I heard about Stiller's passing earlier today and was sad to hear it as well. I am just old enough to remember "Stiller and Meara." My earliest TV memories come from the early 70's, watching cartoons, afternoon re-reruns (I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island), and afternoon talk shows (Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas - years before the time of Oprah and Phil Donahue). I think it was on those talk shows that I saw Stiller and Meara.

Like most people, I became aware of "Seinfeld" as it was catching fire around its third season. My favorite Frank Costanza episode might have to be the one where George is the "bad boy." "Is this your Fiber-Con?" The confrontation between Frank and Elaine at the end is still hilarious (there is also an outtake clip in which Elaine/Julia Louis Dreyfuss can't stop cracking up during the scene).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R95tj5O0voU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5YYUQTvf6k

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
In the middle of all this stress, this one really makes me feel bad.

Jerry Stiller just passed away at 92, natural causes.

Not too many people go back far enough to remember the time of the Stiller and Meara act and I don't either. But just about everyone knew him from his two signature TV fathers, Frank Costanza on Seinfeld and Arthur Spooner on King of Queens. His wife Anne Meara, who died in 2015, also guested on King of Queens. They worked in TV and films throughout their lives starting in the mid-50s. They both guest starred on dozens of TV shows. How many actors have had that kind of career for that long?

I am a big fan of both those big series and Jerry Stiller made his supporting role as important as those of any main cast member. He didn't do it with the punch lines like so many other comedians, he did it with the character. He played the character straight and we laughed because we knew him.

I was surprised to see that where Stiller appeared in 195 episodes of King of Queens, he only appeared in 26 episodes of Seinfeld. That's nearly every episode of KoQ and just over one season's worth of shows for the 9 season Seinfeld. Yet I can probably name every one of his appearances, especially since Seinfeld still plays nightly in NY. The one we all know, Festavist For The Rest of Us.

The world is a sad place now and it feels even sadder for the passing of someone we all felt we knew. Rest in peace Stiller and Meara.

I remember Stiller and Meara quite well, but I have still to watch an episode of Seinfeld.

I don't know if he has a Trade card.

Heard yesterday that Taryn Power passed away from leukemia at the age of only 67 on 26th June. She was Tyrone Power's daughter.

As I am currently working through all of Ray Harryhausen's films to celebrate his centenary on the 29th June, this news prompted me to watch 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' in which she played the part of Dione.

It appears that Linda Cristal of High Chapparal fame died on 27th June aged 86. She is pictured in the High Chapparal set issued by A & BC cards. Unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions I am unable to access some of my card collection and therefore unable to post a picture. Perhaps one of you intrepid internet users can find sa suitable image.

regards

John

Ennio Morricone has died aged 91.

Broadway actor Nick Cordero passed away yesterday after months of hospitalization for complications following his having contracted the Corona virus. He was only 41.

I hadn't known his name before, but like so many people was sadden by the reports of his constant setbacks and had hoped for the best. My condolences to his friends and family. RIP Mr. Cordero.

So sad to hear the news this morning that Kelly Preston passed away from cancer. She was only 57.

Although she was of course John Travolta's wife, she was also an actress in her own right and did star or co-star in several movies earlier in her career. My favorites are probably Sky High, Run and an odd one called Spellbinder, which is worth a look for those who will recognize the plot setup. RIP Ms. Preston.

I didn't know she was battling breast cancer and was sorry to hear of her passing. My mom just saw her a couple of weeks ago in "View from the Top" (2003) and liked it. I saw it years ago - good cast (Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mike Myers, Mark Ruffalo, Candice Bergen).

I was surprised she was 57. She had a baby not that long ago.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
So sad to hear the news this morning that Kelly Preston passed away from cancer. She was only 57.

Although she was of course John Travolta's wife, she was also an actress in her own right and did star or co-star in several movies earlier in her career. My favorites are probably Sky High, Run and an odd one called Spellbinder, which is worth a look for those who will recognize the plot setup. RIP Ms. Preston.

Peter Green...founder member of Fleetwood Mac has died aged 73.

This one was strange because I heard the news that a founding member of Fleetwood Mac had passed away. I thought who? Fleetwood, McVies, Buckingham, Nicks?

Well of course they weren't all original members, as it started as a British Blues band more than ten years before they made it big in the US. Christine, Lindsey and Stevie came on much later than the beginning, but I had either forgotten that or never knew it in the first place. And I have listened and liked Fleetwood Mac's music since Rumors, which it seems was about their third album.

Living in the US, I only heard of Fleetwood Mac after they had become famous with that release and it was only the 5 of them. So hearing about Peter Green was a surprise to me and kind of sad. He was obviously well known in the music industry and with UK fans, but the issues that he went through robbed many more people from knowing him and his work.

They used to play the instrumental section of "Oh Well" on the radio around here way before RUMOURS came out, it is a haunting melody.

I'm not sure how many versions of that song there are (at least 2), but that first one is my favorite. It's available on the 2LP promo THE BIG BALL, which was released in 1970, 7 years before RUMOURS came out. It's probably available on other media, but that's all I know about it.

EDIT - I did a bit of research and found Peter Green did play most of the instruments on OH WELL Part 2, one of my favorite songs.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cardaddict,

It appears that Olivia de Havilland has died aged 104.

regards

John

Last one from Gone With The Wind. Her sister, Joan Fontaine, died at 96 in 2013. And they hated each other for most of their lives.

De Havilland was a big star in her day. The Golden Age of Hollywood in the '30s and '40s is really gone with her passing and that of Kirk Douglas. Not sure how many stars of the '50s are even left. Eva Marie Saint and Rita Moreno sort of come to mind. Clint Eastwood started in the '50s but was no star at the time, as did Shirley MacLaine, who was a star. Kim Novak you could count for a bit. And other more European stars, like Sophia Loren, would also fall into the '50s. Some other big names, like Nicholson and Beatty, arrived in the '60s.

But yeah, all the Hollywood movie stars from the era of "when they had faces" have left us and it's really over. RIP

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

Hey Raven,

Buckingham and Nicks met Mick Fleetwood in 1974 and their first album with Fleetwood Mac was "Fleetwood Mac," which was released the following year. The "easy rock" stations of the late 70's-80's played several songs from it: "Monday Morning," "Warm Ways," and "World Turning" with "Rhiannon," "Over My Head, and "Say You Love Me" being hits in the U.S. I have read that "Landslide" was not released as a single when the album was new but it was in the rotation on radio as much as any other Fleetwood Mac song by the late 70's-early 80's. It's still one of the few Fleetwood Mac songs heard on 70's-80's stations now (sometimes the version on the 1997 live album, "The Dance" is played instead of the 1975 album version).

Yeah, there were people in and out of the band before 1975. I was talking about Green with my youngest brother yesterday. He told me he wrote "Black Magic Woman." I just knew it was a Fleetwood Mac song before Santana had a huge hit with it.

Christine McVie was playing with the band a few years before Buckingham and Nicks. Back in the early 90's, one of the guys at work informed me that the band she was in before Fleetwood Mac was called Chicken Shack. Great Name.

Yeah, "Rumours" helped sell "Fleetwood Mac" as it was soaring from record stores into the stratosphere in '77 and after. I still have "Fleetwood Mac" on album and cassette and "Rumours" on cassette and at least two copies of the album plus a couple of 45's including the one with "Silver Spring" which became a collector's item (the song that didn't make the record but remains a fan favorite). I bought them all at Tower Records (except that one 45 - got it later used). I still miss Tower.

Peter Green's fans from the 60's are sad today but they can pull out their albums and relive those times again. To me once a member of Fleetwood Mac, forever a member of Fleetwood Mac.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This one was strange because I heard the news that a founding member of Fleetwood Mac had passed away. I thought who? Fleetwood, McVies, Buckingham, Nicks?

Well of course they weren't all original members, as it started as a British Blues band more than ten years before they made it big in the US. Christine, Lindsey and Stevie came on much later than the beginning, but I had either forgotten that or never knew it in the first place. And I have listened and liked Fleetwood Mac's music since Rumors, which it seems was about their third album.

Living in the US, I only heard of Fleetwood Mac after they had become famous with that release and it was only the 5 of them. So hearing about Peter Green was a surprise to me and kind of sad. He was obviously well known in the music industry and with UK fans, but the issues that he went through robbed many more people from knowing him and his work.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Peter Green...founder member of Fleetwood Mac has died aged 73.

I still remember their classic UK Number 1 instrumental single Albatross. Beautiful example of Peter Green's excellent guitar virtuosity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXeKi6ZkbOw

Wilford Brimley has passed away at the age of 85. He was one of the best known character actors on TV and in films and really a star in Cocoon. Funny that he seemed to be 85 thirty years ago. I guess that's acting. RIP Mr. Brimley.

He was good as a judge in a good movie, "Absence of Malice" in 1981. It didn't have the ending some might have preferred but it also seemed real. Yeah, he made a career playing the wise, old man the past 30-40 years. I would have guessed he was in his 90's for sure. Nice work, Mr. Brimley.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Wilford Brimley has passed away at the age of 85. He was one of the best known character actors on TV and in films and really a star in Cocoon. Funny that he seemed to be 85 thirty years ago. I guess that's acting. RIP Mr. Brimley.

He told diabetes what's what for a good while, and I'll never forget that beating he took from Tom Cruise in "The Firm". He was also in the classic John Carpenter remake of "The Thing", too, among many other memorable roles.

Rest in peace, Mr. Brimley

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
He was good as a judge in a good movie, "Absence of Malice" in 1981.

I think he was a federal prosecutor. But you are right, he was great.