Thomas Rickman obit

Tom Rickman, Screenwriter on ‘Hooper’ and ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter,’ Dies at 78

Tom Rickman, screenwriter of such films as the Burt Reynolds-starrer 'Hooper' and the Oscar-winning 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' died Monday of cancer. He was 78. 

He was not on the list.

Tom Rickman, screenwriter of such films as the Burt Reynolds-starrer Hooper and the Oscar-winning Coal Miner’s Daughter, died Monday of cancer. He was 78.

Friend and fellow screenwriter Nicholas Meyer confirmed the news Wednesday in a Facebook post, writing, “It is with an exceedingly heavy heart that I report the death of my dear friend and colleague, Tom Rickman, who died Monday after a long and courageous battle with cancer. When I first came to Hollywood (somewhat after the Civil War), Tom was the hottest writer in town. And I hated him. Hated him until I met him. Then I loved him from that day to this.”

Rickman was born in the small mining town of Sharpe, Kentucky, in 1940, where he lived without television or indoor plumbing. He attended graduate school at the University of Illinois and adapted a Flannery O’Connor story for the short film Good Blood, which caught the interest of the AFI Conservatory. He left Illinois to attend AFI, which led to his first screenwriting film credit, in turn leading to the start of his career on such films as the Raquel Welch-starrer Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Laughing Policeman (1973) and The White Dawn (1974).

Rickman earned an Academy Award nomination for his writing on Coal Miner’s Daughter in 1981. The film earned star Sissy Spacek a best actress Oscar.

Following Coal Miner’s Daughter, Rickman was given the opportunity to make his directorial debut with 1984’s The River Rat, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Martha Plimpton and Brian Dennehy. He also penned the script for the film that he described as a cross between The Night of the Hunter and Huckleberry Finn.

Rickman also wrote for TV movies, including 1995’s Truman, which earned an him an Emmy nomination, and 2003’s The Reagans, for which he also received an Emmy nom. He also wrote 1999’s Tuesdays With Morrie telefilm, which earned star Jack Lemmon a Golden Globe nomination.

Rickman also had three directing credits, including an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1986 and the TV movie A Mother’s Fight for Justice in 2001, which he also wrote.

Writer

A Smile as Big as the Moon (2012)

A Smile as Big as the Moon

7.6

TV Movie

teleplay

2012

 

Front of the Class (2008)

Front of the Class

8.1

TV Movie

written by (as Tom Rickman)

2008

 

James Brolin and Judy Davis in The Reagans (2003)

The Reagans

5.9

TV Movie

written by (as Tom Rickman)

2003

 

A Mother's Fight for Justice (2001)

A Mother's Fight for Justice

6.1

TV Movie

written by (as Tom Rickman)

2001

 

Bless the Child (2000)

Bless the Child

5.1

screenplay (as Tom Rickman)

2000

 

Tuesdays with Morrie (1999)

Tuesdays with Morrie

7.4

TV Movie

teleplay (as Tom Rickman)

1999

 

Truman (1995)

Truman

7.1

TV Movie

teleplay (as Tom Rickman)

1995

 

Shannon's Deal (1990)

Shannon's Deal

8.3

TV Series

written by

1990–1991

3 episodes

 

Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange in Everybody's All-American (1988)

Everybody's All-American

6.2

screenplay (as Tom Rickman)

1988

 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

7.7

TV Series

Writer (as Tom Rickman)

1986

1 episode

 

Tommy Lee Jones and Martha Plimpton in The River Rat (1984)

The River Rat

6.3

Writer

1984

 

Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Coal Miner's Daughter

7.5

screenplay (as Tom Rickman)

1980

 

Burt Reynolds in Hooper (1978)

Hooper

6.4

screenplay

1978

 

Bethune (1977)

Bethune

6.6

TV Movie

teleplay

1977

 

Delta County, U.S.A. (1977)

Delta County, U.S.A.

5.6

TV Movie

Writer

1977

 

Home Cookin'

TV Movie

Writer (as Tom Rickman)

1975

 

W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)

W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings

5.9

written by

1975

 

The White Dawn (1974)

The White Dawn

7.1

screenplay by

1974

 

The Laughing Policeman (1973)

The Laughing Policeman

6.3

screenplay

1973

 

The Hands of Cormac Joyce

8.0

TV Movie

writer

1972

 

Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber (1972)

Kansas City Bomber

5.4

screenplay

1972

 

Director

A Mother's Fight for Justice (2001)

A Mother's Fight for Justice

6.1

TV Movie

Director (as Tom Rickman)

2001

 

Shannon's Deal (1990)

Shannon's Deal

8.3

TV Series

Director

1991

2 episodes

 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

7.7

TV Series

Director (as Tom Rickman)

1986

1 episode

 

Tommy Lee Jones and Martha Plimpton in The River Rat (1984)

The River Rat

6.3

Director (as Tom Rickman)

1984

 

Actor

Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange in Everybody's All-American (1988)

Everybody's All-American

6.2

Terra-Turf Man (as Tom Rickman)

1988

 

Intermission

Husband

1973

Conway Savage obit

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds pianist Conway Savage dies age 58

This article is more than 4 years old

The Australian musician, who had a ‘golden voice drenched in soul’, was a member of Cave’s band for three decades

 

He was not on the list. 

Conway Savage, the long-term pianist for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has died age 58. Savage was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2017 and died on 2 September, the band confirmed in a statement.

The statement continued: “A member of Bad Seeds for nearly 30 years, Conway was the anarchic thread that ran through the band’s live performances. He was much loved by everyone, band members and fans like. Irascible, funny, terrifying, sentimental, warm-hearted, gentle, acerbic, honest, genuine – he was all of these things and quite literally ‘had the gift of a golden voice’, high and sweet and drenched in soul.

“On a drunken night, at four in the morning, in a hotel bar in Cologne, Conway sat at the piano and sang Streets of Laredo to us, in his sweet, melancholy style and stopped the world for a moment. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Goodbye Conway, there isn’t a dry eye in the house.”

Savage joined the Bad Seeds in 1990 alongside the Triffids’ Martyn P Casey. His last recorded performance with the band was for the Bad Seeds’ 2013 album Push the Sky Away; he did not appear on their 2016 album Skeleton Tree.

Savage was born on 27 July 1960 in rural Victoria, Australia. He started playing piano in his teens, in a pub run by his parents. From 1980-81 he performed with drummer Jim White in the band Happy Orphans. Before joining the Bad Seeds, Savage was also in the Feral Dinosaurs (also with White), Dust on the Bible and Dave Last and the Legendary Boy Kings.

After joining the Bad Seeds, Savage released a number of solo albums and collaborated with a number of predominantly Australian artists including the Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster.

Carl Duering obit

Actor Carl Duering obit

He was not on the list.

Prolific actor Carl Duering died in London on 1st September. Apparently he originally acted under the name of Percy Fox. He was married to the actress Nancy Manningham. Gerald Percy Fox, better known as Carl Duering, was a German-born British actor whose best known role is as Dr. Brodsky in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

Selected filmography

 

    Appointment in London (1953) - German Duty Officer (uncredited)

    The Red Beret (1953) - Rossi

    Twist of Fate (1954) - 2nd Sailor (uncredited)

    The Divided Heart (1954) - Postman

    The Colditz Story (1955) - German Officer

    Lets Be Happy (1957) - Customs Inspector

    Seven Thunders (1957) - Major Grautner

    Escapement (1958) - Blore

    Battle of the V-1 (1958) - Scientist

    The Great Van Robbery (1959) - Delgano

    Strip Tease Murder (1961) - Rocco

    The Guns of Navarone (1961) - German Radar Operator (uncredited)

    Fate Takes a Hand (1961) - Mike

    The Main Attraction (1962) - Bus Driver (uncredited)

    Operation Crossbow (1965) - German Officer Arriving at Rocket Plant (uncredited)

    Arabesque (1966) - Hassan Jena

    Duffy (1968) - Bonivet

    Darling Lili (1970) - General Kessler

    Underground (1970) - Stryker

    Rend mig i revolutionen (1970) - Major Bodenschatz

    A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Dr. Brodsky

    King, Queen, Knave (1972) - Enricht

    Gold (1974) - Syndicate Member

    Operation Daybreak (1975) - Karl Hermann Frank

    Voyage of the Damned (1976) - German Ambassador (uncredited)

    Group Portrait with a Lady (1977) - Französischer Offizier (uncredited)

    The Boys from Brazil (1978) - Trausteiner

    Der Sturz [de] (1979)

    Malou (1981) - Rabbi

    Possession (1981) - Detective

    Smiley's People (1982) - Walther

    Inside the Third Reich (1982) - Hugo Elsner

    Der Schnüffler [de] (1983) - Dr. Lohmeyer

    Das Wagnis des Arnold Janssen (1983) - Rouard de Card - Dominikanerprovinzial

    War and Remembrance (1988) - Dr. Karl Goerdeler

    Destroying Angel (1990) - Publisher

    Déjà Vu (1997) - Jewellery Shop Owner in Paris

    Saltwater (2000) - Konigsberg (final film role)

 

Randy Weston obit

Pianist Randy Weston, An Eloquent Spokesman For Jazz's Bond with African Culture, Dies at 92

 He was not on the list.

Randy Weston, a pianist and composer who devoted more than half a century to the exploration of jazz’s deep connection with Africa, died on Saturday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 92.

His death was announced by his wife and business partner, Fatoumata Weston.

Over the course of an extraordinarily long and distinguished career, Weston carried on the pianistic and composerly tradition of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk before him. But he was steadfast in a specific sense of mission: he regarded jazz as an extension of African music, from its foundational essence to its living expression. He made this argument not only in eloquent conversation but also in powerful musical terms, often in recent years with his band African Rhythms.

An imposingly tall but soft-spoken man, Weston embodied the connections he espoused. His touch at the piano was emphatically percussive, but also elegant, resonant and clear. He worked with a sophisticated harmonic language often shaded in blue, and in his compositions  which have become standards — he drew an unmistakable line from the African continent to the swinging verities of hard-bop and other strains of modern jazz.

“When you go to Africa, you become very humble,” Weston told Sheila Anderson last year, in a Salon Session interview at WBGO. “You realize that you are from thousands and thousands of years of civilization, and how much we have to learn from these people.”

Weston made his first visit to the African continent in 1961, as part of a tour for the U.S. State Department. He visited Lagos, Nigeria on that trip, and returned there under the same auspices two years later. After a third visit in 1967, he decided to move to Morocco, finding deep spiritual resonance in the traditional music of the Gnawa. In Tangier, he opened and operated a popular jazz club, also called African Rhythms, from the late ‘60s into the ‘70s. 

But it would be an oversimplification to imply that Weston had an awakening during his trips abroad. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 6, 1926, he came up in a household conversant in African culture. His mother, Vivian, was born in Virginia; his father, Frank, was Panamanian, and a strong admirer of Marcus Garvey, whose pan-African message made a formative impression.

Weston studied classical piano before his professional career began after the Second World War, with bluesmen like Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Bullmoose Jackson. He encountered some important encouragement when, in 1951, he took a summer job as a breakfast chef at the Music Inn in the Berkshires. There he met the scholar and historian Marshall Stearns, who eventually asked Weston to accompany his lectures, some of which drew a decisive musicological lineage between jazz and the folkloric music of West Africa.

That connection gradually became more legible to Weston. “My good friend, the bassist Ahmad Abdul-Malik’s people were from the Sudan, and he played the oud, which has this thing of playing notes between the notes,” he recalled roughly a decade ago, in an appearance on NPR’s Piano Jazz. “I couldn’t get that sound on the piano. But when I heard Thelonious Monk play, I heard this same magic on the piano; even his way of swinging had that same element.”

Weston released his debut album, Cole Porter in a Modern Mood, on Riverside Records in 1954. The following year he was named New Star Pianist in the Down Beat International Critics' Poll. When he then released The Randy Weston Trio, featuring Sam Gill on bass and Art Blakey on drums, it notably opened with a composition titled “https://youtu.be/_yJbmMourhw">Zulu.”

During the ‘60s, Weston released a succession of boldly realized albums, including Uhuru Africa, which featured African hand drumming front and center, alongside a big band stacked with talent: Clark Terry, Yusef Lateef, Max Roach and Gigi Gryce, just for starters. The arrangements were by Melba Liston, a close collaborator who also worked with Weston on albums like Highlife (1963), Tanjah (1973) and The Spirits of Our Ancestors (1991).

But Uhuru Africa, which also incorporates lyrics and poetry by Langston Hughes, belongs in a category of its own. As Robin D.G. Kelley has observed, the album “acknowledged Africa’s cultural ties to its descendants, honored African womanhood and promoted the idea of a modern Africa, a beacon for a new future.”

Weston had some more commercial outings in the ‘70s, none more so than Blue Moses, released on CTI Records. It features Freddie Hubbard in peak swashbuckling form, and a rhythm team that often features bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Cobham, along with several percussionists.

In African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston, a book written with Willard Jenkins and published in 2010, Weston recalls being unpleasantly surprised by the slick production of Blue Moses, but appreciative of the fact that it was the biggest hit of his career.

By and large, Weston’s success was less a matter of commercial performance than cultural influence. He was a 2001 NEA Jazz Master, a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, and a 2016 inductee in the DownBeat Critic’s Poll Hall of Fame. He won a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award and received several honorary doctorate degrees. Two years ago his personal trove of musical scores, correspondence, recordings and other materials were acquired by Harvard Library, in collaboration with the Jazz Research Initiative at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

Along with his wife, Weston is survived by three of his four children, Cheryl, Pamela and Kim; seven grandchildren; six great grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild.

Last year Weston released The African Nubian Suite — his 50th album, and the first on his own African Rhythms label, supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship. Recorded in concert in 2012 at New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, it features narration by the scholar Wayne Chandler and poetry by the late Jayne Cortez.

Weston was planning to tour and record when he died; his fall calendar was to include an Oct. 17 concert for the World Music Institute at the New School. His message now lives on in his recordings and concert footage, and will continue to exert influence by personal example. “When I touch the piano,” he said in an All Things Considered profile last year, “it becomes an African instrument. It’s no longer a European instrument. I say that in a positive way, not a negative way.”

Dean Stone obit

 Baseball Pitcher Dean Stone Has Died

He was not on the list.

“Dean” Stone, 88, of Silvis, Illinois passed away Aug. 21, 2018 at Hope Creek Care Center in East Moline.

Funeral services will be 10am Saturday at Schroder Mortuary in Silvis. Visitation will be 4-7pm Friday at the mortuary. Burial will be at Greenview Memorial Gardens in East Moline. Memorials may be made to Christ United Methodist Church Family Life Center.

Dean was born Sept. 1, 1929 in Moline, IL the son of Lyle and Frances Goddard Stone. He married Peggy Scott Nov. 29, 1949 in Piggot, AR. She passed away June 30, 1985. Dean worked for Anchor Lumber building houses and Rock Island Lines in Silvis. He also owned a sod company. He was a major league pitcher for the Senators where he was the winning pitcher of the all-star game in 1954. He also pitched for the Red Sox, White Sox, Colt 45’s, St. Louis Cardinals and Orioles. He also played twice in South America and once in Japan.

Survivors include his daughter Mary Ann Quin of Silvis; grandchildren Greg (Mariah) Quin of Silvis, Jean (Brian) Linville of East Moline and Angelic (Todd Trettin) Quin of Graton, IA; great grandchildren Lucy, Melaney, Barrett and Macey Quin, Allison and Amanda Linville, Abigail Luke and Elizabeth and Kathryn Henning.

Dean was preceded in death by his parents; wife; son David Dean, infant son Paul Dean and brothers Hilbert, Lynn, Paul and Allen Stone.

Stone was a pitcher who appeared in 166 games over all or parts of eight Major League Baseball seasons. The well-traveled, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 205 lb (93 kg) left-hander played for the Washington Senators (1953–1957), Boston Red Sox (1957), St. Louis Cardinals (1959), Houston Colt .45s (1962), Chicago White Sox (1962) and Baltimore Orioles (1963). He also played one season in Japan for the Taiyo Whales (1964).

Born in Moline, Illinois, Stone graduated from United Township High School in East Moline, prior to entering baseball in 1949.

Stone was the winning pitcher of the 1954 All-Star Game without retiring a single batter. This took place at Cleveland Stadium on July 13. He entered the game with two out in the top of the 8th to face Duke Snider, with the American League behind, 9–8. Red Schoendienst, the baserunner on third, tried to steal home and Stone threw him out at the plate. The A.L. then scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th and won the game 11–9, as Virgil Trucks hurled a scoreless 9th inning to save it.

After having pitched two minor league no-hitters in 1952 and going 8–10 with a 3.33 ERA for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association in 1953, he reached the big leagues. His first appearance was in relief against the Detroit Tigers on September 13, 1953. He would go on to pitch the majority of his games (60%) in relief at the major league level.

In 1954 won a career-high 12 games, lost 10, had an earned run average of 3.22, and it was his only season as an All-Star. In his other seven years, he had a combined record of 17–29 with a 4.91 ERA.

Stone was a member of the expansion Houston Colt .45s of 1962. He pitched a three-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs in Houston's third game (April 12), then another shutout against the Cubs one week later, giving the Colts a 5–3 record. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Russ Kemmerer on June 22. The Baltimore Orioles acquired Stone during the off-season, and he made his last major league appearance on June 21, 1963.

Career totals include a record of 29–39 in 215 games pitched, 85 games started, 19 complete games, 5 shutouts, 52 games finished, 12 saves, and an ERA of 4.47. In 686 innings he struck out 380 and walked 373. He had a batting average of .088 in 170 at bats with one home run.

In the minors he played for the Chattanooga Lookouts, Clinton Steers, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Senators, Charleston Marlins, Omaha Cardinals, San Juan Marlins, Minneapolis Millers. Erie Sailors, and the Indios de Oriente from Venezuela.