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Gregzs on Movies & Entertainment
- Thread starter Gregzs
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Gavin MacLeod, ‘Love Boat’ Captain and ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Star, Dies at 90
Gavin MacLeod, a sitcom veteran who played seaman “Happy” Haines on “McHale’s Navy,” Murray on “Mary Tyler Moore” and the very different, vaguely patrician Captain Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90.
MacLeod’s nephew, Mark See, confirmed his death to Variety. MacLeod died in the early morning on May 29. No cause of death was given, but MacLeod’s health had declined in recent months.
MacLeod played a relatively minor character on ABC hit “McHale’s Navy,” starring Ernest Borgnine, but as newswriter Murray Slaughter, he was certainly one of the stars of “Mary Tyler Moore,” appearing in every one of the classic comedy’s 168 episodes during its 1970-77 run on CBS. Murray was married to Marie (Joyce Bulifant) but was in love with Moore’s Mary Richards. His desk was right next to Mary’s in the WGN newsroom, so MacLeod was frequently in the shot during the sitcom, and Murray, like all the other characters, was richly developed — a hallmark of MTM shows.
MacLeod originally tried out for the part of Lou Grant, which went to Ed Asner, but claimed to be happy that he ended up playing Murray. He also auditioned for the role of Archie Bunker on “All in the Family,” but of reading the script for the first time, he wrote in his memoir, “Immediately I thought, This is not the script for me. The character is too much of a bigot. I can’t say these things.” When Norman Lear called the actor to say that Carroll O’Connor had gotten the part, MacLeod was relieved.
The “Moore” cast — MacLeod, Asner, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Georgia Engel (Ted Knight had died in 1986) — reminisced with Moore in 2002 on CBS’ “The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion.”
Asner paid tribute to MacLeod on Twitter, writing: “My heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator. I will see you in a bit Gavin. Tell the gang I will see them in a bit. Betty! It’s just you and me now.”
MacLeod had the great fortune to roll right from one hit show to another in 1977, when “Moore” ended and ABC’s “The Love Boat” began. The hourlong romantic comedy set on a cruise ship ran for 10 years. The actor’s Captain Stubing was known for his signature salute. Even after the end of the voyage in 1987, the actor returned for telepic “The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage” in 1990 and for the “Reunion” episode of rebooted series “Love Boat: The Next Wave” in 1998.
MacLeod may, indeed, hold a record for consecutive long-running series: He went straight from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (168 episodes) to “The Love Boat” (249 episodes).
The New York Times said in 2010: “Perhaps no actor has embraced a signature role the way Mr. MacLeod has with Captain Stubing. Since ‘The Love Boat’ went off the air, he has been a spokesman for Princess Cruises.”
In 1997, the actor joined the rest of “The Love Boat” cast on “Oprah” in what was the first full cast appearance since the show was cancelled. Another cast reunion occurred in 2013 on “The Talk.”
MacLeod was born Allan George See in Mount Kisco, N.Y. His mother worked for Reader’s Digest, while his father was an electrician who was part Chippewa. He grew up in Pleasantville, N.Y., and went to Ithaca College, where he studied acting and graduated in 1952. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he moved to New York City and worked at Radio City Music Hall as an usher and elevator operator while seeking work as an actor. During this time he changed his name.
After a few uncredited film roles, MacLeod made his credited bigscreen debut in the 1958 Susan Hayward vehicle “I Want to Live,” playing a police lieutenant, then played a G.I. in Gregory Peck starrer “Pork Chop Hill” the next year. His supporting role in Blake Edwards’ WWII comedy “Operation Petticoat,” starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis and focusing on the chaotic goings on aboard a submarine, gave the young actor a flavor of what he would be doing a few years later on “McHale’s Navy.” In the meantime he appeared in the 1960 thriller “Twelve Hours to Kill,” which starred future “I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden; Blake Edwards’ musical comedy “High Time,” starring Bing Crosby and Fabian; and the critically hailed but now forgotten Korean War film “War Hunt.” He also did a boatload of guest appearances on TV before his stint on “McHale’s Navy.”
MacLeod left “McHale’s Navy” in order to be able to appear in a supporting role in the excellent period adventure film “The Sand Pebbles,” starring Steve McQueen, and he appeared in a number of other films throughout the decade: “A Man Called Gannon” and Blake Edwards’ Peter Sellers comedy “The Party” in 1968; “The Thousand Plane Raid,” “The Comic” and “The Intruders” in 1969; and, in 1970, the World War II caper film “Kelly’s Heroes,” in which he played Moriarty, Oddball’s machine-gunner and mechanic.
In the meantime he was guesting on both dramas (“Perry Mason,” “Ben Casey,” “Ironside,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The Big Valley”) and comedies (“The Andy Griffith Show,” “My Favorite Martian,” “Hogan’s Heroes”). In December 1961, he guested on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in what was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore.
After his years on “Mary Tyler Moore” and “The Love Boat,” MacLeod did not work on a steady basis — he did not have to.
He made an impression, however, in a 2000 episode of HBO prison drama “Oz” in which he played the Roman Catholic Cardinal Frances Abgott, with whom Rita Moreno’s nun Sister Pete discusses leaving the order. The actor had assumed a certain gravitas as Captain Stubing, even amid the silliness of “The Love Boat,” that made this role possible in a way that it couldn’t have been before.
In the 2000s MacLeod also guested on series including “The King of Queens,” “JAG,” “Touched by an Angel” and “That ’70s Show.”
MacLeod, who had appeared on Broadway in 1962 in “The Captains and the Kings,” also returned to stage work after “The Love Boat.” He toured with Michael Learned of “The Waltons” in A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters,” and he appeared in musicals such as “Gigi” and “Copacabana” between 1997 and 2003. At a concert in 2008, he conducted the Colorado Symphony in Denver.
MacLeod was first married, from 1955-1972, to Joan Devore, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.
He married actress Patti Kendig in 1974. They divorced in 1982 but remarried in 1985.
During the mid-1980s, MacLeod and his second wife became Evangelical Christians, and the pair credited the religion for reuniting them. He wrote about it in his 1987 book “Back on Course, the Remarkable Story of a Divorce That Ended in Remarriage.” He and Kendig appeared in the Christian big-screen time-travel epic “Time Changer,” along with Hal Linden, in 2002, and he played the title role in the 2008 Christian film “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.”
His memoir “This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life,” was published in 2013.
He is survived by Kendig and four children by Devore.
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/gavin-macleod-dead-dies-love-boat-mary-tyler-moore-show-1234984591/
Gavin MacLeod, a sitcom veteran who played seaman “Happy” Haines on “McHale’s Navy,” Murray on “Mary Tyler Moore” and the very different, vaguely patrician Captain Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90.
MacLeod’s nephew, Mark See, confirmed his death to Variety. MacLeod died in the early morning on May 29. No cause of death was given, but MacLeod’s health had declined in recent months.
MacLeod played a relatively minor character on ABC hit “McHale’s Navy,” starring Ernest Borgnine, but as newswriter Murray Slaughter, he was certainly one of the stars of “Mary Tyler Moore,” appearing in every one of the classic comedy’s 168 episodes during its 1970-77 run on CBS. Murray was married to Marie (Joyce Bulifant) but was in love with Moore’s Mary Richards. His desk was right next to Mary’s in the WGN newsroom, so MacLeod was frequently in the shot during the sitcom, and Murray, like all the other characters, was richly developed — a hallmark of MTM shows.
MacLeod originally tried out for the part of Lou Grant, which went to Ed Asner, but claimed to be happy that he ended up playing Murray. He also auditioned for the role of Archie Bunker on “All in the Family,” but of reading the script for the first time, he wrote in his memoir, “Immediately I thought, This is not the script for me. The character is too much of a bigot. I can’t say these things.” When Norman Lear called the actor to say that Carroll O’Connor had gotten the part, MacLeod was relieved.
The “Moore” cast — MacLeod, Asner, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Georgia Engel (Ted Knight had died in 1986) — reminisced with Moore in 2002 on CBS’ “The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion.”
Asner paid tribute to MacLeod on Twitter, writing: “My heart is broken. Gavin was my brother, my partner in crime (and food) and my comic conspirator. I will see you in a bit Gavin. Tell the gang I will see them in a bit. Betty! It’s just you and me now.”
MacLeod had the great fortune to roll right from one hit show to another in 1977, when “Moore” ended and ABC’s “The Love Boat” began. The hourlong romantic comedy set on a cruise ship ran for 10 years. The actor’s Captain Stubing was known for his signature salute. Even after the end of the voyage in 1987, the actor returned for telepic “The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage” in 1990 and for the “Reunion” episode of rebooted series “Love Boat: The Next Wave” in 1998.
MacLeod may, indeed, hold a record for consecutive long-running series: He went straight from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (168 episodes) to “The Love Boat” (249 episodes).
The New York Times said in 2010: “Perhaps no actor has embraced a signature role the way Mr. MacLeod has with Captain Stubing. Since ‘The Love Boat’ went off the air, he has been a spokesman for Princess Cruises.”
In 1997, the actor joined the rest of “The Love Boat” cast on “Oprah” in what was the first full cast appearance since the show was cancelled. Another cast reunion occurred in 2013 on “The Talk.”
MacLeod was born Allan George See in Mount Kisco, N.Y. His mother worked for Reader’s Digest, while his father was an electrician who was part Chippewa. He grew up in Pleasantville, N.Y., and went to Ithaca College, where he studied acting and graduated in 1952. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he moved to New York City and worked at Radio City Music Hall as an usher and elevator operator while seeking work as an actor. During this time he changed his name.
After a few uncredited film roles, MacLeod made his credited bigscreen debut in the 1958 Susan Hayward vehicle “I Want to Live,” playing a police lieutenant, then played a G.I. in Gregory Peck starrer “Pork Chop Hill” the next year. His supporting role in Blake Edwards’ WWII comedy “Operation Petticoat,” starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis and focusing on the chaotic goings on aboard a submarine, gave the young actor a flavor of what he would be doing a few years later on “McHale’s Navy.” In the meantime he appeared in the 1960 thriller “Twelve Hours to Kill,” which starred future “I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden; Blake Edwards’ musical comedy “High Time,” starring Bing Crosby and Fabian; and the critically hailed but now forgotten Korean War film “War Hunt.” He also did a boatload of guest appearances on TV before his stint on “McHale’s Navy.”
MacLeod left “McHale’s Navy” in order to be able to appear in a supporting role in the excellent period adventure film “The Sand Pebbles,” starring Steve McQueen, and he appeared in a number of other films throughout the decade: “A Man Called Gannon” and Blake Edwards’ Peter Sellers comedy “The Party” in 1968; “The Thousand Plane Raid,” “The Comic” and “The Intruders” in 1969; and, in 1970, the World War II caper film “Kelly’s Heroes,” in which he played Moriarty, Oddball’s machine-gunner and mechanic.
In the meantime he was guesting on both dramas (“Perry Mason,” “Ben Casey,” “Ironside,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The Big Valley”) and comedies (“The Andy Griffith Show,” “My Favorite Martian,” “Hogan’s Heroes”). In December 1961, he guested on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in what was his first time working with Mary Tyler Moore.
After his years on “Mary Tyler Moore” and “The Love Boat,” MacLeod did not work on a steady basis — he did not have to.
He made an impression, however, in a 2000 episode of HBO prison drama “Oz” in which he played the Roman Catholic Cardinal Frances Abgott, with whom Rita Moreno’s nun Sister Pete discusses leaving the order. The actor had assumed a certain gravitas as Captain Stubing, even amid the silliness of “The Love Boat,” that made this role possible in a way that it couldn’t have been before.
In the 2000s MacLeod also guested on series including “The King of Queens,” “JAG,” “Touched by an Angel” and “That ’70s Show.”
MacLeod, who had appeared on Broadway in 1962 in “The Captains and the Kings,” also returned to stage work after “The Love Boat.” He toured with Michael Learned of “The Waltons” in A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters,” and he appeared in musicals such as “Gigi” and “Copacabana” between 1997 and 2003. At a concert in 2008, he conducted the Colorado Symphony in Denver.
MacLeod was first married, from 1955-1972, to Joan Devore, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.
He married actress Patti Kendig in 1974. They divorced in 1982 but remarried in 1985.
During the mid-1980s, MacLeod and his second wife became Evangelical Christians, and the pair credited the religion for reuniting them. He wrote about it in his 1987 book “Back on Course, the Remarkable Story of a Divorce That Ended in Remarriage.” He and Kendig appeared in the Christian big-screen time-travel epic “Time Changer,” along with Hal Linden, in 2002, and he played the title role in the 2008 Christian film “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.”
His memoir “This Is Your Captain Speaking: My Fantastic Voyage Through Hollywood, Faith & Life,” was published in 2013.
He is survived by Kendig and four children by Devore.
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/gavin-macleod-dead-dies-love-boat-mary-tyler-moore-show-1234984591/
- Joined
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When does Thor: Love and Thunder come out?
The COVID-19 pandemic shuffled Thor: Love and Thunder‘s release date. The movie is currently set for release on February 11, 2022. They wrapped filming on June 1, 2021
https://nerdist.com/article/everyth...o_LpTBGCJ6aEbHA08lwjxOsvItVi9Um9e6u4jpk3BunNA
The COVID-19 pandemic shuffled Thor: Love and Thunder‘s release date. The movie is currently set for release on February 11, 2022. They wrapped filming on June 1, 2021
https://nerdist.com/article/everyth...o_LpTBGCJ6aEbHA08lwjxOsvItVi9Um9e6u4jpk3BunNA
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- Mar 16, 2010
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- 681
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'Network' & 'Superman' Actor Ned Beatty Dead at 83
Ned Beatty -- a veteran character actor, famous for his work in "Superman," "Network" and several other iconic films -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
A family member tells TMZ ... Ned passed away in his sleep Sunday while surrounded by family at his home. No other details surrounding the exact circumstances of his death were immediately available -- however, we've been told his passing is NOT COVID-related.
The guy has appeared in a variety of different movies and an even bigger variety of roles over his five-decade-plus career ... giving us memorable characters and even better performances. He'll perhaps best be remembered for his standout monologue in 1976's "Network," in which he played a TV/communications chief, who tries convincing the protagonist to stop resisting a major merger deal that will adversely affect the masses.
It's an epic 5 to 6-minute speech he gives to the fictional truthteller, Howard Beale -- one of the only times Beatty appeared on screen in this flick, BTW -- ... and it earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars that year. That's how great it is.
Beatty had scores of other unforgettable movie moments -- notably, as the bumbling sidekick to Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, Otis, in the 1978 version of "Superman" in which he completely flipped the script from serious to comedic ... which he carried on for the sequel too. In other words, Beatty had incredible range -- and flexed it often in his acting.
Other remarkable film credits include ... "Deliverance," -- infamous for its "Squeal like a pig rape scene, of which Beatty was the onscreen victim -- "Friendly Fire," "All the President's Men," "Silver Streak," "Back to School," "Nashville," "The Big Easy," "The Toy," "1941," "Silver Streak," "Captain America," "Rudy," "White Lightning," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Hear My Song," "Restless Native," "Life," "Shooter," "Charlie Wilson's War" and even a couple voice acting roles in "Rango" as well as "Toy Story 3," in which he played Lotso ... the evil pink bear.
Ned had appeared in several big hit TV shows as well through the years, such as "Law & Order," "Roseanne," "The Boys," "Highway to Heaven," "American Playhouse," "Szysznyk," "The Rockford Files," "M*A*S*H*," "Homicide: Life on the Street," 'CSI,' "Murder, She Wrote" and countless others.
He's survived by his wife, Sandra Johnson, and his eight children and grandchildren. Ned was 83.
RIP
https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/13/ned-...2wWiaN7XZ-Ij9Cf5sdBar8IzRqDO9thvXcS_YKpdRdnRM
Ned Beatty -- a veteran character actor, famous for his work in "Superman," "Network" and several other iconic films -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
A family member tells TMZ ... Ned passed away in his sleep Sunday while surrounded by family at his home. No other details surrounding the exact circumstances of his death were immediately available -- however, we've been told his passing is NOT COVID-related.
The guy has appeared in a variety of different movies and an even bigger variety of roles over his five-decade-plus career ... giving us memorable characters and even better performances. He'll perhaps best be remembered for his standout monologue in 1976's "Network," in which he played a TV/communications chief, who tries convincing the protagonist to stop resisting a major merger deal that will adversely affect the masses.
It's an epic 5 to 6-minute speech he gives to the fictional truthteller, Howard Beale -- one of the only times Beatty appeared on screen in this flick, BTW -- ... and it earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars that year. That's how great it is.
Beatty had scores of other unforgettable movie moments -- notably, as the bumbling sidekick to Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, Otis, in the 1978 version of "Superman" in which he completely flipped the script from serious to comedic ... which he carried on for the sequel too. In other words, Beatty had incredible range -- and flexed it often in his acting.
Other remarkable film credits include ... "Deliverance," -- infamous for its "Squeal like a pig rape scene, of which Beatty was the onscreen victim -- "Friendly Fire," "All the President's Men," "Silver Streak," "Back to School," "Nashville," "The Big Easy," "The Toy," "1941," "Silver Streak," "Captain America," "Rudy," "White Lightning," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Hear My Song," "Restless Native," "Life," "Shooter," "Charlie Wilson's War" and even a couple voice acting roles in "Rango" as well as "Toy Story 3," in which he played Lotso ... the evil pink bear.
Ned had appeared in several big hit TV shows as well through the years, such as "Law & Order," "Roseanne," "The Boys," "Highway to Heaven," "American Playhouse," "Szysznyk," "The Rockford Files," "M*A*S*H*," "Homicide: Life on the Street," 'CSI,' "Murder, She Wrote" and countless others.
He's survived by his wife, Sandra Johnson, and his eight children and grandchildren. Ned was 83.
RIP
https://www.tmz.com/2021/06/13/ned-...2wWiaN7XZ-Ij9Cf5sdBar8IzRqDO9thvXcS_YKpdRdnRM
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- 681
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Boba Fett Solo Series Has Wrapped Filming and Debuts in December 2021
Temuera Morrison (Aquaman) is cast in the role of Boba Fett and had a recurring role on Disney+ show The Mandalorian. Since then, the first season of Mandalorian spin-off, The Book of Boba Fett has wrapped production.
Gamesradar shared that when Morrison spoke with SFX Magazine, he couldn’t reveal many details about the plot, but he did discuss what it was like filming a show of this scale during Covid. “You walk on set, and you hear, ‘Shields down! Shields down!’ So we have to air those studios out every 20 minutes. It’s called a purge, so you know you’ve got a toilet break then. There’s a lot to shoot in one day, but with health and safety and the requirements, it filters out a lot of the bullshit, put it that way.”
The first hint of a Boba Fett series came during The Mandalorian second season, in which Fett was a large part of the narrative arc. The Book of Boba Fett will debut on Disney+ in December 2021, right before The Mandalorian season three premiere.
https://gizmodo.com/boba-fett-solo-...yIxNG7rnx9_4uEH7dHXwa6j6xOUdlIo1hV99F4yGw3GJw
Temuera Morrison (Aquaman) is cast in the role of Boba Fett and had a recurring role on Disney+ show The Mandalorian. Since then, the first season of Mandalorian spin-off, The Book of Boba Fett has wrapped production.
Gamesradar shared that when Morrison spoke with SFX Magazine, he couldn’t reveal many details about the plot, but he did discuss what it was like filming a show of this scale during Covid. “You walk on set, and you hear, ‘Shields down! Shields down!’ So we have to air those studios out every 20 minutes. It’s called a purge, so you know you’ve got a toilet break then. There’s a lot to shoot in one day, but with health and safety and the requirements, it filters out a lot of the bullshit, put it that way.”
The first hint of a Boba Fett series came during The Mandalorian second season, in which Fett was a large part of the narrative arc. The Book of Boba Fett will debut on Disney+ in December 2021, right before The Mandalorian season three premiere.
https://gizmodo.com/boba-fett-solo-...yIxNG7rnx9_4uEH7dHXwa6j6xOUdlIo1hV99F4yGw3GJw
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The Birthday Cake: Val Kilmer Stars In Exclusive Gangster Movie Clip
In mobster movies, family is everything – whether it’s blood relations or gangster relations, it’s both the thing that could keep you well-protected, or the thing that could get you unceremoniously whacked. In upcoming mob thriller The Birthday Cake, the net seems to be closing in on Gio, attending a get-together for the 10th anniversary of his father’s death and continuing the tradition of bringing along a cake baked by his mother. But, as you’ll see in this exclusive new clip – featuring Shiloh Fernandez as Gio, and also starring Vincent Pastore (aka The Sopranos’ Big Pussy) and the legendary Val Kilmer – it’s far from a warm reception, and there are secrets just waiting to tumble out.
The Birthday Cake is the feature debut of director Jimmy Giannopoulos, and elsewhere among its cast you’ll find Goodfellas and The Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco, You’s Penn Badgley, First Cow’s John Magaro, The OA’s Emory Cohen, William Fichtner, and Luis Guzmán. Oh, and the wan-and-obi Ewan McGregor is in there too.
Grab a slice of The Birthday Cake when it comes to UK cinemas on premium digital on 16 July.
https://www.empireonline.com/movies...U6dIxmuG2fs0ICbpEL0ygDnM TE2x1mnlkyWfYDf3MZE
In mobster movies, family is everything – whether it’s blood relations or gangster relations, it’s both the thing that could keep you well-protected, or the thing that could get you unceremoniously whacked. In upcoming mob thriller The Birthday Cake, the net seems to be closing in on Gio, attending a get-together for the 10th anniversary of his father’s death and continuing the tradition of bringing along a cake baked by his mother. But, as you’ll see in this exclusive new clip – featuring Shiloh Fernandez as Gio, and also starring Vincent Pastore (aka The Sopranos’ Big Pussy) and the legendary Val Kilmer – it’s far from a warm reception, and there are secrets just waiting to tumble out.
The Birthday Cake is the feature debut of director Jimmy Giannopoulos, and elsewhere among its cast you’ll find Goodfellas and The Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco, You’s Penn Badgley, First Cow’s John Magaro, The OA’s Emory Cohen, William Fichtner, and Luis Guzmán. Oh, and the wan-and-obi Ewan McGregor is in there too.
Grab a slice of The Birthday Cake when it comes to UK cinemas on premium digital on 16 July.
https://www.empireonline.com/movies...U6dIxmuG2fs0ICbpEL0ygDnM TE2x1mnlkyWfYDf3MZE
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
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- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
- Messages
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- 113
VAL | Official Trailer
Leo Scott and Ting Poo are the directors behind Val, with Kilmer on board as executive producer. The film makes its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this July. It will have a limited theatrical run starting on July 23, before hitting Prime Video on August 6.
https://nerdist.com/article/val-doc...LEh2mFVPpwp3S5v-cVDBVXiKdjTinl0tXsrw02Hf_LnU8
Leo Scott and Ting Poo are the directors behind Val, with Kilmer on board as executive producer. The film makes its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this July. It will have a limited theatrical run starting on July 23, before hitting Prime Video on August 6.
https://nerdist.com/article/val-doc...LEh2mFVPpwp3S5v-cVDBVXiKdjTinl0tXsrw02Hf_LnU8
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Rapper Biz Markie, whose hit 'Just a Friend' became a pop culture staple, dies at 57
He crafted the enduring “Just a Friend,” with its memorably simplistic piano melody, from Freddie Scott’s 1968 song, “(You) Got What I Need.” In 2019, the 30th anniversary of the hit, Markie told Entertainment Weekly that the plainspoken lyrics tell an age-old story rooted in reality.
“I was talking to this girl – the first girl I ever talked to. And every time I would call out to California, a dude would pick up and hand her the phone. I’d be like, “Yo, what’s up (with him)?” She’d say, “Oh, he’s just a friend. He’s nobody.” And I came out there a week early just to surprise her, and she’s tongue kissing somebody — and I caught her! So instead of me fighting, I put the pain into the pen and wrote it out.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...nJ0SfzrX1jbykoGGiYG-WSnNT-0pHFFB6sfSDyEzd2uDc
He crafted the enduring “Just a Friend,” with its memorably simplistic piano melody, from Freddie Scott’s 1968 song, “(You) Got What I Need.” In 2019, the 30th anniversary of the hit, Markie told Entertainment Weekly that the plainspoken lyrics tell an age-old story rooted in reality.
“I was talking to this girl – the first girl I ever talked to. And every time I would call out to California, a dude would pick up and hand her the phone. I’d be like, “Yo, what’s up (with him)?” She’d say, “Oh, he’s just a friend. He’s nobody.” And I came out there a week early just to surprise her, and she’s tongue kissing somebody — and I caught her! So instead of me fighting, I put the pain into the pen and wrote it out.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...nJ0SfzrX1jbykoGGiYG-WSnNT-0pHFFB6sfSDyEzd2uDc
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Japanese martial artist film star Sonny Chiba dies at 82
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including “Kill Bill,” has died. He was 82.
Chiba, known in Japan as Shinichi Chiba, died late Thursday in a hospital near Tokyo where he had been treated for COVID-19 since Aug. 8, Tokyo-based Astraia, his management office, said in a statement Friday. It said he had not been vaccinated.
Chiba rose to stardom in Japan in the 1960s, portraying samurai, fighters and police detectives, the anguished so-called “anti-heroes” trying to survive in a violent world. He did many of the stunt scenes himself.
His overseas career took off after his 1970s Japanese film “The Street Fighter” proved popular in the U.S.
American director Quentin Tarantino listed the work as among his “grindhouse,” or low-budget kitsch cinema, favorites.
Tarantino cast Chiba in the role of Hattori Hanzo, a master swordsmith in “Kill Bill.”
Chiba appeared in the 1991 Hollywood film “Aces,” directed by John Glen, as well as in Hong Kong movies.
Chiba’s career also got a boost from the global boom in kung fu films, set off by Chinese legend Bruce Lee, although critics say Chiba tended to exhibit a dirtier, thug-like fighting style than Lee.
“A true action legend. Your films are eternal and your energy an inspiration. #SonnyChiba #RIP,” American actor Lewis Tan said on Twitter.
New York-based writer and director Ted Geoghegan called him “the great Sonny Chiba.”
“Watch one of his films today,” Geoghegan tweeted, followed by images of a fist and a broken heart.
Other fans mournfully filled Twitter threads with clips of his movies and photos.
Born in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Chiba studied at Nippon Sport Science University trained in various martials arts, earning a fourth-degree black belt in karate.
Chiba set up Japan Action Club in 1980, to develop a younger generation of actors, including protege Hiroyuki Sanada, who is among Hollywood’s most coveted Japanese actors, landing roles in “The Last Samurai” and “Rush Hour 3.”
Chiba is survived by his three children, Juri Manase, Mackenyu Arata and Gordon Maeda, all actors. A wake was canceled as a pandemic measure, and funeral arrangements were still undecided, his office said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ne...t-film-star-sonny-chiba-dies-at-82/ar-AANw3jW
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including “Kill Bill,” has died. He was 82.
Chiba, known in Japan as Shinichi Chiba, died late Thursday in a hospital near Tokyo where he had been treated for COVID-19 since Aug. 8, Tokyo-based Astraia, his management office, said in a statement Friday. It said he had not been vaccinated.
Chiba rose to stardom in Japan in the 1960s, portraying samurai, fighters and police detectives, the anguished so-called “anti-heroes” trying to survive in a violent world. He did many of the stunt scenes himself.
His overseas career took off after his 1970s Japanese film “The Street Fighter” proved popular in the U.S.
American director Quentin Tarantino listed the work as among his “grindhouse,” or low-budget kitsch cinema, favorites.
Tarantino cast Chiba in the role of Hattori Hanzo, a master swordsmith in “Kill Bill.”
Chiba appeared in the 1991 Hollywood film “Aces,” directed by John Glen, as well as in Hong Kong movies.
Chiba’s career also got a boost from the global boom in kung fu films, set off by Chinese legend Bruce Lee, although critics say Chiba tended to exhibit a dirtier, thug-like fighting style than Lee.
“A true action legend. Your films are eternal and your energy an inspiration. #SonnyChiba #RIP,” American actor Lewis Tan said on Twitter.
New York-based writer and director Ted Geoghegan called him “the great Sonny Chiba.”
“Watch one of his films today,” Geoghegan tweeted, followed by images of a fist and a broken heart.
Other fans mournfully filled Twitter threads with clips of his movies and photos.
Born in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Chiba studied at Nippon Sport Science University trained in various martials arts, earning a fourth-degree black belt in karate.
Chiba set up Japan Action Club in 1980, to develop a younger generation of actors, including protege Hiroyuki Sanada, who is among Hollywood’s most coveted Japanese actors, landing roles in “The Last Samurai” and “Rush Hour 3.”
Chiba is survived by his three children, Juri Manase, Mackenyu Arata and Gordon Maeda, all actors. A wake was canceled as a pandemic measure, and funeral arrangements were still undecided, his office said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ne...t-film-star-sonny-chiba-dies-at-82/ar-AANw3jW
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Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones Drummer, Dies at 80
Drummer Charlie Watts, whose adept, powerful skin work propelled the Rolling Stones for more than half a century, died in London on Tuesday morning, according to his spokesperson. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.
A statement from the band and Watts’ spokesperson reads: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family.
“Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also a member of the Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation.
“We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members and close friends is respected at this difficult time.”
On August 4, Watts abruptly withdrew from the Stones’ upcoming pandemic-postponed U.S. tour, citing the need to recover from an unspecified but “successful” recent medical procedure. A spokesperson said, “Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.” Unconfirmed reports said Watts had undergone heart surgery; drummer Steve Jordan, a longtime associate of Stones guitarist Keith Richards, is filling in for the tour, which launches in St. Louis on Sept. 26.
Watts had generally been healthy throughout his entire career with the Stones. He was stricken with throat cancer in 2004 but successfully recovered, and suffered from substance abuse in the 1970s and ’80s, but beat that as well.
Universally recognized as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, Watts and Richards always have been the core of the Rolling Stones’ instrumental sound: Richards spends upwards of half the group’s concerts turned around, facing Watts, bobbing his head to the drummer’s rhythm. A 2012 review of a Rolling Stones concert reads in part: “For all of Mick and Keith’s supremacy, there’s no question that the heart of this band is and will always be Watts: At 71, his whipcrack snare and preternatural sense of swing drive the songs with peerless authority, and define the contradictory uptight-laid-back-ness that’s at the heart of the Stones’ rhythm.” Watts was never a flashy drummer, but driving the beat for “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” for a two-hour set — in a stadium, no less — is an act of great physical endurance that Watts performed until he was 78.
His last concert with the group took place in Miami on August 30, 2019, although he did appear with the band during the April 2020 “One World Together” all-star livestream early in the pandemic. Reviewing a show earlier in the 2019 tour, Variety wrote, “Sitting at a minimalist kit and moving even more minimally with his casual jazz grip, [Watts looks] like the mild-mannered banker who no one in the heist movie realizes is the guy actually blowing up the vault.”
The wiry, basset-faced musician was a jazz-schooled player who came to the Stones through London’s “trad” scene of the early ‘60s. He was the missing piece in the group’s early lineup, joining in January 1963; with Jagger and Keith Richards, he remained a constant with “the World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” on record and on stage for more than 50 years.
He provided nimble, energetic support on the band’s long run of dirty, blues- and R&B-based hits of the early and mid-‘60s. He reached the pinnacle of his prowess on a series of mature recordings, made with producer Jimmy Miller in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, in which his sharp playing caromed off Richards’ serrated guitar riffs.
In the 2003 oral history “According to the Rolling Stones,” Richards said, “To have a drummer from the beginning who could play with the sensibility of Charlie Watts is one of the best hidden assets I’ve had, because I never had to think about the drummer and what he’s going to do. I just say, ‘Charlie, it goes like this,’ and we’ll kick it around a bit and it’s done. I can throw him ideas and I never have to worry about the beat…It’s a blessing.”
A flexible player, Watts displayed his malleable chops on the Stones’ forays into off-brand styles – psychedelia, reggae and (on the 1978 hit single “Miss You”) disco.
Though he grew weary of the band’s touring pace as early as the 1980s, he soldiered on with the Stones for three more decades, in what was arguably the most comfortable and lucrative drumming gig in music. He prevailed through bouts with heroin addiction and a battle with throat cancer, quietly addressing these challenges as the spotlight shined more brightly on his more flamboyant band mates.
Watts remained a picture of domestic bliss and tranquility amid the soap-operatic lives of his fellow Stones: He wed his wife Shirley in 1964, and the couple remained together, even amid rough patches, for the duration.
He maintained a love of jazz throughout his life, and from the ‘80s on would record regularly with various ad hoc lineups of his Charlie Watts Quintet, essaying the hard-swinging instrumental music that fired his early interest in music.
Watts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Stones in 1989.
He was born June 2, 1941, in London; his father was a truck driver for the English rail system. Raised in Wembley, he gravitated as a youth to the music of early jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton and bop saxophonist Charlie Parker. He was an indifferent music student in school, but began playing at 14 or 15.
In “The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones,” Watts told Stanley Booth, “Fortunately my parents were perceptive enough to buy me a drum kit. I’d bought a banjo myself and taken the neck off and started playing it as a drum… played newspaper with wire brushes. My parents bought me one of those first drum kits every drummer knows too well.”
He emblazoned the bass drum head of his early kit with the name “Chico,” after saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s drummer Chico Hamilton. In his teens, he worked in various regional jazz groups.
He was schooled as a graphic designer at Harrow Art School, and worked for a London ad firm. In 1961, he illustrated and wrote a fanciful tribute to Charlie Parker; it was subsequently published in 1964, after the Rolling Stones’ rise to fame, as “Ode to a High Flying Bird.”
In 1962, Watts first encountered some of his future band mates at London’s Ealing Club, a subterranean venue where first-generation trad-to-blues players like Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies took early stabs at replicating American R&B and blues.
After a stint doing design work in Copenhagen, Watts returned to London and accepted an offer from Korner to drum in his group Blues Incorporated, which for a time had featured Jagger as its singer.
Jagger was in the process of establishing his own blues-based band, originally called the Rollin’ Stones, with Richards, guitarist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman and pianist Ian Stewart. The weak link in the unit was drummer Tony Chapman, and, after pleas from Richards and Jones, Watts replaced Chapman in the nascent group; he was replaced in Korner’s band by Ginger Baker, later of Cream.
Watts later admitted, “It was from Brian, Mick and Keith that I first seriously learned about R&B. I knew nothing about it. The blues to me was Charlie Parker or [New Orleans jazz clarinetist] Johnny Dodds playing slow.” He schooled himself by listening to recorded performances such drummers by Earl Phillips, Jimmy Reed’s accompanist, and Fred Below, who powered many of Chess Records’ major blues hits of the ‘50s.
He proved an apt pupil, and he forcefully completed the sound of the Stones (who soon subtracted Stewart from the permanent lineup and employed him as a sideman and road manager). From the band’s debut 1963 single, a cranked-up cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On,” he pushed the unit with seemingly effortless power and swing.
Watts lent potent support to the R&B- and blues-derived material recorded in the era when the purist Jones enjoyed parity in the Stones with Richards and Jagger. However, he was much more than a four-on-the-floor timekeeper, and flourished as Jagger-Richards originals pushed the band to the top of the U.S. and U.K. charts.
He stood out on the Stones’ first U.S. No. 1, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965) and on latter-day exotica like “Paint It Black” (1966) and “Ruby Tuesday,” “Dandelion,” “We Love You” and “She’s a Rainbow” (all 1967).
He came into his own with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man” (1968) and “Honky Tonk Women” (1969), convulsive singles produced by Miller that marked the end of Jones’ tenure with the group (he died in 1969) and the arrival of guitarist Mick Taylor.
Those numbers and the subsequent “Brown Sugar” (No. 1, 1969) and “Tumbling Dice” (1972) – respectively drawn from the Stones’ landmark albums “Sticky Fingers” and “Exile on Main St” – all exhibited the trademark sound of the Stones at their apex, with Watts bouncing hard off a lacerating Richards guitar intro.
From 1971-81, Watts appeared on eight consecutive No. 1 studio albums by the Stones, and appeared on three of the biggest-grossing tours of the era. From 1975 on, he brought his design skills to bear and worked with Jagger on configuring the elaborate stage sets that became a hallmark of the act’s later tours.
In the late ‘70s, he began using heroin, and his addiction became so acute that he nodded out in the studio during the recording of “Some Girls” (1978). He later said in an interview with the BBC that Richards – an enthusiastic abuser of the drug – shook him awake at the session and counseled him, “You should do this when you’re older.” Watts said he took the guitarist’s advice and stopped using the drug.
Despite his difficulties during that era, Watts smoothly navigated the dancefloor backbeat that propelled “Miss You,” the Stones’ last No. 1 single, released in ’78. During the ‘80s, he brought his whipcracking skills to the band’s top-10 hits of the period, the perennial show-opener “Start Me Up” (1981) and the dark fusillade “Undercover of the Night” (1983).
He again grappled with alcohol and drug issues in the mid-‘80s, but once again discreetly and successfully shook off his addictions, cleaning up for good in 1986.
In his 2002 book “Rolling With the Stones,” bassist Wyman (who exited the Stones in 1993) claims that Watts’ enthusiasm for working with the band waned in the late ‘80s, when conflict between Jagger and Richards over direction of the group threatened to run it aground permanently.
He increasingly recorded and toured on his own as a jazz band leader. He cut a big band album for Columbia in 1986; four sets with his own quintet from 1991-96; and worked on a collaborative project with fellow drummer Jim Keltner in 2000. In 2004, an album featuring his tentet was recorded at Ronnie Scott’s famous jazz venue in London.
Watts still dutifully clocked in with the Stones after Jagger and Richards reconciled: Their four studio albums between 1989-2005 were succeeded by mammoth tours that broke records internationally. His tour duty was not broken by a siege of throat cancer, diagnosed in 2004 and treated successfully.
At the half-century mark, the group made successful treks in the new millennium without any new product in stores, hitting the road for arenas in 2012-16.
In October 2016, the act filled the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., site of the annual Coachella music festival on a double bill with Bob Dylan, as part of the three-day “Desert Trip” festival featuring ‘60s classic rock acts.
The Rolling Stones last toured in 2019, including an August 22 show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, of which Variety noted in a review, “The faces have changed, while the bodies, cocky postures and enviable stamina levels have not, in some kind of laughably wonderful cosmic disconnect. … Charlie Watts is still our darling, sitting at a minimalist kit and moving even more minimally with his casual jazz grip, looking like the mild-mannered banker who no one in the heist movie realizes is the guy actually blowing up the vault.”
The group played what turned out to be its final show with Watts just a few nights later, at Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium on August 30, 2019.
The group’s final public appearance with Watts on drums was a filmed appearance for the “One World: Together at Home” broadcast in April 2020, for which a typically contented-looking Watts played “air drums” to a pre-recorded track on a fresh version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Watts is survived by his wife and daughter Serafina.
https://variety.com/2021/music/news...Exw0aJZXaosPMScCh7fVZovxzt8gdo34fqFkaUXJ5RcN4
Drummer Charlie Watts, whose adept, powerful skin work propelled the Rolling Stones for more than half a century, died in London on Tuesday morning, according to his spokesperson. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.
A statement from the band and Watts’ spokesperson reads: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts. He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family.
“Charlie was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also a member of the Rolling Stones one of the greatest drummers of his generation.
“We kindly request that the privacy of his family, band members and close friends is respected at this difficult time.”
On August 4, Watts abruptly withdrew from the Stones’ upcoming pandemic-postponed U.S. tour, citing the need to recover from an unspecified but “successful” recent medical procedure. A spokesperson said, “Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful, but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.” Unconfirmed reports said Watts had undergone heart surgery; drummer Steve Jordan, a longtime associate of Stones guitarist Keith Richards, is filling in for the tour, which launches in St. Louis on Sept. 26.
Watts had generally been healthy throughout his entire career with the Stones. He was stricken with throat cancer in 2004 but successfully recovered, and suffered from substance abuse in the 1970s and ’80s, but beat that as well.
Universally recognized as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, Watts and Richards always have been the core of the Rolling Stones’ instrumental sound: Richards spends upwards of half the group’s concerts turned around, facing Watts, bobbing his head to the drummer’s rhythm. A 2012 review of a Rolling Stones concert reads in part: “For all of Mick and Keith’s supremacy, there’s no question that the heart of this band is and will always be Watts: At 71, his whipcrack snare and preternatural sense of swing drive the songs with peerless authority, and define the contradictory uptight-laid-back-ness that’s at the heart of the Stones’ rhythm.” Watts was never a flashy drummer, but driving the beat for “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” for a two-hour set — in a stadium, no less — is an act of great physical endurance that Watts performed until he was 78.
His last concert with the group took place in Miami on August 30, 2019, although he did appear with the band during the April 2020 “One World Together” all-star livestream early in the pandemic. Reviewing a show earlier in the 2019 tour, Variety wrote, “Sitting at a minimalist kit and moving even more minimally with his casual jazz grip, [Watts looks] like the mild-mannered banker who no one in the heist movie realizes is the guy actually blowing up the vault.”
The wiry, basset-faced musician was a jazz-schooled player who came to the Stones through London’s “trad” scene of the early ‘60s. He was the missing piece in the group’s early lineup, joining in January 1963; with Jagger and Keith Richards, he remained a constant with “the World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” on record and on stage for more than 50 years.
He provided nimble, energetic support on the band’s long run of dirty, blues- and R&B-based hits of the early and mid-‘60s. He reached the pinnacle of his prowess on a series of mature recordings, made with producer Jimmy Miller in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, in which his sharp playing caromed off Richards’ serrated guitar riffs.
In the 2003 oral history “According to the Rolling Stones,” Richards said, “To have a drummer from the beginning who could play with the sensibility of Charlie Watts is one of the best hidden assets I’ve had, because I never had to think about the drummer and what he’s going to do. I just say, ‘Charlie, it goes like this,’ and we’ll kick it around a bit and it’s done. I can throw him ideas and I never have to worry about the beat…It’s a blessing.”
A flexible player, Watts displayed his malleable chops on the Stones’ forays into off-brand styles – psychedelia, reggae and (on the 1978 hit single “Miss You”) disco.
Though he grew weary of the band’s touring pace as early as the 1980s, he soldiered on with the Stones for three more decades, in what was arguably the most comfortable and lucrative drumming gig in music. He prevailed through bouts with heroin addiction and a battle with throat cancer, quietly addressing these challenges as the spotlight shined more brightly on his more flamboyant band mates.
Watts remained a picture of domestic bliss and tranquility amid the soap-operatic lives of his fellow Stones: He wed his wife Shirley in 1964, and the couple remained together, even amid rough patches, for the duration.
He maintained a love of jazz throughout his life, and from the ‘80s on would record regularly with various ad hoc lineups of his Charlie Watts Quintet, essaying the hard-swinging instrumental music that fired his early interest in music.
Watts was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Stones in 1989.
He was born June 2, 1941, in London; his father was a truck driver for the English rail system. Raised in Wembley, he gravitated as a youth to the music of early jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton and bop saxophonist Charlie Parker. He was an indifferent music student in school, but began playing at 14 or 15.
In “The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones,” Watts told Stanley Booth, “Fortunately my parents were perceptive enough to buy me a drum kit. I’d bought a banjo myself and taken the neck off and started playing it as a drum… played newspaper with wire brushes. My parents bought me one of those first drum kits every drummer knows too well.”
He emblazoned the bass drum head of his early kit with the name “Chico,” after saxophonist Gerry Mulligan’s drummer Chico Hamilton. In his teens, he worked in various regional jazz groups.
He was schooled as a graphic designer at Harrow Art School, and worked for a London ad firm. In 1961, he illustrated and wrote a fanciful tribute to Charlie Parker; it was subsequently published in 1964, after the Rolling Stones’ rise to fame, as “Ode to a High Flying Bird.”
In 1962, Watts first encountered some of his future band mates at London’s Ealing Club, a subterranean venue where first-generation trad-to-blues players like Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies took early stabs at replicating American R&B and blues.
After a stint doing design work in Copenhagen, Watts returned to London and accepted an offer from Korner to drum in his group Blues Incorporated, which for a time had featured Jagger as its singer.
Jagger was in the process of establishing his own blues-based band, originally called the Rollin’ Stones, with Richards, guitarist Brian Jones, bassist Bill Wyman and pianist Ian Stewart. The weak link in the unit was drummer Tony Chapman, and, after pleas from Richards and Jones, Watts replaced Chapman in the nascent group; he was replaced in Korner’s band by Ginger Baker, later of Cream.
Watts later admitted, “It was from Brian, Mick and Keith that I first seriously learned about R&B. I knew nothing about it. The blues to me was Charlie Parker or [New Orleans jazz clarinetist] Johnny Dodds playing slow.” He schooled himself by listening to recorded performances such drummers by Earl Phillips, Jimmy Reed’s accompanist, and Fred Below, who powered many of Chess Records’ major blues hits of the ‘50s.
He proved an apt pupil, and he forcefully completed the sound of the Stones (who soon subtracted Stewart from the permanent lineup and employed him as a sideman and road manager). From the band’s debut 1963 single, a cranked-up cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On,” he pushed the unit with seemingly effortless power and swing.
Watts lent potent support to the R&B- and blues-derived material recorded in the era when the purist Jones enjoyed parity in the Stones with Richards and Jagger. However, he was much more than a four-on-the-floor timekeeper, and flourished as Jagger-Richards originals pushed the band to the top of the U.S. and U.K. charts.
He stood out on the Stones’ first U.S. No. 1, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965) and on latter-day exotica like “Paint It Black” (1966) and “Ruby Tuesday,” “Dandelion,” “We Love You” and “She’s a Rainbow” (all 1967).
He came into his own with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man” (1968) and “Honky Tonk Women” (1969), convulsive singles produced by Miller that marked the end of Jones’ tenure with the group (he died in 1969) and the arrival of guitarist Mick Taylor.
Those numbers and the subsequent “Brown Sugar” (No. 1, 1969) and “Tumbling Dice” (1972) – respectively drawn from the Stones’ landmark albums “Sticky Fingers” and “Exile on Main St” – all exhibited the trademark sound of the Stones at their apex, with Watts bouncing hard off a lacerating Richards guitar intro.
From 1971-81, Watts appeared on eight consecutive No. 1 studio albums by the Stones, and appeared on three of the biggest-grossing tours of the era. From 1975 on, he brought his design skills to bear and worked with Jagger on configuring the elaborate stage sets that became a hallmark of the act’s later tours.
In the late ‘70s, he began using heroin, and his addiction became so acute that he nodded out in the studio during the recording of “Some Girls” (1978). He later said in an interview with the BBC that Richards – an enthusiastic abuser of the drug – shook him awake at the session and counseled him, “You should do this when you’re older.” Watts said he took the guitarist’s advice and stopped using the drug.
Despite his difficulties during that era, Watts smoothly navigated the dancefloor backbeat that propelled “Miss You,” the Stones’ last No. 1 single, released in ’78. During the ‘80s, he brought his whipcracking skills to the band’s top-10 hits of the period, the perennial show-opener “Start Me Up” (1981) and the dark fusillade “Undercover of the Night” (1983).
He again grappled with alcohol and drug issues in the mid-‘80s, but once again discreetly and successfully shook off his addictions, cleaning up for good in 1986.
In his 2002 book “Rolling With the Stones,” bassist Wyman (who exited the Stones in 1993) claims that Watts’ enthusiasm for working with the band waned in the late ‘80s, when conflict between Jagger and Richards over direction of the group threatened to run it aground permanently.
He increasingly recorded and toured on his own as a jazz band leader. He cut a big band album for Columbia in 1986; four sets with his own quintet from 1991-96; and worked on a collaborative project with fellow drummer Jim Keltner in 2000. In 2004, an album featuring his tentet was recorded at Ronnie Scott’s famous jazz venue in London.
Watts still dutifully clocked in with the Stones after Jagger and Richards reconciled: Their four studio albums between 1989-2005 were succeeded by mammoth tours that broke records internationally. His tour duty was not broken by a siege of throat cancer, diagnosed in 2004 and treated successfully.
At the half-century mark, the group made successful treks in the new millennium without any new product in stores, hitting the road for arenas in 2012-16.
In October 2016, the act filled the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif., site of the annual Coachella music festival on a double bill with Bob Dylan, as part of the three-day “Desert Trip” festival featuring ‘60s classic rock acts.
The Rolling Stones last toured in 2019, including an August 22 show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, of which Variety noted in a review, “The faces have changed, while the bodies, cocky postures and enviable stamina levels have not, in some kind of laughably wonderful cosmic disconnect. … Charlie Watts is still our darling, sitting at a minimalist kit and moving even more minimally with his casual jazz grip, looking like the mild-mannered banker who no one in the heist movie realizes is the guy actually blowing up the vault.”
The group played what turned out to be its final show with Watts just a few nights later, at Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium on August 30, 2019.
The group’s final public appearance with Watts on drums was a filmed appearance for the “One World: Together at Home” broadcast in April 2020, for which a typically contented-looking Watts played “air drums” to a pre-recorded track on a fresh version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Watts is survived by his wife and daughter Serafina.
https://variety.com/2021/music/news...Exw0aJZXaosPMScCh7fVZovxzt8gdo34fqFkaUXJ5RcN4
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Ed Asner, seven-time Emmy winner, TV's beloved Lou Grant and star of 'Up,' dies at 91
Edward Asner, known to millions as gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, died Sunday at age 91.
His publicist, Charles Sherman, confirmed to USA TODAY that Asner died early Sunday morning at home, surrounded by his family.
"We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully," read a tweet shared to Asner's official Twitter account. "Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head – Goodnight dad. We love you."
Hard-drinking, tough-talking Grant, who originated on CBS' "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and grew to headline on drama spinoff "Lou Grant," made Asner a household name. But he was much more than one indelible character.
Asner, a U.S. Army veteran, took on a broad range of roles over an acting career that spanned seven decades, playing burly cops and 5 o'clock-shadowed heavies in pre-"Mary" '60s dramas while endearing himself to younger generations who wouldn't know Lou Grant from Ted Baxter in 2003's "Elf" and 2009's "Up."
His seven Emmys, five for playing Grant on "Mary" and "Lou Grant," are a record for a male actor, and Asner was the first actor to win Emmys for playing the same character on both a comedy and drama series. He won his other two Emmys for playing harsh, unlikable characters on two historic miniseries, "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man."
But if Asner, who compiled more than 400 screen credits, were only remembered as Lou Grant, that would be plenty.
The WJM news director was an immediate breakout in the "Moore" pilot episode. After conducting a job interview that would have today's HR professionals assessing lawsuit damages, Lou smiles at polite but plucky applicant Mary Richards (Moore) and says, "You know what? You've got spunk!"
As Mary smiles back and starts an aw-shucks response, Lou, turning dark, cuts her off: "I hate spunk!"
It was jarring misdirection and a rebuke to predictable TV tropes of that era, as was so much of Moore's groundbreaking sitcom. Most of all, it was hilarious.
Speaking fondly of Moore following her death in 2017, Asner parted ways with his TV alter ego. "She had spunk," he told USA TODAY. Did he hate that? "No. Not when she has it."
When "Mary" premiered in 1970, Asner had no idea how it would be revered 50 years later. However, he quickly realized it was something special. "As we began to work on it and shape it and round it, it became quite revealing to us that we were doing the Lord’s work," he said.
Over the course of the series' seven-season run, Asner's Lou revealed different shadings: impatience, anger and even physical violence with Ted, and sweetness and friendship with Mary, although he had a sexist streak notable even for its time.
A married dad at the start of the series, Lou went through estrangement and eventual divorce, with Asner masterfully depicting the pathos and humor of a man sucker-punched in mid-life. His fear and loathing of sometimes paramour Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White, now the show's last surviving main cast member at 99) was a comic delight and a solid-gold talent pairing, while his friendship with Mary, despite one awkward and quickly dismissed date, showed real character development. Lou had many faults, but there was always the chance for learning and redemption.
As Asner mourned Moore's death, he thanked her, professionally and personally. She "never missed an (opportunity) to advance us. She took good care of us," he said. "I loved her. The world loved her – and it should have. She was an inspiration to women and she was a good example as a human being."
Moore indeed took care of Asner as MTM Enterprises, the production company she founded with then-husband Grant Tinker, transplanted Lou from Minneapolis TV news director in a half-hour CBS sitcom to Los Angeles newspaper editor in a one-hour drama.
Asner pulled off the impressive feat of avoiding typecasting with his signature role, toning down Lou's drinking and temper – no more physically throwing Ted out of the studio! – while turning up his sobriety, literally and figuratively, and dedication to shoe-leather journalism in the post-Watergate era. The new version of Lou earned him two Emmys.
Earlier, before "Mary" ended its seven-season run, Asner showed his dramatic chops as angry immigrant father Axel Jordache in 1976's "Rich Man, Poor Man," the first blockbuster miniseries, and then as slave ship captain Thomas Davies in 1977's "Roots," a hugely popular ABC miniseries and cultural landmark that broke new ground in TV’s (and the country’s) conversation about race.
Asner's commitment to acting went beyond the screen, as the pro-union progressive's opposition to the 1980 actors strike settlement led to his candidacy and eventual election to the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild, which he held from 1981 to 1985.
At a time when a former SAG president, Ronald Reagan, had become a conservative idol partly for his anti-union action, Asner was devoutly and defiantly liberal in his political views.
In the years that followed, he was outspoken about controversial topics, including support for freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal and single-payer health care, the kind of matters many actors steered clear of for fear of hurting their careers. In 2017, he expressed solidarity with NFL players taking a knee to protest racial injustice. He also had been involved in charitable work and worked to help Holocaust survivors, immigrants and the hopeless and to protect free speech.
Asner, born in Kansas City to Russian-born parents and raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, was married twice, to Nancy Sykes from 1959 to 1988 and to Cindy Gilmore from 1998 to 2015, and had four children.
He took a circuitous path to acting. After attending the University of Chicago, he worked on a General Motors assembly line and served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Europe before helping found the Playwrights Theatre Company in Chicago.
He left for New York in the 1950s, where he joined an off-Broadway revival of "Threepenny Opera" in 1956 and appeared on Broadway in "Face of a Hero" in 1960. Hollywood and television beckoned, too: Asner made his first foray on "Studio One" in 1957, followed by roles on such shows as "The Outer Limits," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Mission: Impossible," "The Fugitive" and "The Invaders." His made his film debut in 1962's "Kid Galahad," an Elvis Presley movie, and appeared in a John Wayne film, 1966's "El Dorado."
Although his role as Lou Grant and the 1970s miniseries constituted Asner's peak for awards and fame, he remained busy in subsequent years. Movie roles included "Elf," one of the many times he played Santa Claus, and the Oscar-winning, animated Pixar film "Up," in which he played curmudgeonly old widower Carl Fredericksen, the standout role from dozens of voice-acting credits over the years..
In recent decades, Asner was a series regular on such TV shows as "Thunder Alley," "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," "The Bronx Zoo" and "Working Class," CMT's first sitcom, and he made many guest appearances. Highlights include revisiting art smuggler August March, a character he played in a 1975 episode of "Hawaii Five-0," in the rebooted edition in 2012. He was in "Dead to Me" and, after reaching 90, he appeared in "Blue Bloods," "Modern Family" and "Cobra Kai."
Even before those later roles, Asner had earned the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award and induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Asner also appeared on stage, including touring the country as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in "FDR" starting in 2010 and appearing in 2012 with Paul Rudd in "Grace" on Broadway. He also was the subject of a 2014 documentary, "My Friend Ed."
We'll always admire Asner's impressive body of acting work and his equally accomplished life, but we can continue to embrace him, just like Mary, Ted, Lou and Sue Ann did in the "Mary" finale, as curmudgeon with a heart of gold Lou Grant.
"I treasure you people," he told his colleagues in that iconic closing group-hug scene. And we treasure you, Ed.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...u_aOPAYq-C1fepWY9Lh86nT_2d1eFZfc8kWdAs6R3OdVQ
Edward Asner, known to millions as gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, died Sunday at age 91.
His publicist, Charles Sherman, confirmed to USA TODAY that Asner died early Sunday morning at home, surrounded by his family.
"We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully," read a tweet shared to Asner's official Twitter account. "Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head – Goodnight dad. We love you."
Hard-drinking, tough-talking Grant, who originated on CBS' "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and grew to headline on drama spinoff "Lou Grant," made Asner a household name. But he was much more than one indelible character.
Asner, a U.S. Army veteran, took on a broad range of roles over an acting career that spanned seven decades, playing burly cops and 5 o'clock-shadowed heavies in pre-"Mary" '60s dramas while endearing himself to younger generations who wouldn't know Lou Grant from Ted Baxter in 2003's "Elf" and 2009's "Up."
His seven Emmys, five for playing Grant on "Mary" and "Lou Grant," are a record for a male actor, and Asner was the first actor to win Emmys for playing the same character on both a comedy and drama series. He won his other two Emmys for playing harsh, unlikable characters on two historic miniseries, "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man."
But if Asner, who compiled more than 400 screen credits, were only remembered as Lou Grant, that would be plenty.
The WJM news director was an immediate breakout in the "Moore" pilot episode. After conducting a job interview that would have today's HR professionals assessing lawsuit damages, Lou smiles at polite but plucky applicant Mary Richards (Moore) and says, "You know what? You've got spunk!"
As Mary smiles back and starts an aw-shucks response, Lou, turning dark, cuts her off: "I hate spunk!"
It was jarring misdirection and a rebuke to predictable TV tropes of that era, as was so much of Moore's groundbreaking sitcom. Most of all, it was hilarious.
Speaking fondly of Moore following her death in 2017, Asner parted ways with his TV alter ego. "She had spunk," he told USA TODAY. Did he hate that? "No. Not when she has it."
When "Mary" premiered in 1970, Asner had no idea how it would be revered 50 years later. However, he quickly realized it was something special. "As we began to work on it and shape it and round it, it became quite revealing to us that we were doing the Lord’s work," he said.
Over the course of the series' seven-season run, Asner's Lou revealed different shadings: impatience, anger and even physical violence with Ted, and sweetness and friendship with Mary, although he had a sexist streak notable even for its time.
A married dad at the start of the series, Lou went through estrangement and eventual divorce, with Asner masterfully depicting the pathos and humor of a man sucker-punched in mid-life. His fear and loathing of sometimes paramour Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White, now the show's last surviving main cast member at 99) was a comic delight and a solid-gold talent pairing, while his friendship with Mary, despite one awkward and quickly dismissed date, showed real character development. Lou had many faults, but there was always the chance for learning and redemption.
As Asner mourned Moore's death, he thanked her, professionally and personally. She "never missed an (opportunity) to advance us. She took good care of us," he said. "I loved her. The world loved her – and it should have. She was an inspiration to women and she was a good example as a human being."
Moore indeed took care of Asner as MTM Enterprises, the production company she founded with then-husband Grant Tinker, transplanted Lou from Minneapolis TV news director in a half-hour CBS sitcom to Los Angeles newspaper editor in a one-hour drama.
Asner pulled off the impressive feat of avoiding typecasting with his signature role, toning down Lou's drinking and temper – no more physically throwing Ted out of the studio! – while turning up his sobriety, literally and figuratively, and dedication to shoe-leather journalism in the post-Watergate era. The new version of Lou earned him two Emmys.
Earlier, before "Mary" ended its seven-season run, Asner showed his dramatic chops as angry immigrant father Axel Jordache in 1976's "Rich Man, Poor Man," the first blockbuster miniseries, and then as slave ship captain Thomas Davies in 1977's "Roots," a hugely popular ABC miniseries and cultural landmark that broke new ground in TV’s (and the country’s) conversation about race.
Asner's commitment to acting went beyond the screen, as the pro-union progressive's opposition to the 1980 actors strike settlement led to his candidacy and eventual election to the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild, which he held from 1981 to 1985.
At a time when a former SAG president, Ronald Reagan, had become a conservative idol partly for his anti-union action, Asner was devoutly and defiantly liberal in his political views.
In the years that followed, he was outspoken about controversial topics, including support for freeing Mumia Abu-Jamal and single-payer health care, the kind of matters many actors steered clear of for fear of hurting their careers. In 2017, he expressed solidarity with NFL players taking a knee to protest racial injustice. He also had been involved in charitable work and worked to help Holocaust survivors, immigrants and the hopeless and to protect free speech.
Asner, born in Kansas City to Russian-born parents and raised in an Orthodox Jewish household, was married twice, to Nancy Sykes from 1959 to 1988 and to Cindy Gilmore from 1998 to 2015, and had four children.
He took a circuitous path to acting. After attending the University of Chicago, he worked on a General Motors assembly line and served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Europe before helping found the Playwrights Theatre Company in Chicago.
He left for New York in the 1950s, where he joined an off-Broadway revival of "Threepenny Opera" in 1956 and appeared on Broadway in "Face of a Hero" in 1960. Hollywood and television beckoned, too: Asner made his first foray on "Studio One" in 1957, followed by roles on such shows as "The Outer Limits," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Mission: Impossible," "The Fugitive" and "The Invaders." His made his film debut in 1962's "Kid Galahad," an Elvis Presley movie, and appeared in a John Wayne film, 1966's "El Dorado."
Although his role as Lou Grant and the 1970s miniseries constituted Asner's peak for awards and fame, he remained busy in subsequent years. Movie roles included "Elf," one of the many times he played Santa Claus, and the Oscar-winning, animated Pixar film "Up," in which he played curmudgeonly old widower Carl Fredericksen, the standout role from dozens of voice-acting credits over the years..
In recent decades, Asner was a series regular on such TV shows as "Thunder Alley," "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," "The Bronx Zoo" and "Working Class," CMT's first sitcom, and he made many guest appearances. Highlights include revisiting art smuggler August March, a character he played in a 1975 episode of "Hawaii Five-0," in the rebooted edition in 2012. He was in "Dead to Me" and, after reaching 90, he appeared in "Blue Bloods," "Modern Family" and "Cobra Kai."
Even before those later roles, Asner had earned the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award and induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Asner also appeared on stage, including touring the country as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in "FDR" starting in 2010 and appearing in 2012 with Paul Rudd in "Grace" on Broadway. He also was the subject of a 2014 documentary, "My Friend Ed."
We'll always admire Asner's impressive body of acting work and his equally accomplished life, but we can continue to embrace him, just like Mary, Ted, Lou and Sue Ann did in the "Mary" finale, as curmudgeon with a heart of gold Lou Grant.
"I treasure you people," he told his colleagues in that iconic closing group-hug scene. And we treasure you, Ed.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...u_aOPAYq-C1fepWY9Lh86nT_2d1eFZfc8kWdAs6R3OdVQ
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RICK AND MORTY PROMO TEASES CHRISTOPHER LLOYD AS LIVE-ACTION RICK
https://nerdist.com/article/rick-an...XgnmifQfMPbP2jqnWjo04lZzW jsSOA-s4WmFn5ivVeI
