George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999)
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, and as Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Patrick Wayne Swayze (August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009)
Patrick Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best-known for his roles as romantic leading men in the films Dirty Dancing and Ghost and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was listed by People magazine as its “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1991.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen
Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014)
Richard Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor known for his role of the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing; he also had cameos in many other James Bond video games. He was also well-known as Mr. Larson in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore, for playing the Kanamit aliens in the classic The Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man” and for his role of Dr. Miguelito Loveless‘ assistant, Voltaire, in first-season episodes of The Wild, Wild West (1965-1966).
Richard Kiel in his younger days
Kiel died on September 10, 2014, aged 74, three days before his 75th birthday. He had been admitted to a hospital in Fresno, California after breaking his leg the previous week. He is survived by his wife, Diane, four children, and nine grandchildren.
Posted in News, The Big Screen
On September 8, 1966, “The Man Trap” was first released upon the world. This, the first episode of one of the most famous TV Shows in history, Star Trek.
Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016)
Gene Wilder has died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83.
Willy Wonka has found his golden ticket.
Jerome Silberman, known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American stage and screen comic actor, screenwriter, film director, and author.
Wilder began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in the TV-series Armstrong Circle Theatre in 1962. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde,[1] Wilder’s first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974’s Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wilder is known for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991).[1] Wilder directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984).
Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka (1971)
Posted in News, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born August 25, 1930) is an Oscar-winning Scottish film and stage actor who is best known as the original cinematic James Bond. His character’s catch phrase “Bond, James Bond” has become considerably famous.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935–August 16, 1977)
Elvis Aaron Presley, was an American singer, musician and actor. He is a cultural icon, often known as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, or simply “The King”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, On This Day, The Big Screen
Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)
Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor, voice actor, and stand-up comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. His film career included such acclaimed films as Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006).
Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
James Garner as Bret Maverick
James Garner as Jim Rockford
James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American film and television actor. He starred in several television series over more than five decades, which included such popular roles as Bret Maverick in the 1950s western-comedy series Maverick and Jim Rockford in the 1970s detective drama The Rockford Files.
Garner starred in more than 50 films including The Great Escape (1963), Paddy Chayefsky’s The Americanization of Emily (1964), Grand Prix (1966), Blake Edwards’ Victor Victoria (1982), Murphy’s Romance (1985) for which he received an Academy Award nomination, and The Notebook (2004).
Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
Solo! Hay lapa no ya, Solo!
Harrison Ford (July 13, 1942 – )
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His career has spanned six decades and includes roles in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath. At one point, four of the top six box-office hits of all time included one of his roles. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry.
In 1997, Ford was ranked No. 1 in Empire‘s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. As of July 2008, the United States domestic box office grosses of Ford’s films total over US$3.5 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $6 billion, making Ford the third highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star. Ford is the husband of actress Calista Flockhart.
Posted in The Big Screen
Ernest Borgnine (January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012)
Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino) was an American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning an Oscar in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale’s Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine was also known for his role as Mermaid Man in the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER.
Posted in The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)
Original Movie Poster (June 30, 1971)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical fantasy film[4] directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and tells the story of Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum, in his only film appearance) as he receives a Golden Ticket and visits Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with four other children from around the world.
Filming took place in Munich in 1970, and the film was released by Paramount Pictures on June 30, 1971. With a budget of just $3 million, the film received positive reviews and performed well in 1971, earning about $4 million at the end of its original run. It then made an additional $21 million during its 1996 re-release.
The film has since developed a cult following especially due to its repeated television airings and home entertainment sales. In 1972, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Wilder was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost both to Fiddler on the Roof. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Posted in The Big Screen
Kristoffer “Kris” Kristofferson is an influential American country music songwriter, singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night”.
Kris Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – )
Posted in Music, The Big Screen
In 1975, we learned that it was no longer “safe to go back into the water.”
Posted in The Big Screen
The first motion picture theater was called a nickelodeon because admission was a nickel.
It opened in McKeesport, PA on June 19,1905.
Posted in On This Day, The Big Screen
Posted in On This Day, The Big Screen
Clinton “Clint” Eastwood, Jr. (May 31, 1930 – )
Clint Eastwood is an American film actor, director, producer, composer, pianist, businessman, investor, and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide.
Posted in The Big Screen
Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964)
Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the children’s story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Posted in Because I Can, Literary, The Big Screen
May 25, 1977, Memorial Day weekend opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen
Wikipedia Link
