A Roll-Call of Hono ur poles of Rope and Strangers on a Train would cast very long shadows across any actor’s filmography. His Broadway career was similarly jinxed and his off-screen life was a bumpy ride to say the least.
Elizabeth Taylor February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011 The perception of Liz in her later years may have shifted into that of Tinseltown parody, but she had one hell of a career. Cleopatra and Virginia Woolf may be the cornerstones, but we shouldn’t overlook her juicy turn in Tennessee Williams’ absurdist Southern Gothic gumbo Suddenly, Last Summer. Kenneth Mars April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011 Lets get something straight: Kenneth Mars wasn’t a Nazi any more than Patrick Swayze lived in a ‘roadhouse’. He was a native Chicagoan who dedicated himself to the ‘funny accent’ theory of comedy. As Franz Liebkind, author of the meisterwerk Springtime for Hitler in The Producers, he established himself as the early-’70s go-to guy for crazed continentals. Jane Russell June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011 Briefly the epitome of the Hollywood pin-up girl, Russell also played Las Vegas, hung out with GIs in Normandy and cut a record called ‘Boin-n-n-g!’ Maybe there was more to Russell than The Outlaw, but it was often hard to see past her blouse-straining bosom to whatever that something might be.
Raul Ruiz July 25, 1941 – August 19, 2011 Chilean director Ruiz hit the world stage in 1999 with Time Regained but by then he was already a prolific filmmaker, known mostly on the festival circuit. His work with big names like Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich never matched the energy and subversiveness of the shorts and surrealist polemics that made up the vast bulk of a career that ran from 1963.
Arthur Laurents July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011 Playwright Arthur Laurents wrote the books for both West Side Story and Gypsy, but when he became a screenwriter, things took a darker, more interesting turn, most notably with the screenplay for Hitchcock’s tense why-dunnit, Rope.
*D O W N N MA * If this was true, his death wouldn’t have been marked in Japan by the Asahi Broadcasting Company’s day-long programming schedule that mourned the demise of his inexplicably popular quiz show, Panel Quiz Attack 25. Michael Cacoyannis June 11, 1922 – July 25, 2011 Though his compatriots will mourn the passing of one of their own, they may not be entirely grateful for the image of the Hellenic spirit that Cacoyannis exported to the world in his most successful film, Zorba the Greek. A worldwide reputation for living in the moment and damning the consequences is surely not going to do them any favours when the pin-striped bully-boys from the IMF roll into town.
Maria Schneider March 27, 1952 – February 3, 2011 Forever remembered as the woman who put the ‘spreadable’ into ‘butter’ in Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris. For her troubles, she – along with Brando and Bertolucci – was criminally indicted in Italy, and charged with making an ‘erotic’ film. An accusation that was disproved only when the jury actually sat through the movie and realised it was merely sophomoric pseudo-sexual bunkum. Tim Hetherington December 5, 1970 – April 20, 2011 Surely one of the few sons of Liverpool to bear the middle name Telemachus, Hetherington, who died covering fighting in Misrata, Libya, always maintained he wasn’t a war photographer but a storyteller. That was amply borne out by the startling documentary that made his name, Restrepo, and his book of journalistic images of the soldiers featured in that movie, Infidel. Kiyoshi Kodama January 1, 1934 – May 16, 2011 Don’t toe the cineaste line that Kodama’s finest hour was his role in Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress.
Jeff Conaway October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011 Native New Yorker Conaway played the lead role of Danny Zuko in Grease on Broadway, but was not only demoted to sidekick duties for the movie, he was also saddled with the ‘Kenickie slouch’ in order to make star Travolta look taller. Further ignominy followed when he was dismissed from TV ratings juggernaut Taxi after his generous self-medication started impacting on the show
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