Ronnie Bright obit

 

R&B and doo-wop singer Ronnie Bright Has Died

He was not on the list.

American Singer. Born Ronald David Bright, he was a prominent R&B and doo-wop singer from the 1950s to the 1970s. He started his first group, the Dreamers, in 1952 and they would sing on street corners in their neighborhood in Harlem. The group released their first single "Summer Love" in 1954 and a year later changed their name to the Valentines. They recorded several singles before breaking up in 1958, but none of them reached the charts. Bright then joined the group The Cadillacs before going to bass backup singing. Among the songs that he sang backup was Barry Mann's "Who Put the Bomp" and Jackie Wilson's "Baby Workout", but the song that made him most famous was Johnny Cymbal's hit "Mr. Bass Man". In 1968 Bright joined the Coasters and would stay with them until 2009.

Bright was the bass vocalist for doo-wop groups the Valentines, the Cadillacs, the Deep River Boys, and the Coasters. He did session work for artists such as Barry Mann, Jackie Wilson, Peter Gabriel, and Johnny Cymbal. His most recognizable vocals are from Johnny Cymbal's 1963 hit song "Mr. Bass Man." He sang with the Valentines (the group was previously called the Dreamers) from 1954 to 1957, briefly with the Cadillacs in 1960, and the Deep River Boys in the late 1960s. In 1965, Bright released a record for Coed Records as Ronnie and the Schoolmates. He joined the Coasters in April 1968, replacing Dub Jones, and left the group in 2009. He died on November 26, 2015, at the age of 77.

Guy Lewis obit

Guy V. Lewis, coach of Phi Slama Jama teams, dies at 93

He was not on the list.

Former University of Houston men's basketball coach Guy V. Lewis, best known for leading the Phi Slama Jama teams of the 1980s, has died. He was 93.

He died at a retirement facility in Kyle, Texas, on Thanksgiving morning surrounded by family, the school said Thursday.

Lewis coached the Cougars for 30 years. He guided Houston to back-to-back NCAA title games in 1983 and '84 but never won the national championship, losing to N.C. State in the 1983 final on Lorenzo Charles' last-second shot, one of the NCAA Tournament's greatest upsets and most memorable plays.

''It feels awful,'' Lewis said after that game. ''I've never lost a game that didn't feel that way, but this one was terrible.''

Lewis, who helped lead the integration of college basketball in the South by recruiting Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney to Houston, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Known for plaid jackets and wringing his hands with a red polka-dot towel during games, Lewis compiled a 592-279 record at Houston, guiding the Cougars to 27 consecutive winning seasons from 1959-85. He was honored as the national coach of the year twice (1968 and `83) and led Houston to 14 NCAA Tournaments and five Final Fours.

Lewis had mostly avoided the spotlight since retiring in 1986. He suffered a stroke in February 2002 and had used a wheelchair in recent years.

He was known for putting together the ''Game of the Century'' at the Astrodome in 1968 between Houston and UCLA. It was the first regular-season game to be broadcast on national television. Houston defeated the Bruins in front of a crowd of more than 52,000, which, at that time, was the largest ever to watch an indoor basketball game.

Lewis attended the introductory news conference in December 2007 for Kevin Sumlin, the first black football coach in Houston history. It was a symbolic, significant appearance because Lewis signed Houston's first two black basketball players and some of the first in the region in Hayes and Chaney in 1964, when programs were just starting to integrate.

Hayes and Chaney led the Cougars to the program's first Final Four in 1967 but lost to Lew Alcindor's UCLA team in the semifinal game.

''Basketball in the state of Texas and throughout the South is all due to coach Guy V. Lewis,'' Hayes said in 2013. ''He put everything on the line to step out and integrate his program. Not only that, he had vision to say: `Hey, we can play a game in the Houston Astrodome.' Not only that, he just was such a motivator and such an innovator that created so many doors for the game of basketball to grow.''

Along with Hayes, Lewis also coached fellow All-Americans Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. The three were included on the NBA's Top 50 greatest players list in 1996. Lewis and North Carolina's Dean Smith were the only men to coach three players from that list while they were in college.

Players and CBS announcer Jim Nantz lobbied for years for Lewis to get into the Naismith Hall of Fame. When he finally received the honor in 2013 he made a rare public appearance. It was difficult for him to convey his thoughts in words in his later years because of aphasia from his strokes, so his daughter spoke on his behalf at the event to celebrate his induction.

''It's pure joy and we're not even upset that it took so long. ... Dad is used to winning in overtime,'' Sherry Lewis said.

Lewis announced his retirement during the 1985-86 season, and the Cougars finished 14-14, his first non-winning season since 1958-59.

Guy Vernon Lewis II was born in Arp, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents in northeast Texas. He became a flight instructor for the U.S. Army during World War II and enrolled at the University of Houston in 1946.

He joined the basketball team, averaged 21.1 points and led the Cougars to the Lone Star Conference championship. By the early 1950s, he was working as an assistant coach under Alden Pasche and took over when Pasche retired in 1956.

Elmo Williams obit

Elmo Williams, Oscar-Winning Film Editor on ‘High Noon,’ Dies at 102

 He received another nom for '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' Olivia de Havilland is now the oldest living Academy Award winner.

He was not on the list.

Long-time Brookings resident and retired Hollywood film producer Elmo Williams died peacefully in his home at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday at the age of 102.

Williams, who slipped into unconsciousness on Friday, spent his final days surrounded by family and friends. They celebrated Thanksgiving on Tuesday, setting a plate for Elmo at the dinner table while he rested in his bed nearby. The dinner included some of Elmo's favorite food and the family toasted Elmo, raising a glass of his favorite wine.

“It was a very peaceful passing,” said Elmo’s adult daughter Stacy Williams.

A memorial for Elmo is scheduled for Dec. 12 at the Brookings Elks Lodge. The time of the event is high noon, a nod to the classic western movie High Noon, in which Elmo received an Academy Award as film editor.

Among the films that Williams edited are High Noon (1952), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and The Vikings (1958). Williams was involved in the production of The Longest Day (1962) and Cleopatra (1963), and he was a producer of the film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Between 1971 and 1974, Williams was the Head of Production for 20th Century Fox.

Williams edited the film Design for Death (1947), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Williams won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on 1952's High Noon (directed by Fred Zinnemann and co-edited with Harry W. Gerstad, although he was subordinate to Gerstad), and was nominated again for 1954's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (directed by Richard Fleischer).

High Noon was listed as the 54th best-edited film of all time in a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and the editing of High Noon is probably Williams' most studied accomplishment. Critic James Berardinelli wrote, "High Noon's tension comes through Kane's desperation, aided in no small part by Elmo Williams' brilliant editing as the clock ticks down to twelve. For a motion picture with so little action, the suspense builds to almost unbearable levels." In his memoir, Williams states that this well-known montage was specifically edited to match the music composed for the scene by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Williams was credited as associate producer and coordinator of battle episodes on The Longest Day (1962). He was also an uncredited second unit director. He later produced another historical World War II film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), also for Darryl F. Zanuck.

Williams was elected to membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE). In 1971, Williams was honored with the ACE "Golden Eddie" award as Filmmaker of the Year. In 1990, Williams received the ACE Career Achievement Award; he was among the first six editors to be honored as such.

On May 14, 2011, Williams featured in Slow Children's music video “Learn to Love”.

Williams was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. In 1940, he married Lorraine Williams, who died in 2004. They adopted two daughters and a son. The couple retired to Brookings, Oregon, on the Oregon Coast in 1983. In December 2008, Williams donated a public chapel to the city in memory of his wife. The chapel, named Capella By The Sea, is located in Azalea Park in Brookings.

Elmo's brother Burch Williams was killed in an accident when a biplane crashed into the helicopter Burch was in during the filming of aerial sequences for the 1971 film Zeppelin.

Editor

Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)

Cleopatra

7.0

Editor (uncredited)

1963

 

Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Jon Hall, and Roberta Haynes in Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)

Hell Ship Mutiny

4.5

Editor

1957

 

Brian Keith, Buddy Baer, Dick Kallman, Don Megowan, and Dale Robertson in Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)

Hell Canyon Outlaws

6.7

Editor

1957

 

Jim Davis and Beverly Michaels in Blonde Bait (1956)

Blonde Bait

5.4

Editor

1956

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

7.2

Editor (edited by)

1954

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

Editor

1954

 

Lloyd Bridges in The Tall Texan (1953)

The Tall Texan

6.2

Editor

1953

 

Sterling Hayden and Joan Leslie in Hellgate (1952)

Hellgate

6.4

Editor

1952

 

Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Lee Van Cleef, Katy Jurado, Ian MacDonald, Robert J. Wilke, and Sheb Wooley in High Noon (1952)

High Noon

7.9

Editor

1952

 

William Lundigan and Dorothy Patrick in Follow Me Quietly (1949)

Follow Me Quietly

6.5

Editor

1949

 

Priscilla Lane and Lawrence Tierney in Bodyguard (1948)

Bodyguard

6.5

Editor

1948

 

Frank Sinatra, Fred MacMurray, and Alida Valli in The Miracle of the Bells (1948)

The Miracle of the Bells

6.5

Editor

1948

 

Design for Death (1947)

Design for Death

5.9

Editor

1947

 

Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, and Anne Gwynne in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

6.1

film editor

1947

 

They Won't Believe Me (1947)

They Won't Believe Me

7.2

Editor

1947

 

Lynn Bari and George Raft in Nocturne (1946)

Nocturne

6.5

Editor

1946

 

We've Got Another Bond to Buy

Short

Editor

1945

 

Our Job in Japan

6.1

Short

Editor

1945

 

Know Your Enemy - Japan (1945)

Know Your Enemy - Japan

6.0

Editor (uncredited)

1945

 

Brian Aherne, Charles Laughton, Ray Milland, Herbert Marshall, Robert Cummings, Ida Lupino, Anna Neagle, and Merle Oberon in Forever and a Day (1943)

Forever and a Day

6.9

Editor (uncredited)

1943

 

Ray Bolger, Edward Everett Horton, John Carroll, and Anna Neagle in Sunny (1941)

Sunny

5.4

Editor

1941

 

Anna Neagle in No, No, Nanette (1940)

No, No, Nanette

5.2

Editor

1940

 

Ray Milland and Anna Neagle in Irene (1940)

Irene

6.3

Editor

1940

 

Anna Neagle in Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)

Nurse Edith Cavell

6.5

Editor

1939

 

Producer

Jim Varney in Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)

Ernest Goes to Camp

5.5

executive producer

1987

 

Man, Woman and Child (1983)

Man, Woman and Child

6.3

producer

1983

 

Don Johnson, Jack Elam, P.J. Soles, Anthony Zerbe, Ben Johnson, and Dub Taylor in Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981)

Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.

5.3

producer

1981

 

Caravans (1978)

Caravans

5.9

producer

1978

 

Marjoe Gortner, Susan Howard, and Michael Parks in Sidewinder 1 (1977)

Sidewinder 1

6.0

producer

1977

 

Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Jason Robards, E.G. Marshall, Tatsuya Mihashi, Koreya Senda, Takahiro Tamura, Eijirô Tôno, James Whitmore, and Sô Yamamura in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Tora! Tora! Tora!

7.5

producer

1970

 

The Blue Max (1966)

The Blue Max

7.1

executive producer

1966

 

Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

The Agony and the Ecstasy

7.2

executive producer (uncredited)

1965

 

Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Sal Mineo, Eddie Albert, Richard Beymer, Red Buttons, Jeffrey Hunter, Roddy McDowall, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, Arletty, Mel Ferrer, Steve Forrest, Gert Fröbe, Fabian, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Ray Danton, Irina Demick, Leo Genn, Henry Grace, John Gregson, Paul Hartmann, Werner Hinz, Curd Jürgens, Alexander Knox, Peter Lawford, Christian Marquand, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Ron Randell, Madeleine Renaud, Robert Ryan, Tommy Sands, Richard Todd, Tom Tryon, Peter van Eyck, and Stuart Whitman in The Longest Day (1962)

The Longest Day

7.7

associate producer

1962

 

Tales of the Vikings (1959)

Tales of the Vikings

8.0

TV Series

associate producer

1959–1960

3 episodes

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

co-producer

1954

 

College Capers (1953)

College Capers

5.3

Short

producer

1953

 

Bozo's Circus

TV Series

producer

1951

1 episode

 

Director

Stephen Boyd, Juliette Gréco, and David Wayne in The Big Gamble (1961)

The Big Gamble

5.8

Director (African action sequences)

1961

 

Tales of the Vikings (1959)

Tales of the Vikings

8.0

TV Series

Director

1959

2 episodes

 

Peter Lorre, John Carradine, Jon Hall, and Roberta Haynes in Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)

Hell Ship Mutiny

4.5

Director

1957

 

Jim Davis, Keith Larsen, and Eugenia Paul in Apache Warrior (1957)

Apache Warrior

5.2

Director

1957

 

Jim Davis and Beverly Michaels in Blonde Bait (1956)

Blonde Bait

5.4

Director

1956

 

Elmo Williams in Women Without Men (1956)

Women Without Men

5.8

Director

1956

 

William Conrad, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Tex Ritter, and Elmo Williams in The Cowboy (1954)

The Cowboy

5.6

Director

1954

 

College Capers (1953)

College Capers

5.3

Short

Director

1953

 

Lloyd Bridges in The Tall Texan (1953)

The Tall Texan

6.2

Director

1953

 

Bozo's Circus

TV Series

Director

1951

1 episode

Cynthia Robinson obit

Sly and the Family Stone Co-Founder Cynthia Robinson Dead at 71

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trumpeter succumbs to cancer after lengthy, influential career

She was not on the list.

Cynthia Robinson, a founding member for Sly and the Family Stone who played trumpet, has died after a battle with cancer. The musician’s Facebook page and Billboard confirmed the news Tuesday. She was 69.

The trumpeter was best known for her joyous melodies and inspired vocals and ad-libs on songs like “Dance to the Music” and “I Want to Take You Higher.” She commanded listeners to “get up and dance to the music” at the beginning of the former song and sang “hey, hey, hey” background vocals on the latter.

Robinson’s career with Sly Stone began in 1966 when the bandleader put together a group called the Stoners. They fell apart quickly, though, and she became a fixture of the Family Stone – a group whose members were male and female and represented different races, a novel idea at the time – alongside her cousin Larry Graham.



Although the ensemble’s A Whole New Thing was not a hit, its second LP Dance to the Music scored a hit in 1967 with the title cut, paving the way for a string of successful songs that included “Everyday People,” “Stand,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again),” “Family Affair” and many others. Trumpeter Miles Davis, deep into his fusion period, said at the time that he was a fan. The band fizzled in popularity by the mid-Seventies, with members leaving, but the trumpeter continued to record with Stone into the Eighties.

When not playing with the Family Stone, Robinson played in Graham’s Graham Central Station and worked with George Clinton and Prince. She was inducted into the 1993 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside her Family Stone bandmates.



Robinson was born on January 12th, 1944 in Sacramento, California. She played brass instruments in her high school marching band and participated in an all-faith church choir. She met Stone while still in high school and ran into him again when he was a radio DJ after moving to Oakland. Stone was so beholden to his longtime friend that at the peak of “Everyday People” popularity, he cancelled three months of booked appearances – including the Ed Sullivan Show – while he waited for Robinson to recover from an emergency gall bladder operation.



In recent years, after Stone disappeared from the public eye, Robinson continued to play with a group called simply the Family Stone. She appeared on “Do Yo Dance,” the group’ latest single released this past summer.



Earlier this year, she told Rolling Stone how committed the singer was to equality and feminism, citing “M’Lady” as an example. “You may think Sly’s talking about the ladies in the song, but he’s actually talking to the men,” she said. “He’s giving the ladies props. He’s telling the men that the ladies are cool, that they need to pay more attention to them! The repetitive line is, ‘Give her some time.’ He’s telling the guys to spend more time with their ladies. Give her some attention!”



When news of Robinson’s death broke, Questlove penned a loving tribute to her, calling her music’s original “hypeman” in an Instagram post. “She wasn’t just a screaming cheerleading foil to Sly and Freddie [Stone]’s gospel vocals; she was a kick ass trumpet player,” he wrote. “A crucial intricate part of Sly Stone’s utopian vision of MLK’s America: Sly and the Family Stone were brothers and cousins, friends and enemies, black and white, male and female. saint and sinner. … Cynthia’s role in music history isn’t celebrated enough.”

Joseph C. Cavella obit

Obituary: Joseph C. Cavella

 

He was not on the list.

Longtime Malibu resident Joseph C. Cavella died of prostate cancer on Nov. 23 at his home. He was 91 years old.

“Most people who knew Joe were unaware of the depth and range of his talents and interests,” a loved one said. “He was a real Renaissance man who could remodel the kitchen, fix the plumbing and then cook up a pot of fantastic spaghetti sauce.”

Cavella was a piano player who knew songs from the ’30s and ’40s. He was an inventor who sawed and hammered away at new projects in his workshop. He was a clothing designer who created a line of sportswear for the May Company and opened a boutique store in West Hollywood to sell his original designs. He was a photographer who ran a commercial photography studio in Chicago for several years. During World War II, he was a first lieutenant who flew over the Himalayas in the dark without lights to train the Chinese army behind enemy lines in the interior of China.

After coming to California in the 1960s, Cavella wrote several scripts for “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Get Smart,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and other prime time comedy shows. After a brief period as a literary agent, Cavella and his wife Carol opened the Copy Store — a secretarial service on Point Dume that they ran for over 40 years.

Joe is survived by his wife, four children and two grandchildren.

 

Writer

A Family Circus Easter (1982)

A Family Circus Easter

6.9

TV Movie

written by

1982

 

Nathan Berg, Missy Hope, Bob Kaliban, Mark Dermott, and Anne Costello in A Family Circus Christmas (1979)

A Family Circus Christmas

6.5

TV Movie

written by

1979

 

A Special Valentine with the Family Circus (1978)

A Special Valentine with the Family Circus

7.1

TV Movie

original story

1978

 

The Legend of John Henry (1974)

The Legend of John Henry

6.6

Short

lyrics (as Joe Cavella)

1974

 

The Legend of Paul Bunyan

7.8

Short

screenplay (as Joe Cavella)

1973

 

Why We Need Each Other, or the Animals' Picnic Day

Short

screenplay (as Joe Cavella)

1972

 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1972)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

6.4

Short

screenplay (as Joseph Cavella)

1972

 

Freedom River

7.4

Short

screenplay

1971

 

Robert Vaughn, Leo G. Carroll, and David McCallum in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

7.7

TV Series

teleplay

written by

1967

2 episodes

 

Richard Deacon and Phyllis Diller in The Phyllis Diller Show (1966)

The Phyllis Diller Show

7.4

TV Series

story (as Joseph Cavella)

1967

1 episode

 

Don Adams and Barbara Feldon in Get Smart (1965)

Get Smart

8.2

TV Series

written by

1966–1967

3 episodes

 

The Hero (1966)

The Hero

7.0

TV Series

written by (as Joseph Cavella)

1966

1 episode

 

Pat Crowley, Jeff Fithian, Mark Miller, Brian Nash, Joe Fithian, and Lord Nelson in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965)

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

6.9

TV Series

written by

1966

1 episode

 

Inger Stevens and William Windom in The Farmer's Daughter (1963)

The Farmer's Daughter

7.5

TV Series

written by

1965–1966

2 episodes

 

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

The Dick Van Dyke Show

8.4

TV Series

written by

1965

3 episodes

 

The Jim Backus Show (1960)

The Jim Backus Show

7.4

TV Series

teleplay by

1961

1 episode

Bob Foster obit

World champ boxer Bob Foster dies at 76

He was not on the list.


Bob Foster, the former light heavyweight champion who fought Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali and went on to become a sheriff’s deputy in New Mexico, died Nov. 21 at a hospital in Albuquerque. He was 76.

The death was announced by New Mexico state Rep. Antonio Maestas. No cause was reported.

Standing 6-foot-3, the big-punching Foster had a record of 56 wins, eight losses and one draw, with 46 knockouts. He won the light heavyweight title in 1968 when he stopped Dick Tiger in the fourth round of a fight at Madison Square Garden. It was the only time Tiger was knocked out in his career.

Two years later, Mr. Foster moved up to heavyweight to challenge Frazier for the title. The fight was a mismatch, with Frazier stopping Mr. Foster at 49 seconds of the second round.

Mr. Foster regained his 175-pound title in his next fight, but in 1972, he fought again as a heavyweight, meeting Ali at a Lake Tahoe casino. Again, Mr. Foster was overmatched, with Ali knocking him down seven times before the fight was stopped in the eighth round.



Mr. Foster made 14 successful title defenses before retiring as champion in 1974. He returned a year later and retired for good in 1978 after being knocked out in his last two fights. In 1994, Ring Magazine named him the third-greatest light heavyweight ever.

Mr. Foster was the Boxing Writers Association of America’s fighter of the year in 1968, edging Frazier in a close vote. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s first class in 1990.


Robert Wayne Foster was born in Borger, Tex., Dec. 15, 1938. He grew up in Albuquerque and played football at Albuquerque High School. After Air Force service, he boxed as an amateur before turning pro in 1961.

In December 1973, Mr. Foster drew international headlines when he defended his title against Pierre Fourie, a South African, in what was widely promoted as the first interracial professional boxing match in apartheid-era South Africa. Mr. Foster had successfully battled Fourie in Albuquerque but agreed to a rematch.

The American was greeted by throngs of black supporters at the airport in Johannesburg and went on to outpoint his opponent.

But many blacks were reportedly infuriated that Mr. Foster did not use the victory to address the injustice of the apartheid system.

“I’m here for a fight,” he said at the time. “I’m here to keep my title. I’m not here for politics. . . . You get too involved with politics, you can forget what you came for.”

John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia obit

John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia, Actor on 'The Sopranos,' Dies at 69

He was not on the list.

He was pals with Tony Danza and Danny DeVito and owned a popular restaurant in New York’s Little Italy.


John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, a tough-guy actor on The Sopranos who owned a popular New York restaurant in Little Italy frequented by his celebrity pals, has died. He was 69.

Ciarcia, who decades ago served as Tony Danza’s boxing manager and was the best man at Danny DeVito’s wedding to Rhea Perlman in 1982, died Nov. 21 at NYU Langone Medical Center following a brief illness, his family announced.

The Manhattan native, who grew up on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, played mobster Albie Cianfione, the consigliere to Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), on HBO’s The Sopranos. He also appeared in such films as Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), the DeVito-directed movies Hoffa (1992) and Death to Smoochy (2002) and A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), which featured Danza.

Ciarcia's death was “a shock, I’m dying over it,” Danza told The New York Post. “He saw me at Gleason’s [boxing gym] and said, ‘You’ll put asses in the seats.’ That kicked off a 40-year mentorship and brotherhood.”

Ciarcia also was a regular on the satellite radio program The Wiseguy Show, hosted by actor Vincent Pastore, best known as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos.

His restaurant, Cha Cha’s In Bocca Al Lupo Cafe, was a popular gathering place for his showbiz friends Danza, DeVito, Scorsese, Pastore, Robert De Niro and Danny Aiello. The restaurateur, known as “the mayor of Little Italy” and "the unofficial mayor of Mulberry Street," also once owned a bar in Coney Island.

Survivors include his wife, singer Karen King.

Keith Mitchell obit

Keith Michell obituary

This article is more than 8 years old

Actor and theatre director best known for his many portrayals of Henry VIII

He was not on the list. 

Regally tall and strong-featured, the Australian-born actor Keith Michell, who has died aged 88, made his reputation in the 1960s and 70s in classical roles, and probably played the part of King Henry VIII more than any other performer. But he also made a significant contribution to British theatre when he followed Laurence Olivier and John Clements to become artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre. The appointment in 1974 was Michell’s first of this kind, and came as a surprise to many, since contenders for control of the huge apron stage, and the chance to experiment in a kindlier atmosphere than that of the West End in London, had included Jonathan Miller, Peter Dews and Robin Phillips, all of whom had directing experience, including plays at Chichester.

Michell had been recruited by Olivier to play the lead, Don John, in John Fletcher’s The Chances, in the first production at the new Chichester theatre, in 1962, and also for John Ford’s The Broken Heart, in which he played Ithocles. After that he was always hoping for a return: “I loved working there on the open stage. I was there at its birth.”

What he called the “Vistavision width” stage at Chichester worried him slightly. He thought it like New York stages which, being wide and long, encouraged the actors to “play out front”, frightened that if they did not address the audience from the edge of the stage they would lose its attention. One of his first acts as artistic director was to invite the four designers at Chichester into his office to talk about the stage. He had always held an interest in art and design and before moving to Britain had been an art teacher. He remained an accomplished painter.

A native of Adelaide, Keith was the son of Joseph, a cabinet-maker, and Alice (nee Aslat), and studied at Port Pirie high school, Adelaide Teachers’ College and Adelaide University. While teaching art, he made his first stage appearance, in Bill Daily’s comedy Lover’s Leap at the Playbox theatre in Adelaide in 1947.

After doing work for the ABC radio network in the city, in 1949 he left for Britain and the Old Vic Theatre School. He was a member of the Young Vic Theatre Company (1950-51), his roles including Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice.

His first full London appearance was at the New Theatre in 1951, as Charles II in the musical of And So To Bed. He then joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company for a tour of Australia (1952-53), and on his return to Stratford-upon-Avon played in The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troilus and Cressida, and Romeo and Juliet. In 1956 he both played the title role in Ronald Duncan’s Don Juan at the Royal Court theatre and joined the Old Vic Company for more Shakespeare – Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra and Aaron in Titus Andronicus.

A change of gear came in 1958 when he worked in the stage musical Irma La Douce, which took him to the National theatre, Washington, and to Broadway. Early on in his television career he had played Henry Higgins in Shaw’s Pygmalion (1956), Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1962) and Mark Antony in a series of Roman plays called The Spread of the Eagle (1963). Later on came shows built around him as a personality – now a British celebrity – singing songs from the shows.

Chichester in 1974 was the first artistic directorship he had sought: “I knew I should want to do it if I was serious about the theatre. I should want to have overall direction of a company or festival at some stage.” The season opened in May and included many productions in which he appeared: as the Director in Pirandello’s Tonight We Improvise, as Sophocles’s Oedipus Tyrannus, and in Turgenev’s A Month in the Country and Vanbrugh’s The Confederacy.

His film appearances included various forms of historical derring-do in Dangerous Exile (1958), The Hell Fire Club (1961) and Seven Seas to Calais (1962), while The Executioner (1970) was a spy thriller directed by Sam Wanamaker. For BBC television, The Six Wives of Henry VIII devoted an episode to each of the monarch’s six consorts, while Henry VIII and his Six Wives (1972) adapted the same material into a single film, directed by Waris Hussein.

In 1996, he played Henry VIII again, in a television film, The Prince and the Pauper. At 67, he was relieved to discover that the costumes for the rotund king weighed only a fraction of the 20 stone of those he had needed 20 years previously.

For Jeremy Lloyd’s creation Captain Beaky and His Band, Michell illustrated the books and took part in performances once a recording of the songs had taken off in 1980. He was present to see a one-off revival at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011.

In 1956 he married the actress Jeanette Sterke. She survives him, along with their daughter, Helena, son, Paul, and grandchildren, Millie, Matilde and Joe Luca.

 Keith Michell, actor and director, born 1 December 1926; died 20 November 2015.

Actor

Nature (1982)

Nature

8.9

TV Series

George Adamson (voice)

2011

1 episode

 

Love/Loss (2010)

Love/Loss

5.5

Joe

2010

 

Sophia Myles and Philip Sarson in The Prince and the Pauper (1996)

The Prince and the Pauper

7.0

TV Mini Series

King Henry VIII

1996

2 episodes

 

Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)

Murder, She Wrote

7.2

TV Series

Dennis Stanton

1988–1993

9 episodes

 

Let's Face the Music (1989)

Let's Face the Music

TV Series

1989

1 episode

 

The Deceivers (1988)

The Deceivers

6.0

Colonel Wilson

1988

 

Captain James Cook (1987)

Captain James Cook

8.2

TV Mini Series

Cook

1987–1988

4 episodes

 

My Brother Tom (1986)

My Brother Tom

7.4

TV Mini Series

Edward Quayle

1986

2 episodes

 

The Miracle

7.5

TV Movie

1985

 

Memorial Day (1983)

Memorial Day

6.9

TV Movie

Marsh

1983

 

Ruddigore (1983)

Ruddigore

6.3

TV Movie

Robin Oakapple

Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd

1983

 

The Pirates of Penzance (1982)

The Pirates of Penzance

6.6

TV Movie

Maj. Gen. Stanley

1982

 

The Gondoliers (1982)

The Gondoliers

8.3

TV Movie

Don Alhambra del Bolero

1982

 

Grendel Grendel Grendel (1981)

Grendel Grendel Grendel

6.8

The Shaper (voice)

1981

 

Chris Sarandon in The Day Christ Died (1980)

The Day Christ Died

5.9

TV Movie

Pontius Pilate

1980

 

The Tenth Month (1979)

The Tenth Month

7.6

TV Movie

Matthew Poole

1979

 

The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978)

The BBC Television Shakespeare

8.1

TV Series

Marc Antony

1979

1 episode

 

Timothy Bottoms in The Story of David (1976)

The Story of David

6.3

TV Movie

Older David

1976

 

Moments (1974)

Moments

6.8

Peter Samuelson

1974

 

Ian Hendry and Geraldine McEwan in Late Night Theatre (1972)

Late Night Theatre

TV Series

Robert Browning

1974

1 episode

 

The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974)

The Story of Jacob and Joseph

6.5

TV Movie

Jacob

1974

 

Charlotte Rampling, Jane Asher, Jenny Bos, Frances Cuka, Lynne Frederick, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, and Keith Michell in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972)

Henry VIII and His Six Wives

6.8

King Henry VIII

1972

 

Elizabeth R (1971)

Elizabeth R

8.7

TV Mini Series

Henry VIII (uncredited)

1971

1 episode

 

'Wiltons' - The Handsomest Hall in Town

7.5

TV Special

George Leybourne

1970

 

The Executioner (1970)

The Executioner

6.0

Adam Booth

1970

 

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

8.4

TV Mini Series

Henry VIII

1970

6 episodes

 

BBC Play of the Month (1965)

BBC Play of the Month

6.9

TV Series

Sir Robert Chiltern

Caliban

1968–1969

2 episodes

 

House of Cards (1968)

House of Cards

6.0

Morillon

1968

 

Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Judy Geeson, and Joyce Redman in Prudence and the Pill (1968)

Prudence and the Pill

5.7

Dr. Alan Huart

1968

 

Thirty-Minute Theatre (1965)

Thirty-Minute Theatre

7.5

TV Series

Geoffrey

1968

1 episode

 

Donald Pleasence and Betsy Blair in Love Story (1963)

Love Story

7.2

TV Series

Billy Hughes

1967

1 episode

 

ITV Play of the Week (1955)

ITV Play of the Week

6.8

TV Series

Mike Granville

Clarry

Prince Hector ...

1959–1967

4 episodes

 

Soldier in Love (1967)

Soldier in Love

7.8

TV Movie

John Churchill

1967

 

Theatre 625 (1964)

Theatre 625

7.5

TV Series

Kain

1967

1 episode

 

Robert and Elizabeth

TV Movie

Robert Browning

1965

 

The First 400 Years (1964)

The First 400 Years

TV Mini Series

Actor

1964

 

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

Festival

6.9

TV Series

Frederic

Hugo

1964

1 episode

 

The Spread of the Eagle (1963)

The Spread of the Eagle

6.5

TV Mini Series

Mark Antony

1963

6 episodes

 

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

BBC Sunday-Night Play

8.7

TV Series

Gabriel Cordiner

Captain Ronald Dancy, D.S.O.

1962–1963

2 episodes

 

Seven Seas to Calais (1962)

Seven Seas to Calais

5.6

Malcolm Marsh

1962

 

Claire Bloom and Keith Michell in Wuthering Heights (1962)

Wuthering Heights

7.7

TV Movie

Heathcliff

1962

 

All Night Long (1962)

All Night Long

7.1

Cass Michaels

1962

 

The Hellfire Club (1961)

The Hellfire Club

5.2

Jason Caldwell

1961

 

Drama Into Opera: Oedipus Rex

TV Movie

Oedipus (in play "Oedipus Rex")

1961

 

Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (1960)

Dow Hour of Great Mysteries

7.9

TV Series

Baron Von Ragastein

Sir Edward Dominey

1960

1 episode

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Paul de Lussac

1960

1 episode

 

The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958)

The Gypsy and the Gentleman

5.5

Sir Paul Deverill

1958

 

Dangerous Exile (1957)

Dangerous Exile

5.6

Colonel St. Gerard

1957

 

John Gregson, Elvi Hale, Keith Michell, Cecil Parker, and June Thorburn in True as a Turtle (1957)

True as a Turtle

5.6

Harry Bell

1957

 

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950)

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre

7.7

TV Series

Crown Prince Rudolf

Prof. Henry Higgins

1956

2 episodes

 

Act of Violence

TV Movie

The Man

1956

 

The Merry Wives of Windsor

8.5

TV Movie

Master Ford

1955

 

The Black Arrow

TV Series

Ellis Duckworth

1951

2 episodes

 

Soundtrack

Ruddigore (1983)

Ruddigore

6.3

TV Movie

performer: "My Eyes Are Fully Open"

1983

 

Top of the Pops (1964)

Top of the Pops

6.9

TV Series

performer: "Captain Beaky"

performer: "Captain Beaky and His Band"

1980

2 episodes

 

The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968)

The Morecambe & Wise Show

8.1

TV Series

lyrics: "Let's Walk by the Sea" (Adieu mon Amour), "I'll Give You The Earth" (Tous les Bateaux, tous les Oiseaux)

performer: "Let's Walk by the Sea" (Adieu mon Amour), "I'll Give You The Earth" (Tous les Bateaux, tous les Oiseaux)

lyrics: "I'll Give You The Earth" (Tous les Bateaux, tous les Oiseaux) (uncredited)

1971

2 episodes