Copyright Paramount 1974Was Abe Vigoda ever young? It seems hard to imagine. He is so indelibly fixed in our imaginations as the laconic, seen-in-all-and-was-not-impressed-by-it old guy. He has been old as long as most of us can remember. Today, we mourn his loss at the age of 94.
He was in his 50’s when he played Tessio in “The Godfather.” Look how much he brought to this scene, the understanding of what is happening to him, and why, and what has brought him to this moment. He is sad, but not angry. He auditioned for the part at an open call and was selected over 500 other actors. In the last few years, he provided a voice for the “Godfather” video games.
His deadpan delivery was one of the highlights of the terrific television series “Barney Miller.” When the series ended, his character had a brief spin-off called “Fish.”
The great British actor Alan Rickman has died at age 69, a sad loss for fans throughout the world. He first came to wide attention and acclaim as the bad guy in the original Die Hard, a performance so sensational it set the standard for action movie villains ever since. I wrote about one scene in my book, 101 Must-See Movie Moments.
As Gruber, Rickman speaks with a German accent. For most of the movie, while we see Gruber, his only contact with McLane is his voice, via the walkie-talkie and intercom system.
Then the two men see each other for the first time and we expect a confrontation. But Rickman was showing off his impeccable American accent between scenes and director John McTiernan realized that this presented a great
opportunity for a twist.
McLane rushes in and sees a man who starts talking to him with a perfect American accent. He seamlessly eases straight into another accent and another persona. As the final version of the shooting script puts it, “The
transformation in his expression and bearing are mind-boggling.” Instead of the icy German barking orders, he is immediately a completely convincing terrified American, begging McLane not to shoot. We know it is Gruber, but McLane doesn’t.
Whether McLane is convinced or not is for us to discover. But at that moment, Rickman is so persuasive, even some audience members may be confused.
He was perfectly cast in the “Harry Potter” series as Snape.
He could play a regular guy. Here he is in Love Actually.
And he could play an annoyed angel — in Dogma (strong language).
He was the devoted Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility and the highlight of Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves as another deliciously twisted bad guy. But this morning, I’m remembering another of my favorites, his distressed Shakespearean actor slumming in a sci-fi television series, Galaxy Quest.
By Grabthar’s hammer, we will miss him. May his memory be a blessing.
David Bowie has died of cancer at age 69. So we did not lost one of the singular artists of the 20th century — we lost a dozen. Bowie was a musician, a performance artist, and an actor whose constant re-invention gave us characters like the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust, as well as a range of movie roles that would themselves constitute an impressive body of work for any performer. He starred in Nicolas Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “Labyrinth,” Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.” He played Andy Warhol in “Basquiat.” He also starred on Broadway as “The Elephant Man.”
His music was heard on the soundtrack of movies as well.
We mourn the loss of Pat Harrington, best remembered as “One Day at a Time’s” Dwayne Schneider, the building superintendent who thought of himself as a ladies man, but had a genuine affection for the single mom played by Bonnie Franklin and her two rambunctious daughters.
The Washington Post’s Adam Bernstein has a warm appreciation for Harrington, reporting that he urged that the original idea for the character, a lecherous married man, be shifted to something more likeable. “On Mr. Harrington’s insistence, Schneider was recast as a bachelor with a comically grandiose sense of his appeal to the opposite sex.”
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as another deliciously twisted bad guy. But this morning, I’m remembering another of my favorites, his distressed Shakespearean actor slumming in a sci-fi television series,