Lewis Gilbert obit

Lewis Gilbert, Famed U.K. Director of ‘Alfie’ and 3 James Bond Films, Dies at 97

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker was behind more than 40 films. 

He was not on the list.

Lewis Gilbert, the Oscar-nominated British film director behind more than 40 films, including Alfie and three James Bond titles, has died. He was 97.

Born in London, Gilbert started out as a child actor in the 1920s and 1930s and had an uncredited role alongside Laurence Olivier in 1938’s The Divorce of Lady X. But in his late teens he decided to move toward directing, assisting on Alfred Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn 

After WWII — during which he worked for the Royal Air Force’s film unit on documentaries — he made a name for himself as a director on a number of successful war films, including Reach for the Sky, Carve Her Name With Pride and Sink the Bismark.

Arguably Gilbert’s most famous film came in 1966 with Alfie, starring a rising Michael Caine. The low-budget film about a young womanizer would go on to win the Jury Special Prize in Cannes, and receive five Academy Award nominations, including one for best picture.

Shortly after Alfie, Gilbert was persuaded by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli to direct the fifth Bond film, 1967’s You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery. It would be the first of three 007 titles he would helm, returning later for The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

The 1980s saw him return to smaller British drama, with 1983’s BAFTA-winning Educating Rita — reuniting him with Michael Caine and serving as a breakout film for Julie Walters — and 1989’s Shirley Valentine, both based on Willy Russell plays.

He was awarded the CBE in 1997 and in 2001 was made a fellow of the British Film Institute.

“The BFI salutes the most prolific of British filmmakers, awarded our highest accolade, a BFI Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to British film, everything from three Bond films — including the best, You Only Live Twice — and definitive stories of British bravery in WWII with Carve Her Name With Pride and Reach for the Sky, to three films that will forever be remembered for their working class heroes: Alfie, Rita and Shirley,” said BFI creative director Heather Stewart.

“In Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine he gave us funny and real character studies of women we normally never get a chance to see on the big screen.”

 

Filmography

 

Year     Film            Director            Producer            Screenwriter   Notes

1945    The Ten Year Plan            Yes                  Yes            documentary about the building of pre-fabricated houses

1946    Arctic Harvest            Yes                              documentary about cod-fishing in the Arctic and the production of cod liver oil

1947    World Economic Geography: Fishing Grounds of the World  Yes                              also known as Sailors Do Care, documentary about the British and international fishing industry

1948    The Little Ballerina            Yes                  Yes     

1949    Under One Roof            Yes                              UN-sponsored documentary about the students from different countries who attend Loughborough Engineering College

Marry Me!                               Yes     

1950    Once a Sinner   Yes                             

1951    There Is Another Sun            Yes                             

Scarlet Thread            Yes                             

1952            Emergency Call            Yes                  Yes     

Time Gentlemen, Please! Yes                             

1953    Cosh Boy      Yes                  Yes     

Johnny on the Run      Yes            Yes                 

Albert R.N.            Yes                             

1954    The Good Die Young  Yes                  Yes     

The Sea Shall Not Have Them    Yes                  Yes     

1955    Cast a Dark Shadow            Yes                             

1956    Reach for the Sky            Yes                  Yes     

1957    The Admirable Crichton            Yes                  Yes     

1958    Carve Her Name with Pride    Yes                  Yes     

A Cry from the Streets  Yes                             

1959    Ferry to Hong Kong            Yes                  Yes     

1960    Light Up the Sky!            Yes            Yes                 

Sink the Bismarck!            Yes                             

1961    The Greengage Summer            Yes                             

1962    H.M.S. Defiant Yes                             

1964    The 7th Dawn   Yes                             

1966    Alfie            Yes            Yes                  Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival

1967    You Only Live Twice   Yes                             

1970    The Adventurers            Yes            Yes            Yes     

1971    Friends            Yes            Yes            Yes     

1974    Paul and Michelle            Yes            Yes            Yes     

1975            Operation Daybreak            Yes                             

1976    Seven Nights in Japan            Yes            Yes                 

1977    The Spy Who Loved Me            Yes                             

1979            Moonraker     Yes                             

1983            Educating Rita  Yes            Yes                 

1985    Not Quite Paradise            Yes            Yes                 

1989    Shirley Valentine            Yes            Yes                 

1991            Stepping Out    Yes            Yes                 

1995            Haunted          Yes            Yes            Yes     

2002    Before You Go            Yes     

Nanette Fabray obit

Beloved Tony & Emmy Award Winner Nanette Fabray Dies at 97

She was not on the list.

Nanette Fabray, the multi-talented comic star who earned acclaim in a dozen Broadway shows, died on February 22 in Palos Verdes, California, according to The New York Times. She was 97.

Fabray made her Broadway debut in the revue Meet the People (1941), which she followed up with a slew of stage roles during the 1940s. Her appearances included Let's Face It! (1941), By Jupiter (1942), My Dear Public (1943), Jackpot (1944), Bloomer Girl (1944 and 1947) and the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn tuner High Button Shoes (1947). Fabray saw her biggest Broadway success in the role of Susan Cooper in Alan Jay Lerner and Kurt Weill's musical Love Life (1948). The performance earned Fabray the 1949 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Fabray continued her array of Broadway credits with turns in Arms and the Girl (1950) and Make a Wish (1951), after which she took on the film role of Lily Marton in Betty Comden and Adolph Green's The Band Wagon (1953), appearing alongside Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse and Jack Buchanan. Fabray earned acclaim on the small screen, winning 1956 and 1957 Emmy Awards for playing a variety of roles in Caesar's Hour, one of many TV successes she saw throughout her career. Fabray was later honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Fabray returned to the stage as First Lady Nell Henderson in Irving Berlin's final Broadway musical, Mr. President (1962), earning a Tony nomination for her performance. Just over a decade later, Fabray made a Broadway return in the comedy No Hard Feelings (1973), which closed on opening night. Fabray's final New York stage turn was in Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor's comedy Bermuda Avenue Triangle (1997), which appeared off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre.

Fabray married theater publicist and network executive David Tebet in 1947; the couple divorced in 1951. In 1957, Fabray was wed to screenwriter Ranald MacDougall, who passed away in 1973. Fabray is survived by their son, Jamie MacDougall.

Billy Graham - # 179

Billy Graham, 99, Dies; Pastor Filled Stadiums and Counseled Presidents

He was number 179 on the list.

Evangelist Billy Graham died Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:46 a.m. at his home in Montreat. He was 99.
Throughout his life, Billy Graham preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to some 215 million people who attended one of his more than 400 Crusades, simulcasts and evangelistic rallies in more than 185 countries and territories. He reached millions more through TV, video, film, the internet and 34 books.
Born Nov. 7, 1918, four days before the armistice ended World War I, William Franklin “Billy” Graham Jr. grew up during the Depression and developed a work ethic that would carry him through decades of ministry on six continents.
“I have one message: that Jesus Christ came, he died on a cross, he rose again, and he asked us to repent of our sins and receive him by faith as Lord and Savior, and if we do, we have forgiveness of all of our sins,” said Graham at his final Crusade in June 2005 at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York.
While Graham’s primary focus was to take this message to the world, he also provided spiritual counsel to presidents, championed desegregation, and was a voice of hope and guidance in times of trial. In 2001, he comforted his country and the world when he spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At three global conferences held in Amsterdam (1983, 1986, 2000), Graham gathered some 23,000 evangelists from 208 countries and territories to train them to carry the message of Jesus Christ around the world.
During the week of his 95th birthday in 2013, Graham delivered his final message via more than 480 television stations across the U.S. and Canada. More than 26,000 churches participated in this My Hope project, making it the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s largest evangelistic outreach ever in North America.

Graham, a country boy turned world evangelist, who prayed with every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama, was raised on a dairy farm in Charlotte. Back then, “Billy Frank,” as he was called, preferred baseball to religion. “I detested going to church,” he said when recalling his youth.
But in 1934, that changed. At a revival led by traveling evangelist Mordecai Fowler Ham, 15-year-old Graham committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. No one was more surprised than Graham himself.

“I was opposed to evangelism,” he said. “But finally, I was persuaded by a friend [to go to a meeting]…and the spirit of God began to speak to me as I went back night after night. One night, when the invitation was given to accept Jesus, I just said, ‘Lord, I’m going.’ I knew I was headed in a new direction.”
Several years later, Graham’s “new direction” led him to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida), and later, Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, where he met fellow student Ruth McCue Bell, the daughter of medical missionaries in China. The couple graduated and married in the summer of 1943. Mr. and Mrs. Graham and their five children made their home in the mountains of North Carolina. They were married for 64 years before Ruth’s death in 2007.
After two years of traveling as a speaker for the Youth for Christ organization, Billy Graham held his first official evangelistic Crusade in 1947; but it was his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade that captured the nation’s attention. Originally scheduled to run for three weeks, the “tent meetings” were extended for a total of eight weeks as hundreds of thousands of men, women and children gathered to hear Graham’s messages.
On the heels of this campaign, Graham started the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which was incorporated in 1950. Since 2000, Graham’s son, Franklin, has led the Charlotte-based organization, which employs some 500 people worldwide.
Billy Graham may be best known, however, for his evangelistic missions or “Crusades.” He believed God knew no borders or nationalities. Throughout his career, Graham preached to millions in locations from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Zagorsk, Russia; and from Wellington, New Zealand to the National Cathedral in Washington. In 1973, Graham addressed more than one million people crowded into Yoido Plaza in Seoul, South Korea—the largest live audience of his Crusades.

Preaching in Johannesburg in 1973, Graham said, “Christ belongs to all people. He belongs to the whole world.…I reject any creed based on hate…Christianity is not a white man’s religion, and don’t let anybody ever tell you that it’s white or black.”

Graham spoke to people of all ethnicities, creeds and backgrounds. Early in his career, he denounced racism when desegregation was not popular. Before the U.S. Supreme Court banned discrimination on a racial basis, Graham held desegregated Crusades, even in the Deep South. He declined invitations to speak in South Africa for 20 years, choosing instead to wait until the meetings could be integrated. Integration occurred in 1973, and only then did Graham make the trip to South Africa.
A 1977 trip to communist-led Hungary opened doors for Graham to conduct preaching missions in virtually every country of the former Eastern Bloc (including the Soviet Union), as well as China and North Korea.
Graham authored 34 books, including his memoir, Just As I Am (Harper Collins, 1997), which remained on The New York Times best-seller list for 18 weeks.
In 1996, Graham and his wife, Ruth, received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress can bestow on a private citizen. He was also listed by Gallup as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men” 61 times—including 55 consecutive years (except 1976, when the question was not asked). Graham was cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations and by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith.
Throughout his life, Graham was faithful to his calling, which will be captured in the inscription to be placed on his grave marker: Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“There were a few times when I thought I was dying, and I saw my whole life come before me…” said Graham at his Cincinnati Crusade on June 24, 2002. “I didn’t say to the Lord, ‘I’m a preacher, and I’ve preached to many people.’ I said, ‘Oh Lord, I’m a sinner, and I still need Your forgiveness. I still need the cross.’ And I asked the Lord to give me peace in my heart, and He did—a wonderful peace that hasn’t left me.”
Billy Graham is survived by his sister Jean Ford; daughters Gigi, Anne and Ruth; sons Franklin and Ned; 19 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. His wife, Ruth, died June 14, 2007, at age 87, and is buried at the Billy Graham Library. A private funeral service is planned at the Billy Graham Library, on a date to be announced. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the ongoing ministry of evangelism at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, online at BillyGraham.org or via mail, sent to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201. Notes of remembrance can be posted at

Jill Melford obit

Actress Jill Melford Has died 

She was not on the list.

Born in 1931, she was the daughter of the actor Jack Melford. She attended the Ballet Arts School in New York and made her theatre debut in 1949 as a dancer in a production of Oklahoma! in New York, before appearing in other Broadway performances. In 1953, she performed in The Seven Year Itch on the London stage, she played Miss Nardis in the 1954 British crime drama film Murder by Proxy and later appeared in other stage plays. These include Auntie Mame, Ulysses in Night-time, The Life of the Party, The Right Honourable Gentleman, There's a Girl in My Soup, Not Now, Darling, Best of Friends and The Chairman. She has been described as "a tall, attractive redhead"

Melford made her first UK television appearance in 1952 in The Three Hostages and her first movie, Will Any Gentleman...? in 1953 not long afterwards. In 1963, she starred with Norman Wisdom in the film comedy A Stitch in Time. Although she did not appear in the long running comedy series Father, Dear Father on UK ITV, Melford played the role of Georgie Thompson in the 1973 movie version and later had a recurring role as executive Toni Ross in the long running ITV soap Crossroads. She made several appearances in Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the USA), and Taggart in 1993. Her other film credits included roles in The Servant (1963), Hot Enough for June (1964), Bunny Lake is Missing (1965), The Vengeance of She (1968), I Want What I Want (1972), The Greek Tycoon (1978), The Bitch (1979), Hussy (1980) and Edge of Sanity (1989). She made her last film appearance in Shoreditch in 2003.

She was married to actor John Standing in 1961, they had a son called Alexander in 1965, and they divorced in 1972.

Actress

Joely Richardson and Shane Richie in Shoreditch (2003)

Shoreditch

3.7

Butterfly Senior

2003

 

Michael Benz in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1995)

Little Lord Fauntleroy

7.2

TV Mini Series

Lady Tenby

1995

1 episode

 

Mark McManus in Taggart (1983)

Taggart

7.4

TV Series

Mrs. Drake

1993

1 episode

 

Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard in The House of Eliott (1991)

The House of Eliott

8.1

TV Series

Lady Haycock

1991

3 episodes

 

For the Greater Good (1991)

For the Greater Good

7.6

TV Series

Janice Kellner

1991

1 episode

 

Edge of Sanity (1989)

Edge of Sanity

5.3

Flora

1989

 

Olivia Hussey, Nicholas Clay, and Franco Nero in The Last Days of Pompeii (1984)

The Last Days of Pompeii

7.0

TV Mini Series

Banquet guest

1984

3 episodes

 

Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983)

Philip Marlowe, Private Eye

7.8

TV Series

Mrs. Candless

1983

1 episode

 

Hussy (1980)

Hussy

5.0

Chief Hostess

1980

 

The Bitch (1979)

The Bitch

3.8

Sharon

1979

 

Nicholas Ball in Hazell (1978)

Hazell

7.4

TV Series

Mrs. Pargiter

1979

1 episode

 

Parables

TV Series

Jean Carlton

1978

1 episode

 

Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset in The Greek Tycoon (1978)

The Greek Tycoon

5.4

Magda

1978

 

Noele Gordon in Crossroads (1964)

Crossroads

4.4

TV Series

Toni Ross

1977

10 episodes

 

Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, and Joanna Lumley in The New Avengers (1976)

The New Avengers

7.2

TV Series

Sheila Rainor

1976

1 episode

 

Liza Goddard, Nerys Hughes, Joanna Lumley, Bill Maynard, Patrick Mower, Jon Pertwee, Magnus Pyke, Victor Spinetti, and Mollie Sugden in Whodunnit? (1972)

Whodunnit?

7.9

TV Series

Jade

1976

1 episode

 

The Tiger Lily (1975)

The Tiger Lily

Guest

1975

 

Don Henderson, Diane Keen, Peter Sallis, and Don Warrington in Crown Court (1972)

Crown Court

7.3

TV Series

Susannah Bailey

1974

3 episodes

 

Ego Hugo

TV Movie

Léonie Biard

Madame Hugo

1973

 

Francesca Annis and Keith Steven in A Pin to See the Peepshow (1973)

A Pin to See the Peepshow

7.9

TV Series

Marian Lestrange

1973

3 episodes

 

Father Dear Father (1973)

Father Dear Father

4.9

Georgie Thompson

1973

 

Roddy McMillan in The View from Daniel Pike (1971)

The View from Daniel Pike

8.9

TV Series

Nelly Stevens

1973

1 episode

 

The Organization (1972)

The Organization

8.5

TV Series

Eve Manship

1972

6 episodes

 

Anne Heywood in I Want What I Want (1972)

I Want What I Want

5.9

Lorna

1972

 

Armchair Theatre (1956)

Armchair Theatre

7.6

TV Series

Martha

1971

1 episode

 

Dirty Work

TV Movie

Leonora Stafford

1970

 

Not Now, Darling

TV Movie

Janie McMichael

1968

 

The Vengeance of She (1968)

The Vengeance of She

4.6

Sheila

1968

 

Theatre 625 (1964)

Theatre 625

7.4

TV Series

Mrs. Donkin

1968

1 episode

 

Jack Warner in Dixon of Dock Green (1955)

Dixon of Dock Green

6.7

TV Series

Doreen Lester

1966

1 episode

 

Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)

Bunny Lake Is Missing

7.3

Teacher

1965

 

Patrick McGoohan in Secret Agent (1964)

Secret Agent

8.2

TV Series

Certhia Cooper

Suzanne

1964–1965

2 episodes

 

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

Festival

7.6

TV Series

Lady India

1964

1 episode

 

Dirk Bogarde and Sylva Koscina in Agent 8 3/4 (1964)

Agent 8 3/4

6.1

Lorna

1964

 

Norman Wisdom in A Stitch in Time (1963)

A Stitch in Time

6.9

Lady Brinkley

1963

 

Roger Moore in The Saint (1962)

The Saint

7.5

TV Series

Irene Cromwell

1963

1 episode

 

John Barrie and William Gaunt in Sergeant Cork (1963)

Sergeant Cork

7.9

TV Series

Tamara Andreyev

1963

1 episode

 

Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, and Sarah Miles in The Servant (1963)

The Servant

7.8

People in restaurant: Younger Woman

1963

 

ITV Play of the Week (1955)

ITV Play of the Week

7.3

TV Series

Susan Gray

1956–1963

2 episodes

 

Michael Quinn and Donald Wolfit in Ghost Squad (1961)

Ghost Squad

7.2

TV Series

Nancy Rand-Fuller

1963

1 episode

 

Suspense (1962)

Suspense

6.6

TV Series

Monica Hardy

1963

1 episode

 

No Hiding Place (1959)

No Hiding Place

7.6

TV Series

Carole Shelby

Veronica Craddock

1962

2 episodes

 

Young and Willing (1962)

Young and Willing

5.9

Woman (uncredited)

1962

 

Out of This World (1962)

Out of This World

7.7

TV Series

Employment Officer

1962

1 episode

 

Studio 4

7.2

TV Series

Marigold

1962

1 episode

 

Echo Four Two

TV Series

Joanna Chance

1961

1 episode

 

Wendy Richard in Harpers West One (1961)

Harpers West One

TV Series

Sylvia Stephens

1961

1 episode

 

International Detective (1959)

International Detective

6.5

TV Series

Liz

1961

1 episode

 

Escort for Hire (1960)

Escort for Hire

4.8

Nadia

1960

 

The Cheaters (1960)

The Cheaters

7.8

TV Series

Mary

1960

1 episode

 

Man from Interpol (1960)

Man from Interpol

6.4

TV Series

Gloria Richards

The Stewardess

1960

2 episodes

 

Murder at Site 3

Paula Dane

1959

 

The Vise (1954)

The Vise

7.2

TV Series

Helen

Salesgirl

1957–1959

2 episodes

 

White Hunter (1957)

White Hunter

7.1

TV Series

Carol

Laurie West

1957–1958

2 episodes

 

Sailor of Fortune

6.8

TV Series

Karen

1958

1 episode

 

Michael Denison in Boyd Q.C. (1956)

Boyd Q.C.

8.1

TV Series

Kay Steers

1958

1 episode

 

The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957)

The New Adventures of Charlie Chan

7.7

TV Series

Ida Kelley

1957

1 episode

 

Adrienne Corri, Lisa Gastoni, and Thorley Walters in Second Fiddle (1957)

Second Fiddle

5.4

Dolly

1957

 

Seven Days from Now (1957)

Seven Days from Now

7.5

Mrs. Kilgore

1957

 

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950)

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre

7.8

TV Series

Janette Borden

Sylvia

1952–1956

2 episodes

 

H.M. Tennent Globe Theatre

TV Series

Charlotte Franklin

1956

1 episode

 

London Playhouse

TV Series

Miss Jones

1956

1 episode

 

The Gold Express (1955)

The Gold Express

5.4

Ruby Labelle

1955

 

Diana Dors and John Gregson in Value for Money (1955)

Value for Money

5.9

Muriel (uncredited)

1955

 

Brigitte Bardot, Dirk Bogarde, Brenda de Banzie, and James Robertson Justice in Doctor at Sea (1955)

Doctor at Sea

5.8

Lady at Dance (uncredited)

1955

 

Marriage a la Mode (1955)

Marriage a la Mode

6.4

Monica's Golf Partner (uncredited)

1955

 

Out of the Clouds (1955)

Out of the Clouds

5.6

Eleanor

1955

 

Blackout (1954)

Blackout

6.2

Miss Nardis

1954

 

George Cole in Will Any Gentleman...? (1953)

Will Any Gentleman...?

5.8

Honey

1953

 

The Three Hostages

TV Series

Adela Victor

1952

6 episodes

Fred Carr obit

Fred Carr, former Green Bay Packers, Phoenix College, Phoenix Union standout, dies at 71

 

 He was not on the list.

Fred Carr, one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Arizona and one of the best players in Green Bay Packers history, died on Monday. He was 71.

He had been suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, his daughter, Karsetta Carr, said.

Carr starred in three sports at Phoenix Union High in the 1960s, before helping lead Phoenix College to a national championship his freshman year.

He went on to play football and basketball at Texas Western (now UTEP) before playing linebacker for the Packers for nine seasons, starting in 1968.

"Just a couple of weekends ago, my dad's name came up, and some older men said, 'I played football because of your dad,' '' said Karsetta Carr, one of Fred's six children.

Carr's nephews, Brian and Terry Fair, were two of South Mountain's best athletes, as well. Brian Fair played basketball at UConn; Terry Fair played football at Tennessee and in the NFL.

Craig Liston, a quarterback who was a year ahead of Carr and played at Phoenix Central High, teamed up with Carr on Phoenix College's 1964 national championship team, throwing a touchdown pass to Carr, while he was lined up at tight end.

"I've been running from him ever since," Liston said jokingly of playing quarterback in high school and being chased down by Carr in football games. "(Vince) Lombardi called him the greatest athlete he ever had. He was 6-5, 245 pounds and ran like a gazelle."

Carr was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1983. He played from 1968-77 for the Packers. Lombardi drafted Carr as general manager of the Packers in 1968.

Liston said the Carr name is a household one in south Phoenix to this day.

"If you said, 'Freddie,' everyone knew who you were talking about," Liston said. "Everyone knew Freddie Carr. He was always caring. He was the life of the party. Everybody wanted to be around Freddie. His personality was bigger than himself."

Karsetta Carr said that funeral services will be held March 3 but the time and place hasn't been established yet.