was born and raised in Saint Marys, PA.

He played football with the Oakland Raiders for 12 years, eventually becoming a team captain and taking home two super bowl rings.

He was 78 years old.

He played 11 seasons as linebacker for the American Football League's Oakland Raiders from 1964 through 1969, and for the Raiders in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 through 1974, including Super Bowl II vs. the Packers.

He played college football at the University of Miami and is enshrined in their Hall of Fame.

Born in Clearfield Florida, Conners was raised in St. Marys, Pennsylvania and was a 1959 graduate of St. Marys high school. He led the Flying Dutchmen to undefeated seasons in 1957 and 1958 as a fullback and center while also earning varsity letters in wrestling and baseball.

That got the attention of the University of Miami (Fla.) where Conners began his college career as a center on the freshman team. He then moved to offensive tackle and then started to make a significant impact on the defensive side of the ball at tackle.

The eventual University of Miami Hall of Famer was 6-foot-2, 240 pounds by his senior year and broke the season record for tackles at that time with 57 tackles and 38 assists in 1962. In 1963, Conners was named an All-American defensive tackle.

In the spring of 1964, Conner was drafted twice — by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round (70th pick) in the NFL draft and by the Raiders in the second round (15th overall) of the AFL or American Football League draft.

Conners signed with the Raiders and started an 11-year career that continued through 1974. Conners moved to middle linebacker and helped anchor the defensive unit that helped lead the team to the playoffs seven of Conners' 11 seasons, 13 games in all.

In 1967, Conners and the Raiders reached the Super Bowl after going 13–1 in the AFL and beating the Houston Oilers, 40–7, for the league title as Conners had a fumble recovery. Against the powerful NFL champion Green Bay Packers in the second-ever Super Bowl, the Raiders lost 33–14.

The next year, the Raiders reached the AFL title game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Jets, 27–23. During the regular season, Conners played in the infamous "Heidi Bowl" where the Raiders scored two touchdowns in the final minute of a 43–32 win. However, NBC pre-empted the fantastic finish to go to its regular-scheduled feature film Heidi, causing predictable outrage.

The Raiders reached the AFL title game again in 1969 and lost to another eventual Super Bowl champion, this time hated rival Kansas City, 17–7. Conners recovered a fumble in the loss. Once again in 1970 now in the American Football Conference after the merger of the NFL and AFL, the Raiders lost again in the conference championship game to another eventual Super Bowl champion as the Raiders lost 17–7 to the Baltimore Colts.

Oakland missed the playoffs in 1971 and reached the postseason again in 1972, winning the AFC West with a 10-3-1 record. In the first round of the playoffs, the Raiders locked up with an emerging power and arch-rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium. In what was dubbed the Immaculate Reception game, it was Conners and the Raiders losing 13–7 on the final play of the game when Franco Harris grabbed a deflected pass out of the air and rambled into the end zone for the miracle finish. The Steelers wound up losing to the eventual unbeaten Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins the next week.

Back again in 1973, the Raiders won the AFC West, avenged the loss to the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dolphins in the conference final, 27–10.

Conners' final season of 1974 saw the Raiders win the AFC West once again with a 12–2 mark, the best record in the NFL. After beating the defending champion Dolphins 28–26 in the first round in the famous " Sea of Hands " game, the Raiders lost at home to another eventual Super Bowl champion as the Steelers, down 10-3 going into the fourth quarter, outscored the Raiders 21–3 in the final quarter to win 24–13. The Steelers went on to win their first Super Bowl, beating the Vikings, 16–6.

Conners appeared in 141 games with the Raiders, 110 of them as a starter. While tackles weren't considered an official statistic until much later, Conners had 15 interceptions, returning three of them for touchdowns and he recovered 16 fumbles, returning two for scores.

Conners made several postseason All-Pro teams, mostly during a stretch from 1967 through 1969. He was a second-team all-AFL pick in 1967 by the Association Press, United Press International and The Sporting News. In 1968, he earned first-team All-AFL honors by UPI and Pro Football Weekly and second team by the AP. In 1969, he was a first-team All-AFL pick by The Sporting News and second team by the AP.

Conners was named as one of the six linebackers on the AFL Hall of Fame All-1960 Team, joining the likes of Bobby Bell, Nick Buoniconti, George Webster, Larry Grantham and Mike Stratton. The Chiefs' Bell and the Dolphins' Buoniconti are Pro Football Hall of Famers.

In Conners' 11 seasons, the Raiders won seven division titles and compiled a 105-38-11 regulat-season record (.718 winning percentage). He was foundational piece of the Raiders' defense over that period. Two years after he retired, the Raiders won their first Super Bowl title against the Vikings in 1976.