Richard Roundtree has passed away. He was 81 years old and, for moviegoers in the past, present, and future, he will always be the epitome of cool, John Shaft.
Rest in peace, Richard Roundtree.
Category Archives: tribute
Burt Young, R.I.P.
Burt Young has died. The actor was 83 years old.
Burt Young will, of course, always be remembered for playing the lovable drunk Paulie in the Rocky films. The later films in the franchise portrayed Paulie as being kind of a mooch and a loser and it’s easy to forget that, in the first film, Paulie was the one who supplied Rocky with a place to train and was really the first person to support Rocky in his mission to go the distance with the champ. Long before Mickey agreed to train him and Adrian agreed to live with him, Paulie believed in Rocky.
Young also appeared in several other classic films, including Chinatown and Once Upon A Time In America. Though it may not be considered a classic, he was absolutely terrifying as the abusive father in Amityville II: The Possession. Off-screen, Burt was a painter, a novelist, a playwright, and, by most accounts, a total gentleman.
Burt Young will be missed. Rest in Peace.
Great Moments In Television History #33: The Thighmaster Commercial Premieres
Rest in peace, Suzanne Somers. Whether she was mouthing “I Love You” to Richard Dreyfuss in American Graffiti or playing Chrissy Snow on Three’s Company or playing the mother of a blended family on Step By Step, Suzanne Somers was long a part of our shared pop culture.
In 1991, after having been out of the spotlight for a few years, Suzanne Somers made a comeback with The Thighmaster.
Today, it’s hard to explain just how popular this commercial was in 1991. Adding to its notoriety was that many stations would not play the commercial except as a part of their late night programming. In the days before YouTube and DVRs, people would actually stay up late to catch the Suzanne Somers Thighmaster commercial. For a while, this commercial revived Somers’s career as an actress and a talk show host. Needless to say, it also sold a lot of Thighmasters.
Previous Moments In Television History:
- Planet of the Apes The TV Series
- Lonely Water
- Ghostwatch Traumatizes The UK
- Frasier Meets The Candidate
- The Autons Terrify The UK
- Freedom’s Last Stand
- Bing Crosby and David Bowie Share A Duet
- Apaches Traumatizes the UK
- Doctor Who Begins Its 100th Serial
- First Night 2013 With Jamie Kennedy
- Elvis Sings With Sinatra
- NBC Airs Their First Football Game
- The A-Team Premieres
- The Birth of Dr. Johnny Fever
- The Second NFL Pro Bowl Is Broadcast
- Maude Flanders Gets Hit By A T-Shirt Cannon
- Charles Rocket Nearly Ends SNL
- Frank Sinatra Wins An Oscar
- CHiPs Skates With The Stars
- Eisenhower In Color
- The Origin of Spider-Man
- Steve Martin’s Saturday Night Live Holiday Wish List
- Barnabas Collins Is Freed From His Coffin
- Siskel and Ebert Recommend Horror Films
- Vincent Price Meets The Muppets
- Siskel and Ebert Discuss Horror
- The Final Scene of Dark Shadows
- The WKRP Turkey Drop
- Barney Pops On National TV
- The Greatest American Hero Premieres
- Rodney Dangerfield On The Tonight Show
- The Doors Are Open
Rest in Peace, Dick Butkus
The Shattered Lens extends its condolences to the friends, family, and fans of football player-turned-actor Dick Butkus. Butkus starred in two shows that we recently featured on retro television reviews, Hang Time and Half Nelson. Whether he was coaching basketball in Indiana or helping Joe Pesci solve a case in Beverly Hills, he definitely had his own unique style and likably gruff screen presence. RIP.
Rest in Peace, Bob Barker
Bob Barker, a pop cultural institution if there ever was one, passed away today. He was 99 years old. And while he will probably be best-remembered for his long run as the host of The Price Is Right, he will also always be remembered for beating up Adam Sandler in my favorite golf film, Happy Gilmore.
Barker himself reportedly turned down the cameo when it was first offered to him but accepted it after he was assured that he would be winning the fight.
RIP, William Friedkin
We have sad news to report. The great director William Friedkin has passed away at the age of 87.
Friedkin directed two of the most influential films of all time — 1971’s The French Connection and 1973’s The Exorcist. Though his later films were often overshadowed by those two films, To Live and Die In L.A., Killer Joe, and Rampage are all fine films in their own right. His final film, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, is scheduled to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September.
Not only was Friedkin a talented director but he was also a wonderful interview subject, one who said exactly what was on his mind and without much worry about upsetting or challenging the sensibilities of his audience. His autobiography should be required reading for any serious student of American film history.
Here is the legendary car chase from The French Connection.
William Friedkin Films That We Have Reviewed:
Music Video of the Day: Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot (1974, dir by ????)
Gordon Lightfoot, rest in peace.
We Have Lost Giovanni Lombardo Radice
I am broken-hearted to learn that the Italian horror icon, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, has passed away. RIP, Johnny. He was a good actor, a fascinating intellect, and a witty conversationalist, one who was always willing to take the time to talk to his fans. I once wrote about a dream that I had after watching one of the films in which he appeared. (I think it was Cannibal Apocalypse, if just because the DVD included a lengthy interview with him in which he made quite an impression as a well-read and well-spoken actor who just happened to appear in very graphic horror films.) I was having to look after two hyperactive children who, in the dream, were apparently his kids. (Before anyone reads too much into the dream, I was not the mother. I was just the babysitter.) He replied, “Perhaps actors in monster movies have monster children.” He also loved animals, followed politics, translated Shakespeare, spoke glowingly of Fulci and Deodato, and never hesitated to talk about how much he hated Cannibal Ferox. I always hoped that he would one day get the comeback he deserved. He had a small role in Gangs of New York and a slightly bigger one in The Omen remake. Tarantino raved about him. A true gentleman, he will be missed by all.
For once last time, here is Giovanni Lombardo Radice dancing with Lorraine De Selle in The House on The Edge of the Park.
4 Shots From 4 Films: RIP, Bert I. Gordon
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Director Bert I. Gordon, the original Mr. Big, has passed away at 100 years old. In honor of his life and legacy, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Bert I. Gordon Films
The Amazing Colossal Man (1957, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Joseph Biroc)
War of the Colossal Beast (1958, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Jack A. Marta)
Village of the Giants (1965, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Paul Vogel)
Empire of the Ants (1977, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Reginald H. Morris)
Scenes I Love: “Print The Legend” From The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The legendary director John Ford was born 129 years ago today, in Maine. As I sit here writing this, you can go see The Fabelmans, which ends with a scene in which a young Steven Spielberg (or Sammy Fabelman, whatever) meets John Ford (played by David Lynch). The meeting is based on a meeting that a young Spielberg actually had with Ford shortly before Ford’s death in 1971.
However, long before John Ford met Steven Spielberg, he directed one of my favorite films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Today’s scene that I love comes from the end of that 1962 film and it features a line that would become a classic. “Print the legend.” That was a line that Ford understood and I imagine it’s one that Spielberg eventually came to understand as well.
Through the Shattered Lens 