Jimmy James obit

Jimmy James, 84, passes away

 

He was not on the list.

Jimmy James, whose ballad Come To Me Softly won him fans in Jamaica and the United Kingdom, died in London yesterday at age 84.

His daughter, Lauren Mercurius-Mascoll, told the Jamaica Observer that James passed away at Northwick Park Hospital. She said her father had Parkinson’s disease and a heart condition which caused him to retire from performing.

Born in Brown’s Town, St Ann, James moved to Kingston in the late 1950s and got involved in music, recording songs for producers including Lindon Pottinger (husband of Sonia) and Clement Dodd.

Pottinger produced the original version of Come To Me Softly, a soul ballad that remained James’ signature song. He was lead singer of The Vagabonds, a band led by bassist Colston Chen and included Phil Chen (later Rod Stewart’s bass player), Colston’s cousin.

James and the band moved to the UK in 1964 at the height of The British Invasion, led by bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Later that decade, as he and The Vagabonds established themselves, they performed on a number of shows with a young American guitarist named Jimi Hendrix.

In the 1970s, James had two solid pop hits with I’ll Go Where Your Music Takes Me (covered with great success by Tina Charles) and Now is The Time.

In 2010, Jimmy James was honoured by Tribute To The Greats, an organisation operated by Kingsley Goodison, for his contribution to Jamaican music.

He is survived by his wife Paula, five sons, two daughters, and grandchildren.

Gudrun Ure obit

Super Gran star Gudrun Ure dies aged 98

 

She was not on the list.

Gudrun Ure, the star of beloved 1980s children's show Super Gran, has died aged 98.

Her portrayal of the granny who gained superpowers after being struck by a magic ray won her legions of young fans in the ITV series, which ran from 1985 through to 1987.

Her death was confirmed by her niece Kate McNeill.

As well as Super Gran, Mrs Ure appeared in a number of stage productions, radio plays and other TV shows, including starring opposite Orson Welles in a 1951 stage version of Shakespeare's Othello directed by the Hollywood star.

Her niece remembered her as a "really kind" person who was happy to be recognised for her most famous role.

She added that when she last saw her aunt in December, the actress had enjoyed hearing that there were plans to reboot the TV show as a new film, and recalled the likes of George Best appearing on the programme.

Ure was born on 12 March 1926 in Milton of Campsie, north of Glasgow, to Allan and Lily Ure.

She was the oldest of three children, and had outlived her two brothers.

Although she enjoyed a lengthy career, her most famous role came aged 59, when she took on the part of Super Gran.

Based on a series of books written by Forrest Wilson, the show was about Granny Smith, who gains superpowers after accidentally being hit by a magic ray .

She then uses her powers to protect the residents of Chiselton from a series of villains - most notably Scottish actor Iain Cuthbertson's scheming Scunner Campbell.

The programme was hugely popular and was sold abroad to around 60 other countries.

In 1985 it won an International Emmy award in the Children and Young People category.

It also saw a host of diverse guests appear, including Billy Connolly, who also sang the programme's theme tune, comedian Spike Milligan, former Doctor Who Patrick Troughton and strongman champion Geoff Capes.

Ure lived in London for most of of her life, and started her acting career initially in children's theatre.

In 1951 spent six weeks playing Desdemona opposite Hollywood star Welles in his production of Othello, while she dubbed over the actress Suzanne Cloutier for a film version of the project.

She performed in a number of other films, TV and radio productions from the 1950s onwards, including as Lady MacBeth in a Encyclopaedia Britannica series of educational films, several episodes of Casualty and a murder victim in Midsomer Murders.

Her niece added: "She had a very memorable voice. I remember my husband was watching Casualty one night, and I went 'that's Gudrun' as soon as I heard the voice."

Ure was married for over 40 years to John Ramsay, who died in 2008. The couple had a stepson, Gordon.

She lived in London and died at her home.

 

Actress

Casualty (1986)

Casualty

6.1

TV Series

Isabel

Violet Brook

Kath Berry

2002–2009

3 episodes

 

Where the Heart Is (1997)

Where the Heart Is

6.8

TV Series

Mildred Miller

2001

1 episode

 

The 10th Kingdom (2000)

The 10th Kingdom

8.3

TV Mini Series

Mrs. Murray Snr.

2000

3 episodes

 

Annette Badland, Neil Dudgeon, and Nick Hendrix in Midsomer Murders (1997)

Midsomer Murders

7.9

TV Series

Celia Armstrong

2000

1 episode

 

Peter Capaldi and Joe McFadden in The Crow Road (1996)

The Crow Road

8.1

TV Mini Series

Margot McHoan

1996

1 episode

 

Tis' the Season to be Jolly (1993)

Tis' the Season to be Jolly

8.9

TV Movie

Minnie Bannister

1993

 

Second Thoughts (1991)

Second Thoughts

6.9

TV Series

Mrs. Macgregor

1993

1 episode

 

Millicent Martin in Moon and Son (1992)

Moon and Son

7.6

TV Series

Mrs. Gilbert

1992

1 episode

 

Renée Asherson, George Cole, and Gudrun Ure in Life After Life (1990)

Life After Life

7.0

TV Movie

Pat Sweeney

1990

 

Aubrey Woods in T.Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom (1990)

T.Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom

8.7

TV Series

Dora McCarr

1990

1 episode

 

James Hazeldine and Amanda Redman in Streets Apart (1988)

Streets Apart

6.8

TV Series

Mrs. Barnsworth

1989

3 episodes

 

Billy Connolly and Gudrun Ure in Super Gran (1985)

Super Gran

6.3

TV Series

Supergran

Greta Garboils

1985–1987

27 episodes

 

No 73 (1982)

No 73

7.1

TV Series

Supergran

1985

1 episode

 

Nanny (1981)

Nanny

8.1

TV Series

Mrs. Purle

1983

1 episode

 

Iain Cuthbertson in Sutherland's Law (1973)

Sutherland's Law

7.7

TV Series

Helen McCallum

1974

1 episode

 

Kika Markham and Ian Ogilvy in Boy Meets Girl (1967)

Boy Meets Girl

7.2

TV Series

Anthea Fry

1968

1 episode

 

Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962)

Dr. Finlay's Casebook

7.7

TV Series

Jean Gilbride

1965

2 episodes

 

Macbeth III: The Secret'st Man

Short

Lady Macbeth

1964

 

Macbeth II: The Themes of Macbeth

Short

Lady Macbeth

1964

 

Macbeth I: The Politics of Power

Short

Lady Macbeth

1964

 

Stryker of the Yard (1957)

Stryker of the Yard

7.3

TV Series

Kathleen O'Hara (as Ann Gudrun)

1962

1 episode

 

Colin Gordon in A Life of Bliss (1960)

A Life of Bliss

6.6

TV Series

Receptionist

1961

1 episode

 

Basil Rathbone in Fredric March Presents Tales from Dickens (1959)

Fredric March Presents Tales from Dickens

7.0

TV Series

Mrs. Copperfield (as Ann Gudrun)

1960

2 episodes

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Mrs. Copperfield (as Ann Gudrun)

1959

1 episode

 

Garry Halliday

8.8

TV Series

Jean Wills (as Ann Gudrun)

1959

6 episodes

 

The Piper of Orde

TV Movie

Kate Dawson (as Ann Gudrun)

1957

 

Sailor of Fortune

7.3

TV Series

Madeline (as Ann Gudrun)

1957

1 episode

 

Richard Greene in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955)

The Adventures of Robin Hood

7.6

TV Series

Mistress Rawlins (as Ann Gudrun)

1956

1 episode

 

Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1954)

Colonel March of Scotland Yard

7.2

TV Series

Nell (as Ann Gudrun)

1956

1 episode

 

Patricia Driscoll in The Woman on the Beach (1955)

The Woman on the Beach

TV Movie

Angela Brand (as Ann Gudrun)

1955

 

Shelley Winters, Peggy Cummins, and John Gregson in Cash on Delivery (1954)

Cash on Delivery

5.6

Cy Daniel's Secretary (uncredited)

1954

 

The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954)

The Sea Shall Not Have Them

6.3

Kirby's Fiancee (as Ann Gudrun)

1954

 

Trouble in the Glen (1954)

Trouble in the Glen

5.4

Dandy Dinmont (as Ann Gudrun)

1954

 

Dennis O'Keefe and Margaret Sheridan in The Diamond Wizard (1954)

The Diamond Wizard

5.8

Sgt. Smith (as Ann Gudrun)

1954

 

Dirk Bogarde, Donald Houston, Kenneth More, and Donald Sinden in Doctor in the House (1954)

Doctor in the House

6.6

May (as Ann Gudrun)

1954

 

Man with a Million (1954)

Man with a Million

6.8

Renie (as Ann Gudrun)

1954

 

Dan Duryea and Elsie Albiin in Terror Street (1953)

Terror Street

5.9

Sister Jenny Miller (as Ann Gudrun)

1953

 

It's You I Want

TV Movie

Anne Vernon (as Ann Gudrun)

1953

 

The Silver Swan

TV Series

Jane Kendall

1953

1 episode

 

Wednesday Theatre

TV Series

Zuczka Szabadka

1952

1 episode

 

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

TV Movie

Silvia

1952

 

Orson Welles and Suzanne Cloutier in Othello (1951)

Othello

7.5

Desdemona (voice, uncredited)

1951

Samm-Art Williams obit

Samm-Art Williams Dies: Tony-Nominated ‘Home’ Playwright, Actor & ‘Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ Producer Was 78

 

He was not on the list.

Samm-Art Williams, whose Tony-nominated 1979 play Home is being revived on Broadway this year and whose TV producing credits include Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, died peacefully today in Burgaw, North Carolina. He was 78.

His death was announced by family.

Born Samuel Arthur Williams on January 20, 1946, in Philadelphia, Williams was a prolific playwright, screenwriter, actor, and producer.

Performing as Samm Williams, he got his start on the New York stage in the early 1970s, appearing in notable plays such as Black Jesus and, with the New York’s Negro Ensemble Company, Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide and Liberty Calland. By the mid-’70s he began performing in other Off Broadway shows under the name Samm-Art Williams.

By the end of the decade, Williams had made his mark as a stage writer, and is today best known for Home, a drama originally staged by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1979 that moved to Broadway the following year. Home will be revived on Broadway beginning this June is a major Roundabout Theatre Company production directed by Kenny Leon.

The production begins previews May 17 at the Todd Haimes Theatre, opening on June 5.

Home is described by Roundabout as “a muscular and melodic coming-of-age story that gives voice to the unbreakable spirit of all Americans who have been searching for a place to belong.” The drama tells the story of Cephus Miles, a black Southern farmer thrown in jail for opposing the Vietnam draft and later moving North only to experience further difficulties before finally returning home.

The original Broadway production was nominated for the Best Play Tony Award and ran for 278 performances. Williams’ other stage credits include Welcome To Black River and Friends.

Williams also kept busy throughout the 1980s and ’90s writing for such TV shows as The New Mike Hammer, Cagney and Lacey, Badges, John Henry, Frank’s Place, Miami Vice, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Martin, among others. He received a 1985 Emmy nomination (Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program) for Motown Returns to the Apollo (shared with fellow writers Buz Kohan and Peter Elbling).

As a producer, Williams was Emmy-nominated for Frank’s Place, and scored major TV hits with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, Martin and The Good News.

A recognizable actor, Williams made notable appearances in 1984’s Blood Simple and as the enslaved person Jim in a 1985 American Playhouse/PBS limited series production of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Other acting credits include guest appearances in 227, Miami Vice, Frank’s Place, The Women of Brewster Place, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, A Rage In Harlem and Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.

On the big screen, he made his debut The Wanderers (1979), and the following year played a subway police officer in director Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill.

Accolades include a Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Playwriting, and other awards for writing. He was an Artist-in-Residence at North Carolina Central University, where he taught classes on equity theater and the art of playwriting.

Producer

David Ramsey and Roz Ryan in The Good News (1997)

The Good News

8.0

TV Series

executive producer

1997–1998

21 episodes

 

Martin Lawrence, Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell, Thomas Mikal Ford, and Carl Anthony Payne II in Martin (1992)

Martin

7.5

TV Series

executive producer

1994–1997

78 episodes

 

Holly Robinson Peete, Mark Curry, Sandra Quarterman, Raven-Symoné, and Marquise Wilson in Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992)

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

6.4

TV Series

co-executive producer

1993–1994

7 episodes

 

Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.9

TV Series

co-executive producer

supervising producer

producer

1990–1993

72 episodes

 

Tim Reid and Daphne Reid in Frank's Place (1987)

Frank's Place

8.6

TV Series

co-producer

1988

4 episodes

 

Writer

Home

writer

2012

 

David Ramsey and Roz Ryan in The Good News (1997)

The Good News

8.0

TV Series

writer

1997

2 episodes

 

Martin Lawrence, Tichina Arnold, Tisha Campbell, Thomas Mikal Ford, and Carl Anthony Payne II in Martin (1992)

Martin

7.5

TV Series

Writer

1994–1997

5 episodes

 

Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.9

TV Series

writer

written by

1990–1993

9 episodes

 

The Debbie Allen Special

6.4

TV Special

Writer

1989

 

Tim Reid and Daphne Reid in Frank's Place (1987)

Frank's Place

8.6

TV Series

written by

1987–1988

4 episodes

 

Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless in Cagney & Lacey (1981)

Cagney & Lacey

6.8

TV Series

written by

1987

1 episode

 

Stacy Keach in The New Mike Hammer (1984)

The New Mike Hammer

6.8

TV Series

teleplay

1987

1 episode

 

Tall Tales & Legends (1985)

Tall Tales & Legends

7.0

TV Series

writer

1986

1 episode

 

Motown Returns to the Apollo

9.0

TV Special

writer

1985

 

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

teleplay

1984–1985

2 episodes

 

Actor

Holly Robinson Peete, Mark Curry, Sandra Quarterman, Raven-Symoné, and Marquise Wilson in Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992)

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

6.4

TV Series

Samm

1993

1 episode

 

Danny Glover, Forest Whitaker, Robin Givens, and Gregory Hines in A Rage in Harlem (1991)

A Rage in Harlem

5.9

Gus Parsons

1991

 

Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.9

TV Series

Thug

1990

1 episode

 

Sarah Jessica Parker, Debrah Farentino, James Wilder, George DiCenzo, Jane Kaczmarek, Kathleen Lloyd, Barry Miller, Joe Morton, and Jon Tenney in Equal Justice (1990)

Equal Justice

6.3

TV Series

Judge Alvin MacArthur

1990

1 episode

 

Oprah Winfrey, Robin Givens, Lynn Whitfield, Jackée Harry, Paula Kelly, Lonette McKee, and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney in The Women of Brewster Place (1989)

The Women of Brewster Place

7.7

TV Mini Series

Cecil Garvin (as Samm Art Williams)

1989

2 episodes

 

Tim Reid and Daphne Reid in Frank's Place (1987)

Frank's Place

8.6

TV Series

Sheriff

1987

1 episode

 

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

Miami Vice

7.6

TV Series

Lead DEA Agent

1987

1 episode

 

Marla Gibbs and Jackée Harry in 227 (1985)

227

6.7

TV Series

Jim Manning

1987

1 episode

 

Stacy Keach in The New Mike Hammer (1984)

The New Mike Hammer

6.8

TV Series

Malachi 'Bubba' Crown

1986

1 episode

 

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

Jim

1986

4 episodes

 

Hot Resort (1985)

Hot Resort

3.6

Bill Martin

1985

 

Blood Simple (1984)

Blood Simple

7.5

Meurice

1984

 

Cook & Peary: The Race to the Pole (1983)

Cook & Peary: The Race to the Pole

6.3

TV Movie

Matt Henson

1983

 

A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion (1982)

A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion

7.3

Peter Poyas

1982

 

ABC Afterschool Specials (1972)

ABC Afterschool Specials

7.1

TV Series

Cop

1981

1 episode

 

Dressed to Kill (1980)

Dressed to Kill

7.1

Subway Cop

1980

 

Jane Krakowski, Matthew Ashford, Domini Blythe, Colleen Dion, Terri Eoff, David Forsyth, Lee Godart, Louan Gideon, Marcia McCabe, Jeffrey Meek, Jacqueline Schultz, and Mary Stuart in Search for Tomorrow (1951)

Search for Tomorrow

7.1

TV Series

Officer Welch

1980

2 episodes

 

Night of the Juggler (1980)

Night of the Juggler

6.5

Peep Show Bouncer (as Samm Art Williams)

1980

 

The Wanderers (1979)

The Wanderers

7.3

Roger

1979

 

The Baron (1977)

The Baron

5.4

Rufus

1977

 

Summerdog (1977)

Summerdog

4.6

Officer Brown

1977

Alice Munro obit

Alice Munro, Nobel Literature Winner Revered as Short Story Master, Dies at 92

Often ranked with Anton Chekhov, John Cheever and a handful of other short story writers, the author achieved stature rare for an art form traditionally placed beneath the novel. 

She was not on the list.

Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92.

A spokesperson for publisher Penguin Random House Canada said Munro, winner of the Nobel literary prize in 2013, died Monday at home in Port Hope, Ontario. Munro had been in frail health for years and often spoke of retirement, a decision that proved final after the author’s 2012 collection, Dear Life.

Often ranked with Anton Chekhov, John Cheever and a handful of other short story writers, Munro achieved stature rare for an art form traditionally placed beneath the novel. She was the first lifelong Canadian to win the Nobel and the first recipient cited exclusively for short fiction. Echoing the judgment of so many before, the Swedish academy pronounced her a “master of the contemporary short story” who could “accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages.”

Munro, little known beyond Canada until her late 30s, also became one of the few short story writers to enjoy ongoing commercial success. Sales in North America alone exceeded 1 million copies and the Nobel announcement raised Dear Life to the high end of The New York Times‘ bestseller list for paperback fiction. Other popular books included Too Much Happiness, The View from Castle Rock and The Love of a Good Woman.

Over a half century of writing, Munro perfected one of the greatest tricks of any art form: illuminating the universal through the particular, creating stories set around Canada that appealed to readers far away. She produced no single definitive work, but dozens of classics that were showcases of wisdom, technique and talent — her inspired plot twists and artful shifts of time and perspective; her subtle, sometimes cutting humor; her summation of lives in broad dimension and fine detail; her insights into people across age or background, her genius for sketching a character, like the adulterous woman introduced as “short, cushiony, dark-eyed, effusive. A stranger to irony.”

Her best known fiction included “The Beggar Maid,” a courtship between an insecure young woman and an officious rich boy who becomes her husband; “Corrie,” in which a wealthy young woman has an affair with an architect “equipped with a wife and young family”; and “The Moons of Jupiter,” about a middle-aged writer who visits her ailing father in a Toronto hospital and shares memories of different parts of their lives.

“I think any life can be interesting,” Munro said during a 2013 post-prize interview for the Nobel Foundation. “I think any surroundings can be interesting.”

Disliking Munro, as a writer or as a person, seemed almost heretical. The wide and welcoming smile captured in her author photographs was complemented by a down-to-earth manner and eyes of acute alertness, fitting for a woman who seemed to pull stories out of the air the way songwriters discovered melodies. She was admired without apparent envy, placed by the likes of Jonathan Franzen, John Updike and Cynthia Ozick at the very top of the pantheon. Munro’s daughter, Sheila Munro, wrote a memoir in which she confided that “so unassailable is the truth of her fiction that sometimes I even feel as though I’m living inside an Alice Munro story.” Fellow Canadian author Margaret Atwood called her a pioneer for women, and for Canadians.

“Back in the 1950s and 60s, when Munro began, there was a feeling that not only female writers but Canadians were thought to be both trespassing and transgressing,” Atwood wrote in a 2013 tribute published in the Guardian after Munro won the Nobel. “The road to the Nobel wasn’t an easy one for Munro: the odds that a literary star would emerge from her time and place would once have been zero.”

Although not overtly political, Munro witnessed and participated in the cultural revolution of the 1960s and ’70s and permitted her characters to do the same. She was a farmer’s daughter who married young, then left her husband in the 1970s and took to “wearing miniskirts and prancing around,” as she recalled during a 2003 interview with the Associated Press. Many of her stories contrasted the generation of Munro’s parents with the more open-ended lives of their children, departing from the years when housewives daydreamed “between the walls that the husband was paying for.”

Moviegoers would become familiar with “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” the improbably seamless tale of a married woman with memory loss who has an affair with a fellow nursing home patient, a story further complicated by her husband’s many past infidelities. “The Bear” was adapted by Sarah Polley into the 2006 feature film Away from Her, which brought an Academy Award nomination for Julie Christie. In 2014, Kristen Wiig starred in Hateship, Loveship, an adaptation of the story “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” in which a housekeeper leaves her job and travels to a distant rural town to meet up with a man she believes is in love with her — unaware the romantic letters she has received were concocted by his daughter and a friend.

Even before the Nobel, Munro received honors from around the English-language world, including Britain’s Man Booker International Prize and the National Book Critics Circle award in the U.S., where the American Academy of Arts and Letters voted her in as an honorary member. In Canada, she was a three-time winner of the Governor’s General Award and a two-time winner of the Giller Prize.

Munro was a short story writer by choice, and, apparently, by design. Judith Jones, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf who worked with Updike and Anne Tyler, did not want to publish Lives of Girls & Women, her only novel, writing in an internal memo that “there’s no question the lady can write but it’s also clear she is primarily a short story writer.”

Munro would acknowledge that she didn’t think like a novelist.

“I have all these disconnected realities in my own life, and I see them in other people’s lives,” she told the AP. “That was one of the problems, why I couldn’t write novels. I never saw things hanging together too well.”

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born in Wingham, Ontario, in 1931, and spent much of her childhood there, a time and place she often used in her fiction, including the four autobiographical pieces that concluded Dear Life. Her father was a fox farmer, her mother a teacher and the family’s fortunes shifted between middle class and working poor, giving the future author a special sensitivity to money and class. Young Alice was often absorbed in literature, starting with the first time she was read Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. She was a compulsive inventor of stories and the “sort of child who reads walking upstairs and props a book in front of her when she does the dishes.”

A top student in high school, she received a scholarship to study at the University of Western Ontario, majoring in journalism as a “cover-up” for her pursuit of literature. She was still an undergraduate when she sold a story about a lonely teacher, The Dimensions of a Shadow, to CBC Radio. She was also publishing work in her school’s literary journal.

One fellow student read Dimensions and wrote to the then-Laidlaw, telling her the story reminded him of Chekhov. The student, Gerald Fremlin, would become her second husband. Another fellow student, James Munro, was her first husband. They married in 1951, when she was only 20, and had four children, one of whom died soon after birth.

Settling with her family in British Columbia, Alice Munro wrote between trips to school, housework and helping her husband at the bookstore that they co-owned and would turn up in some of her stories. She wrote one book in the laundry room of her house, her typewriter placed near the washer and dryer. Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers and other writers from the American South inspired her, through their sense of place and their understanding of the strange and absurd.

Isolated from the literary center of Toronto, she did manage to get published in several literary magazines and to attract the attention of an editor at Ryerson Press (later bought out by McGraw Hill). Her debut collection, Dance of the Happy Shades, was released in 1968 with a first printing of just under 2,700 copies. A year later it won the Governor’s General Award and made Munro a national celebrity — and curiosity. “Literary Fame Catches City Mother Unprepared,” read one newspaper headline.

“When the book first came they sent me a half dozen copies. I put them in the closet. I didn’t look at them. I didn’t tell my husband they had come, because I couldn’t bear it. I was afraid it was terrible,” Munro told the AP. “And one night, he was away, and I forced myself to sit down and read it all the way through, and I didn’t think it was too bad. And I felt I could acknowledge it and it would be OK.”

By the early ’70s, she had left her husband, later observing that she was not “prepared to be a submissive wife.” Her changing life was best illustrated by her response to the annual Canadian census. For years, she had written down her occupation as “housewife.” In 1971, she switched to “writer.”

Over the next 40 years, her reputation and readership only grew, with many of her stories first appearing in The New Yorker. Her prose style was straightforward, her tone matter of fact, but her plots revealed unending disruption and disappointments: broken marriages, violent deaths, madness and dreams unfulfilled, or never even attempted. “Canadian Gothic” was one way she described the community of her childhood, a world she returned to when, in middle age, she and her second husband relocated to nearby Clinton.

“Shame and embarrassment are driving forces for Munro’s characters,” Atwood wrote, “just as perfectionism in the writing has been a driving force for her: getting it down, getting it right, but also the impossibility of that.”

She had the kind of curiosity that would have made her an ideal companion on a long train ride, imagining the lives of the other passengers. Munro wrote the story “Friend of My Youth,” in which a man has an affair with his fiancee’s sister and ends up living with both women, after an acquaintance told her about some neighbors who belonged to a religion that forbade card games. The author wanted to know more — about the religion, about the neighbors.

Even as a child, Munro had regarded the world as an adventure and mystery and herself as an observer, walking around Wingham and taking in the homes as if she were a tourist. In “The Peace of Utrecht,” an autobiographical story written in the late 1960s, a woman discovers an old high school notebook and remembers a dance she once attended with an intensity that would envelop her whole existence.

“And now an experience which seemed not at all memorable at the time,” Munro wrote, “had been transformed into something curiously meaningful for me, and complete; it took in more than the girls dancing and the single street, it spread over the whole town, its rudimentary pattern of streets and its bare trees and muddy yards just free of the snow, over the dirt roads where the lights of cars appeared, jolting toward the town, under an immense pale wash of sky.”

David Sanborn obit

David Sanborn Dies: Grammy-Winning Jazz Saxophonist, Film Composer & ‘SNL’ Bandmember Was 78

 

He was not on the list.

David Sanborn, the six time Grammy-winning alto saxophonist who played at Woodstock, composed music for the Lethal Weapon movies, played in the SNL and Late Night with David Letterman bands and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to David Bowie, died Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications. He Was 78.

Sanborn’s music is often described “smooth jazz,” but he reportedly rejected that characterization, and one can see why. His lively, iconic sax solo on Bowie’s “Young Americans” is anything but. Sanborn preferred the idea that he “put the saxophone back into rock ’n’ roll.”

Indeed, he worked with a virtual who’s who of rock and R&B legends, including James Brown, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Elton John, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Roger Waters, Steely Dan, the Eagles, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.

In TV and film, Sanborn was a member of the legendary Saturday Night Live band from 1979-1980 alongside fellow alto player — and future Lord of the Rings composer — Howard Shore, future Late Night with David Letterman band leader Paul Shaffer on keyboards and his future frequent collaborator, Marcus Miller, on bass.

In the late ’80s he was a frequent guest with Shaffer in the Late Night with David Letterman band. He was also interviewed by Letterman several times.

At the same time, Sanborn, Clapton and Michael Kamen composed music for Lethal Weapon 2, 3 and 4.

He also appeared, usually cast as a musician, in Paul Simon’s film One Trick Pony as well as Magnum P.I., Scrooged and, as himself, in Billy Crystal’s Forget Paris.

Sanborn co-hosted the syndicated show Night Music from 1988 to 1990, which was produced by Lorne Michaels. The show featured footage of jazz legends like Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and Billie Holiday, as well as banter and memorable music jams by musicians including Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Joe Sample, Sonic Youth, Pharoah Sanders, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more. Additionally, Sanborn hosted a syndicated radio program, The Jazz Show with David Sanborn.

The musician released 25 albums, won six Grammys, and has had eight Gold albums and one Platinum. Sanborn also played also tenor, soprano and sopranino saxophone, saxello, flute & keyboards/piano.

At the age of three, he contracted polio and took to the saxophone as part of his treatment therapy. By the time he was a teen, he was playing with blues legends such as Albert King and Little Milton.

In the late ’60s he joined the Butterfield Blues Band and played on the final day at Woodstock. He was soon touring and recording with Stevie Wonder and recording for Wonder’s Talking Book album. He played with The Rolling Stones, toured and recorded with Bowie and toured and recorded with jazz great Gil Evans. He later collaborated with Simon and James Taylor, providing the signature sax solo on Taylor’s classic version of “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved By You).”

Sanbron made his solo debut in 1975 with the album Taking Off, which featured the popular jazz fusion act the Brecker Brothers. His 1979 release, Hideaway, became a featured the single, “Seduction” which was featured in American Gigolo. He won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance for the sing “All I Need Is You” on the 1981 record, Voyeur.

Later albums included guest artists such as Luther Vandross, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, Charlie Hayden, Wallace Roney, Kenny Barron, Christian McBride and Clapton.

The following was posted on Sanborn’s Facebook page earlier today:

It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, 6 time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn passed Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications.

Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.

David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music. It has been said that he “put the saxophone back into Rock ’n Roll.”

Mark Damon obit

Mark Damon Dies: ‘Monster’ Film Producer, Sales Executive & Spaghetti Western Actor Was 91

 

He was not on the list.

Mark Damon, a film producer, sales executive, and spaghetti Western actor, died at 91, representatives for the executive told Deadline on Sunday night.

Damon, born Alan Harris in Chicago, started his career in Hollywood in 1956 after signing a contract with 20th Century Fox. After starring in House of Usher, Damon won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. The film was directed by Roger Corman, who died on Thursday.

Damon would move to Italy and star in films like The Reluctant Saint (1962), The Young Racers (1963), The Shortest Day (1963), Black Sabbath (1963), 100 Horseman (1964), Secret Agent 777 (1965), Dio, Come Ti Amo! (1966) and Johnny Oro (1966).

he first entered the world of independent sales and production in the 1970s while living and working in Italy where he saw a large market of independent international distributors eager for top American movies. He evolved from acting to film production and, in 1977, founded the Producers Sales Organization to sell American films to international distributors. He is credited with helping to create a vibrant sales market for indie movies.

In 1993, he founded MDP Worldwide, which would be renamed Media 8 Entertainment in 2003. As a producer, Damon received multiple Oscar nominations, including winning an Academy Award in 2005 for Monster. Other films he produced include Das Boot, The NeverEnding Story, The Upside of Anger, 9 1/2 Weeks, 8 Million Ways to Die, Short Circuit, The Choirboys, The Lost Boys, The Jungle Book, The Musketeer, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and many more.

After leaving Media 8, Damon founded Foresight Unlimited in 2005, a film, production, financing and sales company. There, he helped steer the financing for movies including 2 Guns, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Walhberg, and Lone Survivor, starring Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg. The latter went on to gross $125 million at the U.S. box office. In 2019, it was sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

Damon’s last film as a producer was in 2019’s war drama The Last Full Measure, directed by Todd Robinson. The film starred Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda and LisaGay Hamilton among more.

Damon was one of the original founding members of International Film and Television Alliance (IFTA). He received his M.B.A. and B.A. degrees from UCLA. In May 2008, his biography From Cowboy to Mogul to Monster was published, chronicling his 50 years in the entertainment industry.

 

Filmography

Year     Title            Role            Notes

2019    The Last Full Measure            Producer        

2018    The Hurricane Heist            Producer        

2017    Blind            Executive Producer            Starring Alec Baldwin

2014    And So It Goes            Producer         Starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton

2013    Lone Survivor            Executive Producer            Starring Mark Wahlberg

2013    2 Guns            Executive Producer            Starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg

2012            Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning            Executive Producer            Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren

2011            Flypaper            Producer         Starring Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd

2011    The Ledge            Producer         Starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, and Terrence Howard

2009            Universal Soldier: Regeneration            Executive Producer            Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren

2009    It's Alive            Executive Producer     

2009    Beyond a Reasonable Doubt            Producer         Starring Michael Douglas

2007            Captivity            Producer        

2006    O Jerusalem            Producer        

2005    The Upside of Anger            Executive Producer            Starring Kevin Costner and Joan Allen

2004    Beyond The Sea            Executive Producer            Starring Kevin Spacey

2004    The I Inside            Producer        

2003            Monster            Producer         Starring Charlize Theron

Academy Award for Best Actress

Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature

2003    11:14            Executive Producer     

2003    The United States of Leland            Executive Producer            Starring Don Cheadle

2002            Extreme Ops            Executive Producer     

2002            FeardotCom            Executive Producer     

2001    The Musketeer            Executive Producer     

2001    The Body            Executive Producer     

2000    Love & Sex            Executive Producer     

1999    Eye of the Beholder            Executive Producer            Starring Ewan McGregor

1999    A Dog of Flanders            Executive Producer     

1997            Deceiver            Wayland's Father

Executive Producer         

1997    The Blackout            Executive Producer     

1996    The Winner            Executive Producer     

1994    The Jungle Book            Executive Producer     

1993            Stalingrad            Executive Producer     

1991    Diary of a Hitman            Executive Producer     

1990            Vietnam, Texas            Executive Producer     

1989    Wild Orchid            Producer         Starring Mickey Rourke

1988    High Spirits            Executive Producer     

1988    Bat*21            Co-Producer         

1988    Mac and Me            Executive Producer     

1987    The Lost Boys            Executive Producer     

1986    Flight of the Navigator            Executive Producer     

1986    Short Circuit            Executive Producer     

1986    8 Million Ways to Die            Executive Producer            Starring Jeff Bridges

1986    9½ Weeks            Producer         Starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger

Directed by Adrian Lyne

1986    The Clan of the Cave Bear            Executive Producer     

1984            Metropolis       Sales Agent  

1984    The NeverEnding Story            Executive Producer            Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

1981    Das Boot            Executive Producer            Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

Nominated for Six Academy Awards

1977    The Choirboys            Executive Producer     

1974    There Is No 13            George Thomas           

1974    The Arena            Producer         Starred Damon's future wife Margaret Markov

1973    Crypt of the Living Dead    Peter   

1973    The Devil's Wedding Night            Karl Schiller

1973    Little Mother Riano  

1972    Byleth: The Demon of Incest   Duke Lionello Shandwell            

1972    Great Treasure Hunt            Kansas Lee     

1972    I leoni di Pietroburgo            Eldar   

1972            Confessioni segrete di un convento di clausura            Domenico       

1972    They Call Him Veritas Veritas

1971    Long Live Robin Hood   Allen   

1971            Ivanhoe, the Norman Swordsman            Ivanhoe           

1971    Pistol Packin' Preacher            Slim     

1968    Dead Men Don't Count   Johnny Dalton 

1968    Anzio            Wally Richardson            Directed by Edward Dmytryk

1968    All Out            Johnny 

1968    The Young, the Evil and the Savage            Richard Barrett 

1968    Train for Durango            Brown 

1967    Golden Chameleon            Vittorio

1967    No Killing Without Dollars            Laurence        

1967            Requiescant      George Ferguson            Also starring Pier Paolo Pasolini

1966    Johnny Yuma   Johnny Yuma  

1966    Ringo and His Golden Pistol    Johnny Oro/Ringo            aka Johnny Oro, directed by Sergio Corbucci

1966    Dio, Come Ti Amo!            Luis            Also starring Gigliola Cinquetti, 2 times winner of the Festival of San Remo.

1965    Secret Agent 777            Dr. Bardin 

1964    Son of Cleopatra            El Kebir  

1964    100 Horsemen            Don Fernando Herrera y Menendez       

1963    The Tyrant of Castile  Peter I: King of Castile 

1963    Black Sabbath            Vladimire d'Urfe            Also starring Boris Karloff

Directed by Mario Bava

1963    The Shortest Day            Un ufficiale austriaco            Directed by Sergio Corbucci

1963    The Young Racers            Stephen Children            Directed by Roger Corman

1962    The Reluctant Saint            Aldo            Directed by Edward Dmytryk

1962    The Longest Day            Private Harris   Also starring Richard Burton and Sean Connery, Uncredited

1962    Beauty and the Beast            Eduardo         

1962    Peccati d'estate Dr. Gianni Orgei    

1960    House of Usher            Philip Winthrop            Won Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer

Also starring Vincent Price

Directed by Roger Corman

Screenplay by Richard Matheson

1960    This Rebel Breed            Frank Serano

1958    The Party Crashers            Twig Webster          

1958    Life Begins at 17            Russ Lippincott        

1957    Young and Dangerous            Tommy Price   

1956    Alfred Hitchcock Presents            Ray Clements            Season 1 Episode 22: "Place of Shadows"

1956            Between Heaven and Hell      Private Terry, Company G     

1956            Screaming Eagles            Private Lambert          

1956    Inside Detroit  Gregg Linden  

A. J. Smith obit

Smith, winningest GM in Chargers' history, dies

 

He was not on the list.

Former Chargers general manager A.J. Smith died Sunday at the age of 75, his family announced.

Smith had been battling prostate cancer for the past seven years, his family said in the announcement, which was released by the Falcons. Smith's son, Kyle, is the Atlanta Falcons' assistant general manager.

During a 35-year career in the NFL, A.J. Smith rose from a part-time scout to general manager of the San Diego Chargers, holding that role from 2003 to 2012. He became the winningest GM in franchise history, as the Chargers won 98 games (including playoffs) during his 10 seasons in the role.

"Belying a tough, matter of fact and no nonsense persona -- one synonymous with that of a true football guy -- was AJ's softer side which included a tremendous love for his family, the NFL and the Chargers," Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a statement. "The architect of one of the greatest chapters in franchise history, A.J. made everyone around him better with a singular focus and intensity that elevated our organization."

Smith drafted quarterback Eli Manning with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft despite Archie Manning's request that he not do so, and then traded Manning's rights to the New York Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers and draft picks that he used to select linebacker Shawne Merriman and kicker Nate Kaeding.

Rivers went on to set Chargers franchise records with 59,271 yards and 397 touchdown passes. Manning, though, won two Super Bowls with the Giants, while Rivers never led the Chargers to a championship.

Smith also signed tight end Antonio Gates as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Gates now holds the Chargers' all-time records for receptions (955), receiving yards (11,841) and touchdown receptions (116).

His signature coaching hire was Norv Turner, who in 2007 replaced Marty Schottenheimer, who was fired despite a 14-2 season in 2006. Schottenheimer was fired by Spanos, who cited a "dysfunctional situation" between the coach and Smith.

Turner went 56-40 in six seasons and, like Schottenheimer, was unable to lead the Chargers to a Super Bowl. He was fired along with Smith in 2012 when the Chargers finished 7-9 -- just the second losing season in Smith's tenure as GM.

After the 2000 season, he joined former Bills executive John Butler in San Diego.

Smith was later promoted to general manager after Butler, then Chargers GM, died of cancer in 2003. He inherited a team that was 14–34 in its previous three seasons, and had not made the playoffs since 1995. Smith directed the Chargers to five AFC West division titles and eight consecutive seasons without a losing record. San Diego's 7–9 record in 2012 was their first losing season since Smith's first season in 2003. Missing the playoffs for the third straight season, the Chargers fired Smith and head coach Norv Turner the day after the 2012 season ended. Over his tenure, Smith allowed Darren Sproles, Michael Turner and Vincent Jackson to leave the Chargers without finding adequate replacements. The Chargers' offensive line grew weak in 2012. Quarterback Philip Rivers was frequently forced to scramble and was sacked 49 times, contributing to his 22 turnovers—47 over the previous two seasons.

Smith is also survived by his wife, Susan; daughter, Andrea; son-in-law, Noah, and three grandchildren.

As a player:

Attleboro Kings (1972–1974)

As a coach:

Cranston West HS (RI) (1971–1976)

Assistant coach

Rhode Island Kings (1976)

Head coach

Rhode Island (1978)

Assistant coach

As an executive:

New York Giants (1977)

Scout

New England Patriots (1978–1980)

Scout

Houston Oilers (1981)

Scout

Chicago Blitz (1983)

Scout

Pittsburgh Maulers (1984)

Scout

San Diego Chargers (1985–1986)

Pro personnel director

Buffalo Bills (1986–1988)

Scout

Buffalo Bills (1989–1992)

Assistant director of college scouting

Buffalo Bills (1993–2000)

Director of pro personnel

San Diego Chargers (2001–2002)

Director of pro personnel/assistant general manager

San Diego Chargers (2003–2012)

General manager

Washington Redskins (2013–2015)

Senior executive/consultant