Gone With or Without fanfare

[moira finnie]

Film historian and SSO pal Alan K. Rode has shared a link to the PDF of his wonderful interview with Eleanor Parker, first published in The Noir City Sentinel (now known as Noir City) from Summer, 2010. Please click on the image below to read this piece:

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Thank you, Moira, for the wonderful link to Rode's interview.

[feaito]

Moira, I enjoyed reading the interview thoroughly. Thanks.

[Vienna]

Thanks so much for letting us read that excellent interview with Eleanor Parker.

[Rita Hayworth]

Moira ... many thanks for the Eleanor Parker Tribute here ...

[moira finnie]

Don Mitchell, best known for his work on the television program Ironside playing Raymond Burr's assistant, has died at age 70. Mr. Mitchell, whose extensive work in television in the '60s and '70s included appearances in everything from I Dream of Jeannie to Police Story, was one of the few African-American actors of his time to play roles in a variety of genres. The full obituary for this actor can be seen here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/i ... ies-664957

[JackFavell]

Oh my gosh, just watched Ironside for the first time in years about a week ago, and thought he was so great!

[Rita Hayworth]

I met Don Mitchell on the set of Ironside when I was a kid and he was a very terrific man to talk to.

[moira finnie]

TCM has posted a link to the archive of Dick Dinman, of WMPG, Gorham-Portland, Maine, with Eleanor Parker, which you can access here: http://www.wmpg.org/archivefiles/dvdclassics.htm

[RedRiver]

A couple of days ago, I was looking at headlines on a website. There was a story about an actress. Right next to it, separated by one measly semi-colon, was the story of a death. I came so close to jumping on this board and announcing the death of the wrong person! That would have been embarrassing, even disrespectful, though not intentionally. I'm glad I took a second look!

[ChiO]

One of the Queens of Noir, Audrey Totter, died on Thursday.

From the L.A. Times:

Audrey Totter, 95, a blond leading lady of 1940s film noir who starred as a tough-talking dame in "Lady in the Lake," "The Set-Up" and "High Wall," died Thursday at West Hills Hospital, said her daughter, Mea Lane. Totter, a Woodland Hills resident, had a stroke and suffered from congestive heart failure.

Although she had a relatively short film career, Totter created memorable movie moments while under contract with MGM from 1944 to the early '50s. A former radio actress, she had a small part in "The Postman Always Rings Twice," the 1946 movie based on James M. Cain's pulp novel. She landed her breakthrough role in "Lady in the Lake," the 1947 film version of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe detective story that Robert Montgomery directed and starred in. She also appeared opposite Claude Rains in the 1947 thriller "The Unsuspected," acted with Robert Taylor in "High Wall" (1947), starred in Robert Wise's 1949 gritty boxing drama "The Set-Up" and snarled her way through "Tension" (1949).

"The bad girls were so much fun to play," Totter told the New York Times in 1999.

But in 1952 Totter put aside her performing career to focus on her family, marrying Dr. Leo Fred, who taught at the UCLA School of Medicine, and giving birth to her daughter. Totter later returned to acting, mainly on television, with recurring roles on "Our Man Higgins," "Dr. Kildare" and "Medical Center" and guest spots on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Perry Mason," "Hawaii Five-O," "Murder, She Wrote" and other series.

Totter was born in Joliet, Ill., on Dec. 20, 1917, according to her daughter, and began acting in the '30s in radio dramas.

After her husband died in 1995 and movie buffs rediscovered her film noir scenes on video and cable TV, Totter said she began receiving job offers.

"What could I play?" she said in a 2000 interview with the Toronto Star. "A nice grandmother? Boring! Critics always said I acted best with a gun in my hand."

[moira finnie]

Even though 95 is a remarkable age to achieve, this news brings a pang of sorrow. Loved her in Alias Nick Beal and High Wall in particular.It's good to read in her obit that Ms. Trotter managed to have a family life and lived long enough to see her work valued even more than when it was new.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Another great lady of film gone. I am sad but not shocked anymore, as these ladies were elderly and it is to be expected.....

Audrey was supposedly to be a 'threat' to Lana Turner in the beginning, but they turned out to be good friends in the end. Audrey was at Turner's wedding to Bob Topping in 1948; she may have been a maid of honour??

Miss Totter was also one whom I thought should have received an Honourary Oscar, just like Eleanor Parker.

R.I.P. dear Audrey.

Larry

[JackFavell]

What a pip she was..loved that last quote of hers. I can't feel bad about it, she sounds like she had it all together. I'm just sad for us, that we didn't see those gun toting older women she might have played. It's too bad that we are losing all these really great actors and actresses right at this time of year.

I especially like Totter in Lady in the Lake, a film which has a bad rep, for no real reason except that it's marketed as a Robert Montgomery movie. It's really grown on me over the last couple years because of Totter. She gets more screen time than usual, has to walk a fine line between good and bad. pretty much carrying the entire movie. It's a great performance. Also love her walk in The Set-Up, where she mulls over leaving Robert Ryan. Tension is a film I've only just seen, but I really enjoyed it and her performance. She's the perfect avaricious partner for meek Richard Basehart.

She seemed to me to be the face of unfulfilled want and desire, whatever side of the road she played on.



Rest in Peace, Ms. Totter.