Reni Santoni obit

Reni Santoni, Actor in 'Enter Laughing' and 'Dirty  Harry,' Dies at 82 

 

 

He also appeared in 'Cobra' and 'Guns of the Magnificent Seven' and as Poppie the pizza chef on 'Seinfeld.'  

He was not on the list.

 

Reni Santoni, who starred in Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical movie Enter Laughing and played the rookie partner of Clint Eastwood's maverick detective in Dirty Harry, has died. He was 82. 

Santoni died Saturday in hospice care in Los Angeles of complications from throat and lung cancer, his friend, TV writer-producer and musician Tracy Newman, told The Hollywood Reporter. 

The Seinfeld faithful know the Bronx native for his four appearances as Poppie, the unsanitary pizza guy who has a problem with bladder control. 

Santoni also portrayed a Mexican-Irish revolutionary in Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) and Sylvester Stallone's partner in Cobra (1986) and had a recurring role as one of Arthur Hill's assistants on the final season (1973-74) of the ABC law drama Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. 

He had a long romantic relationship with actress-turned-director Betty Thomas and worked for her in Only You (1992), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), the 1996 HBO telefilm The Late Shift (as NBC executive John Agoglia), Howard Stern's Private Parts (1997), Doctor Dolittle (1998) and the Sandra Bullock-starring 28 Days (2000). 

Earlier, he was married to actress-stage director Lisa James. 

Santoni had just a handful of small TV and film credits to his name when he was tapped to star as David Kolowitz, a young man from the Bronx who yearns to be an actor, in Enter Laughing (1967). The film was adapted from the 1963-64 hit Broadway play that starred Alan Arkin in a Tony-winning performance; that in turn was based on Reiner's 1958 book. 

Reiner directed the film and co-wrote the script with Joseph Stein, and the casting of the leading man represented something of a risk. Roger Ebert in his review called Santoni "a young actor with just the right combination of spontaneity and desperation," but Enter Laughing generally received poor reviews, and what could have been a career-making turn for Santoni was lost. 

In Don Siegel's Dirty Harry (1971), Santoni as detective Chico Gonzalez gets paired with Eastwood's Harry Callahan after one of Callahan's previous partners is killed and another is sent to the hospital "with a bullet in his gut." Chico is mocked for being a "college boy" — and having a degree in sociology, no less. 

Born in New York City on April 21, 1938, Santoni wrote the off-Broadway play Raisin' Hell in the Son, which premiered in 1962, and appeared on stage in The Mad Show (from the folks behind Mad magazine) in a cast that featured David Steinberg, Jo Anne Worley and Linda Lavin. 

He played a junkie in Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker (1964) and had TV roles on East Side/West Side, The Trials of O'Brien and Hawk before Enter Laughing came calling. Later, he would reunite with Reiner to portray a cop in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), starring Steve Martin. 

His big-screen résumé included Anzio (1968), The Student Nurses (1970), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), Bad Boys (1983), Brewster's Millions (1985), Rain Man (1988), The Package (1989) and Gang Warz (2004). 

In the 1980s, Santoni starred on the series Sanchez of Bel Air at USA Network — known for its part in creating the formula for actors' TV residuals — and Manimal at NBC, but those shows didn't last long. 

He also showed up on episodes of The Odd Couple, The Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Murder, She Wrote, NYPD Blue and Murder One during his career. 

Survivors include his son, Nick, wife Rae Ann and sister Amelia. 

 

Filmography 

 

Strangers in the City (1962) – Scrounge 

The Pawnbroker (1964) – Junkie Selling Radio (uncredited) 

Enter Laughing (1967) – David Kolowitz 

A Great Big Thing (1968) – Vinny Shea 

Anzio (1968) – Pvt. Movie 

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) – Max 

The Student Nurses (1970) – Victor Charlie 

Dirty Harry (1971) – Inspector Chico Gonzalez 

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) – Hobbs 

They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way (1978) – Billy Joe 

Hawaii Five-O (1978) Episode: "A Death in the Family" – Jimmy Rego 

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) – Carlos Rodriguez 

Bad Boys (1983) – Ramon Herrera 

Brewster's Millions (1985) – Vin Rapelito 

Radioactive Dreams (1985) – 'Red' Hairstylist / Adult Harold (voice) 

Summer Rental (1985) – Announcer 

Cobra (1986) – Sergeant Tony Gonzales 

The Pick-up Artist (1987) – Man in Train Station 

Bright Lights, Big City (1988) – (voice) 

The Package (1989) – Chicago Police Lieutenant 

Cat Chaser (1989) – Narrator (voice, uncredited) 

Men Don't Tell (1992) – Rueben the Bartender 

Groundhog Day (1993) – State Trooper (voice, uncredited) 

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) – Police Officer (uncredited) 

The Late Shift (1996) – John Agoglia 

Private Parts (1997) – Vallesecca 

Can't Hardly Wait (1998) – Cop 

Dr. Dolittle (1998) – Rat #1 (voice) 

28 Days (2000) – Daniel 

Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) – Rat #1 (voice) 

Kingpin (2003) (mini series) – General Valdez 

Gang Warz (2004) – Father Luis 

Irene in Time (2009) – Sam

Harley Redin obit

 

WBU saddened by passing of Harley Redin

He was not on the list.

Wayland Baptist University is saddened to learn of the passing of one of its most legendary figures and one of the most influential individuals in the history of women's basketball, Harley J. Redin.

A man whose countless contributions to Wayland Baptist University, the Flying Queens and the sport of women's basketball will forever be remembered, Coach Redin passed away peacefully in Plainview on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. He was 100 years old, less than a month from his 101st birthday on Aug. 29.

"Today we mourn the loss of a World War II hero, a major influence in the development of women's basketball around the globe, and an impactful advocate for opportunities for women in America," WBU President Dr. Bobby Hall said. "Harley was a remarkably successful coach at Wayland and a true friend. His record of coaching success is in many ways unmatched, and his accomplishments are immortalized along with those of many of his teams in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Harley's influence on the game is appreciated worldwide and his impact on Wayland will be felt forever.

"Our love and condolences go out to his wife Wilda and their sons Van and Kenny Redin, and Mike Hutcherson and his wife Suzy."

A private graveside service is planned. The family will plan a memorial service at a later date.

Harley was born in Silverton, Texas, to Alvin and Winnie Redin and graduated from high school there in 1936. He received an Associate in Arts degree from Tarleton Junior College in 1939, playing basketball there during an era when the team won 88 consecutive games. He received his undergraduate degree from North Texas State University in 1942 and his master's in 1946 after a military career for the U.S. Marines in which he flew 38 bombing missions in the South Pacific during World War II.

Hired as athletic director and men's basketball coach to revive the sport at Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, he coached the Pioneers for eight years with a record of 151-88 and three appearances in the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City.

Redin later coached the Wayland Flying Queens to 76 of their still national-record 131 consecutive wins that ranged from the first game of the 1953-54 season through the semifinals of the National Amateur Athletic Union Tournament semifinals in the 1957-58 campaign. Those teams were named Trailblazers of the Game by the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

From 1955-73, Redin directed the Queens to a 437-68 record (his first two teams were unbeaten) with six national AAU titles and six second places, usually to archrival Nashville Business College. Wayland was a leader in offering athletic scholarships for women, many of whom otherwise would have not been able to attend college.

He coached the U.S. women's team in the 1959 and 1971 Pan American Games to gold and bronze medals, respectively, directed the U.S. team in the 1964 World Championships and coached all-star teams against Russian competition.

Some of his most significant contributions to the women's game came while serving on several Olympic and AAU rules committees that promoted the five-player game, the 30-second clock and unlimited dribbling (in the early days, players could dribble only three times before having to pass or shoot). He also was among the first to use the full-court press and the fast-break offense, first used in 6-on-6 competition that prevailed until the 1970-71 season.

Redin has garnered numerous honors over his career, the most prestigious being the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 2018 for meritorious service to the game and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in September 2019 as one of the coaches of the Flying Queen teams from 1948-82 that pre-dated the NAIA and NCAA programs.

A stickler for fundamentals and for good behavior on and off the court, Redin was cited by the Plainview Daily Herald'sCitizenship Hall of Fame for the promotion of sportsmanship.

He also used his flying skills as one of the pilots for the Queens, who were transported to out-of-town games in four Beechcraft Bonanzas furnished by team sponsor Claude Hutcherson, owner of Hutcherson Flying Service. The Queens name came from the team's first sponsor, Harvest Queen Mill, a local grain elevator.

Between the Queens and Pioneers, Redin coached more than 40 All-Americans.

After retirement in 1973 and a career at City National Bank, Redin coached for two seasons at Hale Center High School in the early 1980s.

A member of the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1999 and the Wayland Athletics Hall of Honor in 1992, Redin also is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame, the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame, and the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club tapped Redin as the 2000 Naismith Women's Outstanding Contribution to Basketball Award winner for lifetime achievement, impact on the game and honor and exemplary service. In 2000, the Amarillo Globe-News named him one of the 100 Sports Legends of the Texas Panhandle.

Sports Illustrated named Redin one of the top people in sports in Texas from 1950 to 2000.

Wayland named its Athletics Hall of Honor for him and the Harley Redin Coach's Award has been given periodically since 1999 to outstanding alums in the coaching profession.

A former president of the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, Redin also helped start the Lions Club summer baseball program and spearheaded an effort to have all the residences on Holliday Street decorate their homes with white lights for Christmas, motivating others in Plainview to utilize outdoor lighting.

He is a Distinguished Alumnus of Tarleton State University and he and his wife, Wilda Hutcherson Redin, were named Distinguished Benefactors of Wayland in 2007. The playing surface at Hutcherson Center – named for Mrs. Redin's late first husband, Claude Hutcherson – bears the name Wilda and Harley Redin Court. Harley, Wilda and Claude are all members of the Walk of Fame in front of the Fair Theater in Plainview.

Redin published two books – The Queens Fly High and A Basketball Guide for Girls.

He joined First Baptist Church in Plainview on Nov. 17, 1946, and was the oldest member of the church.

In his final years, Redin enjoyed the NBC Evening News with Lester Holt, watching sports on TV, big band music and keeping up with his former players and fellow servicemen.

Harley is survived by his wife Wilda; sons Van Redin of Austin and Kenny Redin and wife Cathy of Pflugerville; stepson Mike Hutcherson and his wife Suzy of Lubbock; sister Pat Barnhill of San Diego, Calif.; brother-in-law John Talley and wife Diane of Longview; brother-in-law Ernest Huitt of Redding, Calif., grandchildren Heather and Mike Peery of Bedford, Jacqueline Redin of Austin and Ryan Redin of Pflugerville; and several of nieces, nephews and cousins.

His first wife, Nonie, died in 1984.

Wilford Brimley - # 238

Wilford Brimley, ‘Cocoon’ Star and Quaker Oats Pitchman, Is Dead at 85

Recognizable by his walrus mustache, the actor specialized in playing cantankerous characters in “Absence of Malice,” “The Natural” and other films.

 

He was number 238 on the list.

Wilford Brimley, a portly actor with a walrus mustache who found his niche playing cantankerous coots in “Absence of Malice,” “The Natural,” “Cocoon” and other films, died on Saturday in a hospital in St. George, Utah. He was 85.

He had been sick for two months with a kidney ailment, his agent, Lynda Bensky, said.

Mr. Brimley had played the Walton Mountain resident Horace Brimley in a recurring role on the television series “The Waltons” when Michael Douglas, the producer of “The China Syndrome,” gave him his breakthrough role: Ted Spindler, an assistant engineer at a nuclear plant.

In the film’s climactic scene, in which he is being interviewed by a crusading television reporter played by Jane Fonda, Mr. Brimley delivered an impassioned defense of his boss (Jack Lemmon), who had precipitated a crisis to draw public attention to defects at the plant.

In an article for The New York Times singling out Mr. Brimley as a talent to watch, Janet Maslin called him “the mustachioed man who very nearly steals the ending of ‘China Syndrome’ from Jane Fonda.”

Mr. Brimley followed up with a small but memorable performance as a pugnacious assistant U.S. attorney in “Absence of Malice” and with supporting roles in “The Natural,” as the put-upon manager of a losing baseball team, and “The Firm,” in which he played the sinister head of security at an unsavory law firm.

In Ron Howard’s 1985 fantasy film “Cocoon,” Mr. Brimley delivered one of his most engaging performances, as a Florida retiree who, with Don Ameche and Hume Cronyn, regains his youth after swimming in a magic pool.

“Wilford’s a testy guy, not an easy guy to work with all the time, but he has great instincts,” Mr. Howard told The Times in 1985. “Many of his scenes were totally improvised.”

In the 1980s and 1990s Mr. Brimley was a television fixture as a spokesman for Quaker Oats, gruffly telling viewers to eat the cereal because “it’s the right thing to do,” and Liberty Medical, a company selling diabetes-testing supplies. Mr. Brimley learned that he had the disease in the late 1970s.

When interviewed, Mr. Brimley played down his talent; he described himself as “just a guy, just a feller” to The Powell Tribune of Wyoming in 2014. “I can’t talk about acting,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it. I was just lucky enough to get hired.”

Anthony Wilford Brimley was born on Sept. 27, 1934, in Salt Lake City. His father, a real estate broker, sold the family farm in 1939 and moved his family to Santa Monica, Calif.

Tony, as he was known, dropped out of school at 14 and worked as a cowboy in Idaho, Nevada and Arizona before enlisting in the Marine Corps, which sent him to the Aleutian Islands. After leaving the service, he worked as a ranch hand, wrangler and blacksmith. Briefly, he was a bodyguard for Howard Hughes.

He began shoeing horses for television and film westerns, and gradually took nonspeaking roles on horseback. He appeared as a stuntman in “Bandolero!,” in an uncredited role in “True Grit” and as a blacksmith in the television series “Kung Fu.”

The film’s director, Ron Howard, said of Mr. Brimley: “Wilford’s a testy guy, not an easy guy to work with all the time, but he has great instincts. Many of his scenes were totally improvised.”

After “The China Syndrome,” he worked steadily. He played Harry, the former manager of the country singer played by Robert Duvall, in “Tender Mercies,” and the eccentric tycoon Bradley Tozer in the Tom Selleck adventure film “High Road to China,” before returning to the role of Ben Luckett in “Cocoon: The Return.”

From 1986 to 1988 he had a starring role as Gus Witherspoon, the opinionated but lovable grandfather in the NBC series “Our House,” yet again confounding the usual Hollywood aging process by portraying, in his early 50s, a character who was 65.

“I’m never the leading man,” he told The Dallas Morning News in 1993. “I never get the girl. And I never get to take my shirt off. I started by playing fathers to guys who were 25 years older than I was.”

In part because of his television commercials, Mr. Brimley made the transition from actor to comic source material. John Goodman did a parody of his diabetes commercial on “Saturday Night Live,” and in 1997 he appeared in a cameo role on “Seinfeld” as the short-tempered postmaster general, Henry Atkins.

He had a pleasant singing voice and recorded several albums of jazz standards, including “This Time the Dream’s on Me” and “Wilford Brimley With the Jeff Hamilton Trio.”

Mr. Brimley’s first wife, the former Lynne Bagley, died in 2000. He is survived by his wife, Beverly, and three sons from his first marriage, James, John and William. Another son, Lawrence, died in infancy. Complete information on other survivors was not immediately available.

As Mr. Howard noted, Mr. Brimley came by his cussedness naturally. In “Miracles and Mercies,” a documentary about the making of “Tender Mercies,” Mr. Duvall recalled a set-to between Mr. Brimley and the director Bruce Beresford, who had made a suggestion about how Mr. Brimley might play the role of Harry.

“Now, look, let me tell you something — I’m Harry,” he recalled Mr. Brimley telling Mr. Beresford. “Harry’s not over there, Harry’s not over here. Until you fire me or get another actor, I’m Harry, and whatever I do is fine ’cause I’m Harry.”

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes    Ref.

1968      Bandolero!                          Stuntman (uncredited)

1969      True Grit              Minor Role          Uncredited

1971      Lawman               Marc Corman     Uncredited        

1979      The China Syndrome      Ted Spindler                      

1979      The Electric Horseman   Farmer                 

1980      Brubaker              Rogers                 

1980      Borderline           USBP Agent Scooter Jackson                       

1981      Absence of Malice           Assistant U.S. Attorney General James A. Wells                  

1982      Death Valley       The Sheriff                         

1982      The Thing            Dr. Blair                               

1983      Tender Mercies                 Harry                    

1983      10 to Midnight Captain Malone                               

1983      High Road to China          Bradley Tozer                    

1983      Tough Enough   Bill Long                              

1984      Harry & Son        Tom Keach                         

1984      The Hotel New Hampshire            Iowa Bob                            

1984      The Stone Boy   George Jansen                 

1984      The Natural        Pop Fisher                          

1984      Country                Otis                       

1984      Terror in the Aisles          Doctor Blair        Archive footage               

1985      Cocoon                 Benjamin 'Ben' Luckett                 

1985      Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins    Agency Director Harold Smith                    

1986      Jackals Sheriff Mitchell                

1986      Shadows on the Wall      Floyd Buckman                 

1987      End of the Line Will Haney                         

1988      Cocoon: The Return        Benjamin 'Ben' Luckett                 

1990      Eternity                King/Eric                             

1992      Where the Red Fern Grows: Part II            Grandpa Will      Direct-to-video

1993      The Firm              William Devasher                            

1993      Hard Target        Uncle Douvee                   

1994      Heaven Sent       Al (Security Guard)                         

1995      Mutant Species                 Devro                   

1995      Last of the Dogmen         Narrator               Uncredited        

1996      My Fellow Americans     Joe Hollis                            

1997      In & Out               Frank Brackett                  

1997      Lunker Lake        The Storyteller                 

1998      Chapter Perfect                Chief Hawkins                   

1998      Progeny               Dr. David Wetherly                         

1998      A Place to Grow                Jake                      

1998      Summer of the Monkeys              Grandpa Sam Ferrans                    

2000      Comanche           Doctor                 

2001      Brigham City       Stu                        

2001      PC and the Web                                               

2002      Resurrection Mary           Morty                   

2003      The Road Home                Coach Weaver                  

2009      The Path of the Wind      Harry Caldwell                  

2009      Did You Hear About the Morgans?            Earl Granger                      

2016      Timber the Treasure Dog              Hawk Jones                       

2017      I Believe               Pastor      Final film role    

 

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes    Ref.

1974–1977          The Waltons       Horace Brimley 8 episodes         

1975      Kung Fu                Blacksmith          Episode: "One Step to Darkness"; as A. Wilford Brimley  

1976–1977          The Oregon Trail               Ludlow Episodes: Pilot, "Hard Ride Home"; as A. Wilford Brimley               

1979      The Wild Wild West Revisited     President Grover Cleveland         Television film; as Wilford A. Brimley      

1980      Amber Waves    Pete Alberts       Television film  

1980      Roughnecks        Willie Clayton    Television film  

1980      Rodeo Girl           Bingo Gibbs        Television film  

1981      The Big Black Pill               Wally Haskell     Television film; aka. Joe Dancer

1985      Murder in Space               Dr. Andrew McCallister Television film  

1985      Ewoks: The Battle for Endor         Noa        Television film  

1986      Thompson's Last Run      Red Haines          Television film  

1986      Act of Vengeance             Tony Boyle          Television film  

1986–1988          Our House           Gus Witherspoon                            

1989      Billy the Kid        Gov. Lew Wallace             Television series              

1991      Blood River         U.S. Marshal Winston Patrick Culler         Television film  

1992      The Boys of Twilight        Deputy Bill Huntoon        Television series              

1995      Walker, Texas Ranger     Burt Mueller       Episode: "War Zone"      

1995      Op Center           Admiral Troy Davis                          

1995      The Good Old Boys          C.C. Tarpley        Television film  

1997      Seinfeld                United States Postmaster General Henry Atkins Episode: "The Junk Mail"          

2001      Crossfire Trail     Joe Gill Television film  

2001      The Ballad of Lucy Whipple          Deputy Sheriff Ambrose Scraggs                Television film  

2011      The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson                Guest    Late night talk show

Jean Lisette Aroeste obit

Jean Lisette Aroeste Has Died

 She was not on the list.

Jean Lisette Aroeste, MLS (2 October 1932 – August 2020; age 87) was an acquisitions department librarian at Harvard from 1954 until 1962, when she became a reference librarian at UCLA. She was not a professional television writer until Robert H. Justman read her unsolicited script "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" and recommended it be bought. She later wrote the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "All Our Yesterdays". She also wrote outlines for an undeveloped episode titled "The Foreseeable Future".

Aroeste's Star Trek contributions were her only work for film or television, although she did have other work related to her career as a librarian including co-editor, Directory of scholarly and research publishing opportunities: a guide to academic publishing opportunities in the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology (1971).