The Silver Screen Oasis

Denny Miller was one kind and gentle man ... I appreciated his time with us as a Guest Star as Sue Sue mentioned earlier.

Character actor Stefan Gierasch has died at age 88. He was particularly effective in Jeremiah Johnson, The Hustler, and High Plains Drifter--though in the Finnie household he was fondly remembered for his funny and sometimes touching appearances as a series of vexatious New Yorkers on the comedy series, Barney Miller. More here about his life and far-ranging career:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/s ... iah-732451

Heigh-ho, the grim reaper continues to harrow the famous along with the rest of us, but today's loss is a reminder that the Brits really do have a knack for cultivating and allowing their actors to age well.

Donald Sinden, best remembered by Americans as the husband whose wife fell for Clark Gable in Mogambo (1954), has died at age 90. His performances as a dramatic actor encompassed one of the most memorable films about war I've ever seen, The Cruel Sea (1953), but it was his work in comedy on screen and television that many others recall. His posh, wastrel med student in Doctor in the House & Doctor at Large were very amusing, but he was also fun as the hubby trying to keep a mermaid in the bathroom in Mad About Men and in television comedies, particularly
his role on British television with Elaine Stritch in Two's Company in the '70s. Reading the splendid obit for the actor in The Telegraph linked below, the writer made me long to see him as Malvolio, a role he apparently brought great depth to in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Twelfth Night in '69.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... tuary.html

I am humbled that I don't remember Mr. Gierasch in THE HUSTLER. I'm not familiar with the actor. But the movie is one of my favorites!

Polly Bergen has passed away at age 84. Will always remember how well she was menaced by Robert Mitchum in CAPE FEAR. Few scenes in movies have topped that for pure fright. She also endured her own traumatic troubles later in life. God bless and RIP.

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries ... story.html

An almost unbearably suspenseful scene. That movie practically defines suspense!

You bet. It goes where the latter version should not have ventured.

Speaking of a disturbing scene courtesy of Miss Bergen:

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/3457 ... ouble.html

Audrey Long, who brought us a double dose of Noir by her acting and marriage to the author of The Saint, has died.

The Hollywood Reporter

I'd like to see THE WINDS OF WAR. I've only managed to find partial sets of it; never the whole thing. Haven't bothered to watch.

The legendary former editor of the Washington Post who was portrayed by Jason Robards (who won the Oscar for the role) in All the President's Men, Ben Bradlee has died at the age of 93,

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/b ... ost-736636

Robards gave fine supporting performances in back to back years, playing real life men of letters in both. In 1977's JULIA, he was Dashiell Hammett.

Ben Mankiewicz's father, Frank, has died.

Frank Mankiewicz worked with Robert Kennedy, helped turn NPR radio into the juggernaut it is and was a lawyer. He was the son of the writer Herman Mankiewicz who wrote (or co-wrote depending on which story you believe) Citizen Kane, was a nephew of the legendary Joseph Mankiewicz and the father of Ben and Josh.

From the LA Times:

Frank Mankiewicz, the son of a Hollywood legend who made his mark in the grittier worlds of Democratic politics and broadcast media, serving as press secretary to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, presidential campaign manager for Sen. George S. McGovern and chief of National Public Radio during its bumpy rise to prominence, died Thursday at a hospital in Washington, D.C. He was 90.

NBC News correspondent Josh Mankiewicz said his father had been hospitalized with lung problems and died of heart failure.

Mankiewicz was the son of Herman J. Mankiewicz, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind "Citizen Kane," and nephew of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who wrote and directed "All About Eve." Growing up in Beverly Hills, he shared the family table with luminaries such as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, the Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo and Orson Welles, but the conversation "was always about politics," his son said. So it was no surprise that Frank was eventually drawn to it and became a consummate Washington insider.

"I know everyone in Washington, and half of them owe me something. The other half I owe," he told People magazine in 1982.

For more:http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries ... tml#page=1

Very sad. Had a major teenage crush on Mrs. Kotter. RIP Marcia --

http://deadline.com/2014/10/marcia-stra ... ds-861946/